Le cauchemar de Fatty

This is one of the remarkable short comedies that Arbuckle turned out at the end of his contract at Keystone while he was in New Jersey, far from Sennett's grasp: quite possibly the best. Elaborate, realistic sets, varieties of characterizations -- here he plays an irascible doctor who is jealous of wife Mabel's old boyfriend --and the darkest lighting in a comedy until BRINGING UP BABY combine to produce a comedy far from Keystone's frenetic mold.

Add in Arbuckle's casual gags and the result is an excellent comedy that is still highly watchable -- except, of course, when you are trying to make sense of real-life nephew Al St. John's awful mugging and high-speed rowdyism. Still, the man can take a fall.

The first thing we have to say is, 'What happened?' Roscoe is still Roscoe,but toned down and not that funny. Mabel however is totally transformed. She is now a serious dramatic actress, and carries through the part very well. The problem is that she is now one of a thousand actresses, who did this type of work on a daily basis. She had become, as Charlie Chaplin later said, 'commonplace'. Good as the film is, her audiences were probably appalled - where was the Keystone Girl? Furthermore, what was everyone's favorite ingenue doing getting amorous with a man in her bedroom, while wearing a nightie? The very thought! From a mass-market point of view, films like this would have drained the very essence from Mabel, and ended her career. Fortunately, good sense prevailed, and Mabel was able to eventually produce funny, but dramatic, films under the good direction of the great Dick Jones. I can give 8 for the film, but only 4 for Mabel's performance - so 6 it is.

Several of Roscoe Arbuckle's films have titles which became cruelly ironic in the hindsight of his 1921 trial for manslaughter: notably 'The Life of the Party' and this two-reeler, 'He Did and He Didn't'. There's a famous photograph of Arbuckle in evening dress, gaping in horror as he drops Mabel Normand down a staircase. That photo is a publicity still from 'He Did and He Didn't', though it doesn't actually correspond to any scene in the film as it now exists.

Arbuckle rose to film stardom playing boobs, rubes and bumpkins. By 1916, he had autonomy over his own films and was able to impose some tastefulness. Here, he plays a dignified and wealthy suburban doctor, in a loving marriage to Normand. But then Jack, her handsome beau from high-school days, arrives. There are no 'fat boy' jokes here. Instead, Arbuckle uses underplayed and sensitive acting to compare himself unfavourably to the leaner and manlier Jack. It's clear that Arbuckle's character loves his wife deeply but is (in some unspoken manner) unable to satisfy her, possibly down to sexual impotence. When Jack arrives to stay the weekend, the three of them sit down to a dinner of lobsters -- allegedly a male aphrodisiac -- prompting Mabel to comment that they'll all likely have nightmares.

SPOILERS COMING. Arbuckle (in a car with right-hand drive) is lured to a remote location on a ruse, so that he'll be away when burglars invade his house. It's up to Jack to defend the fair Mabel. Arbuckle returns home, distraught, and then -- believing that his wife has cuckolded him -- he calmly strangles her. This scene is immensely disturbing in its own right, and even more disturbing in the light of Arbuckle's real-life tragedy a few years later.

The payoff: remember those lobsters? Sure enough, it WAS all a nightmare ... and Mabel has remained faithful to her husband. There's a good performance by Rube Miller as Arbuckle's saturnine butler, and Al St John's tumbling skills get a protracted showcase here. 'He Did and He Didn't' is an astonishing film: quite removed from the lowbrow slapstick of Arbuckle's early Keystone efforts, yet still extremely funny. Watching this movie, I deeply regret that Arbuckle's career was so tragically and unfairly terminated just as he was nearing the heights of his talents. I'll rate this fine funny movie 10 out of 10.

He Did and He Didn't (1916)

*** (out of 4)

Extremely black comedy about an overweight doctor (Fatty Arbuckle) who eats too much and then dreams that his wife (Mabel Normand) is cheating on him. If you go through the films of Fatty Arbuckle then you're going to notice that he usually played soft, good guys but when he was given a chance to do something else he usually really delivered. This could be playing a hobo, a drunk or the rather crazy character here. I think this film works so well simply because it's something you're not used to seeing him do. There were a few funny scenes throughout but when it's not working in regards to laughs it still remains interesting just because of how dark it is and how it goes about trying to get laughs (murder, abuse and other dark targets).

Once again a jealousy motif is used to set up a fast moving comedy involving a husband and wife (FATTY ARBUCKLE and MABEL NORMAND) and a visitor from her past who spends the night under their roof.

Fatty is the suspicious husband when he catches the two of them flirting in the parlor and from then on the plot takes on a few other turns involving robbery, guns and mayhem when burglars enter the scene.

Not the usual elements found in a typical Fatty Arbuckle short, and he does well as the doctor who harbors strong suspicions about his wife's behavior with her old boyfriend.

A clever ending adds a little more zest to the whole story.

Summing up: Passes the time pleasantly and it's fun to watch the well-timed physical comedy.