He Did and He Didn't (1916)
*** (out of 4)
Extremely black comedy about an overweight doctor (Fatty Arbuckle) who eats too much and then dreams that his wife (Mabel Normand) is cheating on him. If you go through the films of Fatty Arbuckle then you're going to notice that he usually played soft, good guys but when he was given a chance to do something else he usually really delivered. This could be playing a hobo, a drunk or the rather crazy character here. I think this film works so well simply because it's something you're not used to seeing him do. There were a few funny scenes throughout but when it's not working in regards to laughs it still remains interesting just because of how dark it is and how it goes about trying to get laughs (murder, abuse and other dark targets).
*** (out of 4)
Extremely black comedy about an overweight doctor (Fatty Arbuckle) who eats too much and then dreams that his wife (Mabel Normand) is cheating on him. If you go through the films of Fatty Arbuckle then you're going to notice that he usually played soft, good guys but when he was given a chance to do something else he usually really delivered. This could be playing a hobo, a drunk or the rather crazy character here. I think this film works so well simply because it's something you're not used to seeing him do. There were a few funny scenes throughout but when it's not working in regards to laughs it still remains interesting just because of how dark it is and how it goes about trying to get laughs (murder, abuse and other dark targets).