The Cook (1918)

Cooks make hovoc in seaside resort hotel.

Director:

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Writer:

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (story)

Stars:

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Al St. John

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle	...	Chef
Buster Keaton	...	Assistant Chef
Al St. John	...	Holdup Man
Alice Lake	...	Waitress / Cashier
Glen Cavender
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Luke the Dog	...	Dog

Storyline

In an attempt at greater efficiency, the chef of a fancy oceanside restaurant and his assistant wreak havoc in the establishment. Adding to the complications is the arrival of a robber.

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Plot Keywords:

seaside resort | cook | restaurant | dog | fishing | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 September 1918 (USA)

Also Known As:

El chef

Company Credits

Production Co:

Comique Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a classic example of "magical" humor, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle the cook repeatedly dips into the same large metal vat and somehow produces a wide array of different foods.

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Connections

Featured in Silent Clowns: Buster Keaton (2006)

User Reviews

Oldtime Mayhem

The Cook had been presumed lost for decades, until fragments of it turned up in both the Netherlands and Norway. I for one am very happy that most of this silent film was found and restored!

It's a typical Arbuckle/Keaton production, which is to say *wonderful.* Being a fan of both, it was very interesting for me to see the first filmed instance of the Cleopatra routine, which was later attributed only to Keaton; this film inclines me to believe it was originally Arbuckle's shtick. Whatever the case is of who dreamed up the gag first, it's very well done by both of them and the rest of the usual cast in Arbuckle/Keaton collaborations.

Parts of this film reminded me very much of their Coney Island to the point where I suspect footage from Coney Island was used to supplement whatever was missing from The Cook. I don't have both films available to compare, and I'm probably wrong. I'm just saying there are amusement park scenes which look very familiar.

One thing that both films do have in common, however, is a few frames of Buster Keaton smiling, contrary to the legend that he never smiled on film. Keaton did indeed smile in these early films (The Cook and Coney Island), in the years before his stoic persona completely gelled. And he has a gorgeous smile!

Oh, another comedic gag in this film that appears in very early Keaton films is the "pie fight,"although in this particular case it isn't pie but vanilla ice cream being thrown. I'd read somewhere that Keaton did not do pie throwing, but he did engage in food fighting in his early films to great effect, including this one and The Butcher (flour). Buster and Keaton are both master acrobats. One doesn't view this level of physical artistry in contemporary films.

The Cook was a lovely little romp. I'd recommend it to just about anyone.