Good Night, Nurse! (1918)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Writer:

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (story)

Release Date:

8 July 1918 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

Roscoe's wife wants him committed to the No Hope Sanitarium for a cure from drink. He is greeted by blood spattered...

Plot Keywords:

Silent Film | Nurse

Cast

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle	...	Fatty
Buster Keaton	...	Dr. Hampton / woman with umbrella
Al St. John	...	Surgeon's Assistant
Alice Lake	...	Crazy Woman
Joe Bordeaux		(as Joe Bordeau)
Kate Price	...	Nurse

Runtime:

26 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Spain:T

Company:

Comique Film Company

Arbuckle's best drag and the great flirtation scene with Buster

This contains perhaps the best moment in all the Arbuckle/Keaton shorts - this was Keaton's tenth film appearance. Here Arbuckle, disguised as a female nurse, flirts outrageously with Keaton, doing the shy thing, poking their index finger into the wall and throwing their other arms over their heads as they walk along a hospital corridor. It's a scream and Buster is trying awfully hard not to lose it, which makes it even more charming.

This was arguably Arbuckle's best drag performance and is fondly remembered.

The film is divided into three sections. There is a long opening one with Arbuckle sloshed in the rain on a street corner, trying desperately to light a match with the help of a woman being dragged in the wind by her umbrella and an old man Arbuckle slaps some stamps on and heaves on top of a mailbox in hopes someone will send him home.

It then moves to his home where he drunkenly brings street buskers home to his wife's annoyance. She learns of an operation that cures alcoholism and the scene is set for the No Hope Sanitarium. Under ether, Arbuckle dreams of escape, during which he inadvertently joins a Heavyweight Race and ends up the winner.

Buster Keaton is the surgeon at the Sanitarium, complete with bloody apron and saw. Despite its disjointedness, it's got some genuinely funny moments.

Nothing comes up to that Arbuckle/Keaton flirt scene, though.

KINO has this on VHS and DVD in its Arbuckle and Keaton, Volume Two package.

It dates it as 1919, while IMDb dates it as 1918. This is one of the few times the Alloy Orchestra actually does a good job underscoring the piece. The print is crisp and sound effects include the simulated squeals of a pet monkey. There are numerous drop outs, however.