Arbuckle and Keaton, Vol. 1

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

This collection of classic short subjects starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton gets a simple presentation for its release on DVD. The material on Arbuckle and Keaton: Vol. One has been transferred to disc in its original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The musical accompaniment for these silents has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono. The images have been given period-appropriate color tints. No bonus features have been included for this edition. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Features:
  • • Digitally mastered from 35 mm archive material (Moonshine mastered from 16 mm)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
       Al St. John
       Al St. John - Desk Clerk
       Alice Lake - Manicurist
       Arthur Earle
       Agnes Neilson
       Joe Bordeaux

• Director:

  Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle

• Producer:

  Joseph M. Schenck

• Screen Story:

  Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Joe Roach

• Screenwriter:

  Jean Havez, Natalie Talmadge, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle

• Cinematographer:

  Frank D. Williams, Elgin Lessley, George Peters

• Editor:

  Herbert Warren

REVIEWS:

• Out West was Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's first film away from New York, and boy does he take advantage of the change of scene. Set, as the title implies, in the wild West, Arbuckle clearly enjoys the opportunity of exploring a new setting. The opening scenes on the train are captivating, and quite impressive in terms of the star doing his own stunts. The old West town setting and the characters it evokes also give Arbuckle plenty to play off of. There are gags aplenty, including a running gag involving the manner in which saloon owner Buster Keaton nonchalantly disposes of dead bodies in his bar just by kicking them through a trap door into the cellar. (The nonchalance with which he raises a clearly-often-used "bartender wanted" sign when his employee is shot is also quite amusing.) Also well worth watching is the extended sequence in which Arbuckle smashes bottle after bottle after bottle over the head of his enemy, played by Al St. John, as well as the dance of drunken horse routine. But West has one sequence that will definitely turn off modern audiences, namely one in which a black man is shot at by the saloon denizens for what is supposed to be comic effect. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
• There is a tendency, as one reads of actors and directors who start their own production companies, to find missteps -- over-reaching or choosing subject matter that is too outre, over-spending, or otherwise breaking up the record of success that led to the independent production in the first place. The Butcher Boy is one notable exception -- Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's first independent production, it showed the actor/director not only firing on all cylinders creatively, but in top form as a producer as well, for teaming himself up with a young Buster Keaton, the latter in his screen debut. The gags flow like water (even ones involving molasses), and it's even possible to see here as well the roots of an equally successful comedic set-up of a generation later, for the W. C. Fields vehicle It's A Gift. The pacing of the whole picture is a wonder, and it demonstrates overall precisely how prodigious a talent Arbuckle was in a multitude of areas. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi