This is a Fatty Arbuckle short in which there is a special appearance of Charlie Chaplin late in the film as a fight referee. Both comedians were in the beginning of their film careers and because of this they still hadn't really developed their characters. So, in many ways this looks nothing like a later film by either--Chaplin is not the Little Tramp and the often sweet characters Arbuckle plays is not evident here. Instead, a lot of action occurs on screen with little regard, at times, for plot or humor. You can really tell that the director just yelled "action" and told the guys to improvise. However, unlike SOME early Keystone efforts there is at least some plot and a few interesting moments, hence the score of 4. It's not good, but compared to what these two were making in 1914, it's better than average.
UPDATED AS OF 7/06: I just saw this short again, but this time the movie was dramatically different--with maybe ten more minutes of movie that gave it more coherence and watchability. This was the version from Mackinac Media in their "Forgotten films of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle" collection. This isn't a total surprise, as in the early days of comedies, there usually existed several different prints and they were often cut and pasted to suit the needs of the theaters--an awful but common practice. I have seen this with several of Chaplin's shorts as well--and the versions were so different that they were like two different films. It is a terrible disservice to the memory of the actors and everyone else involved with the movie. As I mentioned above, this movie has a lot more plot in this version and if quite likable. Heck, Al St. John, who was an important part of the film, wasn't even in the first version I saw!!! What a shame.
UPDATED AS OF 7/06: I just saw this short again, but this time the movie was dramatically different--with maybe ten more minutes of movie that gave it more coherence and watchability. This was the version from Mackinac Media in their "Forgotten films of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle" collection. This isn't a total surprise, as in the early days of comedies, there usually existed several different prints and they were often cut and pasted to suit the needs of the theaters--an awful but common practice. I have seen this with several of Chaplin's shorts as well--and the versions were so different that they were like two different films. It is a terrible disservice to the memory of the actors and everyone else involved with the movie. As I mentioned above, this movie has a lot more plot in this version and if quite likable. Heck, Al St. John, who was an important part of the film, wasn't even in the first version I saw!!! What a shame.