"The Butcher Boy" is a two-reeler in two distinctive parts. Right away the main characters in the general store are introduced. They include Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (as Fatty / Candy), Al. St. John (as Slim), Josephine Stern (as Amanda) - the boss' daughter, and the boss, Arthur Earle (as Mr. Grouch).
In Part I, Fatty begins his shift at the butcher counter; whenever he enters the cold storage room, he wears a fur coat. Fatty exhibits his adeptness as he flips his cleaver several times on the counter. Also, he demonstrates his cigarette-rolling adroitness. In the general store a lady orders ten cents worth of ground pepper. Luke the dog shows his worth as he runs on the endless belt of the pepper grinding mill. Customer Buster Keaton orders a bucket of molasses; unfortunately he leaves his coin on the bottom of the bucket! Well, what follows demonstrates what passed for sanitation nearly a century ago. Before the end of the first part, Amanda and Fatty express their love for each other. Unfortunately, Slim likes her too. There is the inevitable flour (and pie) fight involving Fatty, Slim, and Keaton that soils the store, to say the least.
In Part II, Amanda is off to a very strict girls' boarding school. No men are permitted beyond the front gates. So Fatty's solution is to do what he does in many of his shorts. That is, to dress in drag. He disguises himself as Cousin Candy and successfully enters the school to see Amanda. Meanwhile Slim prepares his own invasion, also in drag! He has Keaton as an accomplice. Slim is unaware that Candy is really Fatty, and vice-versa. At dinner, sloppy Slim slurps soup; dainty he isn't! After dinner Fatty and Slim have a "girl" fight. The head mistress spanks Fatty, who in turn spanks her back! In the meantime Slim plans on kidnapping Amanda, but his disguise fails. All the while Luke the dog is confused. There is a disturbance in the girls' dorm that morphs into madness. The head mistress retrieves her gun and fires away. Keaton and Slim surrender, and the cops arrive. Fatty sneaks outside with Amanda and the two lovers decide to get married right away.
"The Butcher Boy," a typical slapstick for the time, is spontaneous and unrefined, and probably unrehearsed. Three silent screen actors act impromptu. Keaton, invited by Arbuckle and fresh from vaudeville, was self-assured and fit right in during his first movie role. His quick reactions and natural stunt work were always terrific; the man knew how to fall. "The secret," he once said, "is in landing limp and breaking the fall with a foot or a hand. It's a knack. I started so young that landing right is second nature with me." Title cards vary with the source. For instance, Amanda is Almondine in some prints; Candy can be Saccharine; and Slim changes to Alum. Luke the dog becomes "Teddy" in the French version. The movie editing is quite annoying throughout; perhaps some film frames were lost in time. Nevertheless, with Arbuckle and Keaton at the helm, you should not be disappointed.
In Part I, Fatty begins his shift at the butcher counter; whenever he enters the cold storage room, he wears a fur coat. Fatty exhibits his adeptness as he flips his cleaver several times on the counter. Also, he demonstrates his cigarette-rolling adroitness. In the general store a lady orders ten cents worth of ground pepper. Luke the dog shows his worth as he runs on the endless belt of the pepper grinding mill. Customer Buster Keaton orders a bucket of molasses; unfortunately he leaves his coin on the bottom of the bucket! Well, what follows demonstrates what passed for sanitation nearly a century ago. Before the end of the first part, Amanda and Fatty express their love for each other. Unfortunately, Slim likes her too. There is the inevitable flour (and pie) fight involving Fatty, Slim, and Keaton that soils the store, to say the least.
In Part II, Amanda is off to a very strict girls' boarding school. No men are permitted beyond the front gates. So Fatty's solution is to do what he does in many of his shorts. That is, to dress in drag. He disguises himself as Cousin Candy and successfully enters the school to see Amanda. Meanwhile Slim prepares his own invasion, also in drag! He has Keaton as an accomplice. Slim is unaware that Candy is really Fatty, and vice-versa. At dinner, sloppy Slim slurps soup; dainty he isn't! After dinner Fatty and Slim have a "girl" fight. The head mistress spanks Fatty, who in turn spanks her back! In the meantime Slim plans on kidnapping Amanda, but his disguise fails. All the while Luke the dog is confused. There is a disturbance in the girls' dorm that morphs into madness. The head mistress retrieves her gun and fires away. Keaton and Slim surrender, and the cops arrive. Fatty sneaks outside with Amanda and the two lovers decide to get married right away.
"The Butcher Boy," a typical slapstick for the time, is spontaneous and unrefined, and probably unrehearsed. Three silent screen actors act impromptu. Keaton, invited by Arbuckle and fresh from vaudeville, was self-assured and fit right in during his first movie role. His quick reactions and natural stunt work were always terrific; the man knew how to fall. "The secret," he once said, "is in landing limp and breaking the fall with a foot or a hand. It's a knack. I started so young that landing right is second nature with me." Title cards vary with the source. For instance, Amanda is Almondine in some prints; Candy can be Saccharine; and Slim changes to Alum. Luke the dog becomes "Teddy" in the French version. The movie editing is quite annoying throughout; perhaps some film frames were lost in time. Nevertheless, with Arbuckle and Keaton at the helm, you should not be disappointed.