I've only seen one or two of Fatty Arbuckle's film shorts, and I've yet to sample any of his comic genius. At least that's what his fans claim. This twenty minute story is okay, but I'm not generally big on slapstick elements and there were plenty of them on display here. Being a major Western movie fan, the bigger deal for me in this short was seeing Al St. John a decade before he got all those whiskers and came to be known as 'Fuzzy', sidekick to a host of Western heroes like Robert Livingston, Buster Crabbe and Lash La Rue. Even so, by the time this short was made, he already had twenty years under his belt as a silent film player, both credited and uncredited!
The other item of note I'd like to mention had to do with some inadvertently neat product placement on a drug store front used in the picture. I'm always on the lookout for stuff like this, especially in early films, and wasn't disappointed to see advertising signs for Ex-Lax (the 'ideal' laxative), Bromo-Seltzer, Coca-Cola (using the original and still familiar cursive logo), and Hoffman Beverages. That last one might have been a local brand, but one I'm familiar with.
Other reviewers for this flick have already mentioned the story line, so I'll pass on that. Of all the gags, the one that did catch my attention was the bit with the bee hive, more so for the animation aspect of the sequence which looked rather original for a picture going back this far.
The other item of note I'd like to mention had to do with some inadvertently neat product placement on a drug store front used in the picture. I'm always on the lookout for stuff like this, especially in early films, and wasn't disappointed to see advertising signs for Ex-Lax (the 'ideal' laxative), Bromo-Seltzer, Coca-Cola (using the original and still familiar cursive logo), and Hoffman Beverages. That last one might have been a local brand, but one I'm familiar with.
Other reviewers for this flick have already mentioned the story line, so I'll pass on that. Of all the gags, the one that did catch my attention was the bit with the bee hive, more so for the animation aspect of the sequence which looked rather original for a picture going back this far.