The Waiters' Ball

The Waiters' Ball (1916)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent Keystone comedy has a cook (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle) and a waiter (Al St. John) doing battle for the girl they both want to take to a dance. Before that though, the two must spend a day in the restaurant without killing one another (or a customer). THE WAITERS' BALL isn't going to be confused for a classic but I think it's mildly entertaining as long as you don't take it too serious. I think it's greatest strength are the two leads, both delivering top-notch performances even though the screenplay doesn't always give them much to do. The majority of the jokes during the first portion of the film deals with the waiter calling out various orders and then we see Fatty in the back causes all sorts of trouble. One of the best gags deals with an old man out in the restaurant who has a broken foot and the two men's arguments are constantly getting him hurt. The last portion of the film has Al St. John stealing Fatty's tuxedo so he must find another way to go so he dresses as a woman. I'm not exactly sure how that factors into the plot but I guess people wanted to see Fatty as a woman. Again, this isn't a classic but fans of the stars should enjoy it.