Director: Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle
Stars: Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Al St. John
Genre: Silent film, comedy
Shot on location at Coney Island’s Luna Park, Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton starred in this comedy romp of slapstick proportions as the main character Fatty (Fatty Arbuckle) tries to escape the vices from his wife on the coney island beach only to create havoc at the park while he chases a pretty young lady around. You will get a really good glimpse of the glory days from Coney Island-Brooklyn with shots of the beach to some really neat amusement park rides like the witching waves, the whip, and the chute! You will even get a chance to see Keaton crack a smile or two working as a lifeguard at the bathhouse before his persona on film of being known as the stone-face would come into play! It was great to watch Buster emanate with more facial expressions. There are many hilarious moments in this 24 minute short but the ones I kept on losing my lunch over were when fatty rode the ‘chute’ with the girlfriend, the scene when Arbuckle dressed up as a lady before Keaton spilled the beans to his wife, and the keystone kop jail scene! Yes, Keaton would be one of the keystone kops! Boy, Arbuckle is one hideous looking female. Take care to catch a glimpse of Fatty Arbuckle playfully interact with the camera as he instructs the cameraman to film above his waist as he slid into woman's clothing!?
Coney Island would be the 2nd break in Keaton’s film career after The Butcher Boy thanks to the Fatty, plump one himself! These two would have great chemistry together as their physical display of comedy & charm would make anyone roll in laughter! Despite being rotund, Fatty Arbuckle can move like the wind or more accurately like a hurricane. His agility & gracefulness while performing stunts definitely added to his vaudeville appeal. We all know that Buster Keaton was a great influence to Jackie Chan’s comedic style, but the more and more I look at it, Sammo Hung really reminds me of the great Roscoe! The big dude with the little hat & baggy pants sure packs one hell of a kick! Yes, a front heel kick! The last scene with Fatty on the pier demonstrates his ungraceful - gracefulness in the water!
Don’t miss out on the chance to see stone-face in action! You might even get lucky and see Fatty Arbuckle do some backflips, somersaults, and a double flying heel kick right through your living room floor! Don't blink, you might miss Buster perform an effortless 'just because he can' backflip! It's the skinny tiger -- fatty dragon show! Do try to seek out this film! Besides taking a picture perfect look-back at the old Coney Island, you will see two of the greatest physical actors in American History.
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