The Butcher Boy is the first film that Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle made for his own production company after leaving Mack Sennett, and its also the first time Buster Keaton ever appears on screen. Arbuckle plays a butcher boy working in a general store; Keaton is one of the customers. The two of them get an amazing amount of comic mileage out of a mere nickels worth of molasses ... and they did it all in the first take. Theres more to the film, of course -- Arbuckle performs some handy knife tricks and dons his usual drag gear when his honey Josephine Stevens gets shipped off to a girls finishing school. But the real story here is the teaming of two of the greatest comics of the silent era. Arbuckle and Keaton look amazingly comfortable together for a first-time pairing. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
USER REVIEWS
|