fatty arbuckle & buster keaton in “Coney Island” (1917)
October 10th, 2011 by Mr. C
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 runs away from his wife on the coney isla 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 the stone-face would come into play! There are many hilarious moments in this 24 minute movie 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!
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 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 Turner Classic Movie channel is running a month long Buster Keaton appeciation day every Sunday thru October! 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! It’s the skinny tiger — fatty dragon show, y’all!
Tags: buster keaton, comedy, mr c, silent films
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