Back Stage (Short 1919)

Back Stage (Short 1919). 26m | Not Rated

“Perhaps nothing reveals the edge in Roscoe Arbuckleu0026#39;s comedy more than when Buster Keatonu0026#39;s character is tipping over backwards, and rather than catching him, Arbuckle first dusts off the floor with a broom, and then whacks the back of his legs, causing Buster to fall hard. Another such moment is when he and Buster rig up a barbell to try to electrocute a menacing strongman (Charles A. Post). This was after Keaton had tried to incapacitate the man by hitting him with an axe a few different ways.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe darkness in the comedy is ironic, because by bosom buddy Buster Keatonu0026#39;s account, in real life u0026quot;Arbuckle was that rarity, a true jolly fat man. He had no meanness, malice, or jealousy in him. Everything seemed to amuse and delight him. He was free with his advice and too free in spending and lending money. I could not have found a better-natured man to teach me the movie business, or a more knowledgeable one. We never had an argument.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFresh off being away for nearly a year in the army, Keaton stayed loyal to Arbuckle despite offers for significantly more money elsewhere. Change was in the wind for Arbuckle, however, as he had changed studios and lost many of the other people in his ensemble, including Alice Lake and (very soon) even nephew Al St. John, who barely appears here. Arbuckle was ill during production, delaying it, and perhaps all of these things led to a rather average film. This was a year before he would sign a mega-contract with Paramount, and two years before the Virginia Rappe scandal would unfairly ruin him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are some of the old Arbuckle standbys, including him and Keaton dressing up in drag and dancing, not much of which is very inspired. The limber (and likely coded gay) dancer John Coogan (Jackieu0026#39;s father) does the splits and various maneuvers both Arbuckle and Keaton try to follow, which was amusing. One of the funnier bits was an early version of a sign changing message when a portion of it is concealed, when a posting goes from u0026quot;Gertrude McSkinny famous star who will play the little laundress first time here tomorrow at 2 pmu0026quot; to the decidedly more ribald u0026quot;Miss Skinny will undress here at 2pm.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe best, however, was the bit with the wall of a stage set falling down and just missing Arbuckle, who happens to be standing where one of the window cutouts is. Keaton of course would use this to much more dramatic effect in Steamboat Bill, Jr nine years later, and it was pretty cool to see this early version. Between this and the early version of Chaplinu0026#39;s bread roll dance in The Rough House (1917), you can really see the influence Arbuckle had on these giants of comedy, and his own place alongside them.”