Known primarily for being Keaton's acting debut, this one's mostly an Arbuckle film, and so it's really too bad that I've never been a fan of his fat-acting [which is less a slight about his appearance than it is about his manner of acting]. Having said that, Keaton gets a decent bit of screen time, first appearing as a hapless customer in the general store where Arbuckle works [flour in the face, feet stuck in molasses, you know how it goes]. In the mostly unrelated second reel, when the love of Arbuckle's life moves to an all-girls school, both Arbuckle and his love rival also move there, dressed as girls, when Keaton makes a second appearance in helping the rival take the girl. The film's not very funny, although Keaton remains very recognizably Keaton -- his understated reactions noticeably stand out amongst Arbuckle's ham, and a certain degree of his vaudevillian athleticism is shown, but mostly he's just thrown around a lot. Worth seeing for historical value, but not much else.
1 comment:
A much better film than the Keaton one, also called "The Butcher Boy" is well worth seeing. It was directed by Neil Jordan, and based on the novel by Patrick McCabe.
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