Mabel, Fatty and the Law (1915) User Reviews

Kinky stuff, for 1915

[knsevy · 6/10 · 5 December 2003]

***SPOILERS - I LEFT 'EM OUT IN THE SUN***

Fatty Arbuckle was famous for adding an air of subversiveness to his films. This time, it's wife-swapping.

In the opening scene, Fatty is romancing his friend's wife. After she catches him and starts browbeating him, his friend is seen flirting with the maid. This must have been an interesting household!

The two married pairs go to the park - where 'No Spooning' signs are prominently displayed (did this ever really HAPPEN?). Once there, it doesn't take long for the pairs to mismatch again, husbands and wives trading partners, then getting busted for 'spooning'.

Most of the movie seems to revolve around the married pairs unpairing and re-pairing, with very little plot to centralize them. Interesting as a historical tidbit, but no masterpiece.

Mabel, Fatty and the Law is a partly amusing silent comedy short

[tavm · 4/10 · 27 July 2007]

Mabel Normand and Fatty Arbuckle play one married couple, Minta Durfee and Harry Gribbon play the other in which both husbands are caught "fooling" with the maid. The reason I put the word "fooling" in parentheses is because the husbands are basically just sitting close to their servants and talking and playing with each other though that's enough for the wives to get suspicious. As both couples later go to the park to relax on benches where "No Spooning" signs pop up, Fatty goes to Harry's wife and walks with her while Harry goes to Mabel where she's is sitting. Police up on trees with binoculars catch Arbuckle and Durfee and arrest them. Mabel and Harry later pick their spouses up and go their separate ways before any more trouble stirs up...There must have been some morals law if the police are arresting adulterous couples in this short film! Some amusing slapstick pieces and facial reactions abound but it's not that funny to me. Worth a look for silent comedy buffs who are fans of Arbuckle, Normand, or both.

Pretty Good, If Silly, Comedy

[Snow Leopard · 24 November 2004]

While generally rather silly, this is a pretty good silent comedy that features two fine stars plus some surprisingly good supporting performances.

Practically any comedy with both Mabel Normand and 'Fatty' Arbuckle is worth seeing, and here they are as entertaining as ever. They are joined by Harry Gribbon and Minta Durfee, who complement them nicely.

The story starts with the two couples encountering one another in a park where "No Spooning Allowed" signs are posted prominently. This pleasant anachronism (that is, it was likely so even at the time) is used creatively to build up a series of slapstick predicaments almost out of thin air, with the four of them joined by several of Keystone's classic comic policemen.

Normand is as charming and funny as ever, and Arbuckle shows plenty of energy in playing his scamp of a character. The other couple play their roles well, especially Gribbon, who steals a couple of moments with his antics. For all that it is silly and insubstantial, it's an entertaining little comedy.

Sheer delight!

[HAL-57 · 7/10 · 30 March 1999]

Mabel Normand and Roscoe Arbuckle are delightful as usual in their roles and Harry Gribbon (my favorite Keystone actor) and Minta Durfee do very well in theirs. A sound cast, expert Arbuckle direction, and a funny story combine to make this one-reeler a sheer delight from start to finish. It is an enjoyable little souvenir from a bygone era.

Pretty good but also pretty typical...

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 28 August 2009]

Back in the 1910s, one of the most common, if not THE most common themes in comedy shorts were cheating spouses. In fact, Keystone Studios made many shorts in which Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle or other comedians went to the exact same park near the studio and had cops chasing the cheating spouses about the park. So, this film is certainly not opening up any new territory with its theme.

The film begins in Fatty and Mabel's apartment. Fatty is showing way too much attention to the maid and Mabel chews him out good. Fatty's response and her response to this is priceless. Then, in a neighboring apartment, pretty much the same sort of scene is occurring between another couple, Harry and Minta.

Both couples decide on their own to go the park. Once at the park, Fatty sneaks away and makes eyes at Minta. And, when they are gone, Harry is putting the moves on Mabel. None of the spouses seem particularly bothered by these new advances...that is until the cops intervene. It seems that this park has signs posted that say "No Spooning Allowed" and ANY show of affection--even putting your arm around a lady or chit-chatting is forbidden (gee...it makes you wonder how any of us got to be here, then!). None of the couples really do anything bad, but the cops descent like locusts (and this is pretty funny). Fatty and Minta are arrested and Mabel and Harry narrowly escape. What a crazy world! Aside from the clichéd hitting Fatty upside the head with a billy-club (a very tired and common cliché of the day) and the repetitiveness of the theme in this film, the action is good, acting very good and the whole thing is a very good example of good quality slapstick.

Wifeswapping

[tedg · 30 July 2006]

As a comedy, this one is poor in the things that seemed to matter, the physical bits, the comic takes when the situation turns sour.

But its amazing in what it chooses as its story. Remember, film was young, younger in those days that the web is now. It was still experimenting and the comedy for this silent period was what worked best. There were few known things that worked so many different experiments were tried.

In this case, its wifeswapping. Sure, the story shows benign things: park benches, fluttering eyes. But we know these images denote some nimble rutting. Unlike the Shakespearean pattern where the comedy is in the disguise and discovery, here it is mostly in the act, which lands the main couple in jail.

Its a disconcerting thing, because this thread died off early in the family tree of movies. Seems disconcerting as a result.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Two Arbuckle

[Michael_Elliott · 11 March 2008]

Fatty's Spooning Day (1915)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A flirt (Fatty Arbuckle) gets thrown behind bars and must explain to his wife. A few laughs including Fatty getting beaten up by his wife but other than that the film is pretty flat.

Fatty's Suitless Day (1915)

** (out of 4)

Fatty needs a new suit to go dancing but this just leads to trouble. Again, not too many laughs but there are a few cute moments to keep the thing going.