Fatty's Faithful Fido

While watching this movie I was amazed at how it can still be enjoyable after all these years. What was hilarious to audiences in 1915 spans time intact as to the laugh factor. While the plot is simple by standards of today this film shows that those early films were made to be part of a lasting medium. People involved in Fatty's Faithful Fido must have given thought to how audiences would react in years to come which showed great insight. Fatty is a riot. I really enjoyed the movie.

Luke the dog, engaging as always, is the highlight in this uneven but generally entertaining Keystone comedy. Although Luke is out of the action for much of the time, he still gets the best scenes, giving him a chance to show considerable resourcefulness and agility. The rest of it is hit-and-miss, combining some very funny moments with some stretches that are less entertaining.

The story has a familiar setup, with Roscoe Arbuckle and Al St. John playing rivals for the hand of Minta Durfee. St. John is helped of a crew of ruffians, but Arbuckle has Luke on his side, which makes it an even battle. Some of the more knockabout stretches are less funny, but there are some good highlights. Luke chasing St. John across the rooftops is probably the funniest, and there are also some good moments when St. John hires a henchman to get Arbuckle during a dance.

Part of the screen time is taken up with a stereotyped Chinese laundry owner played by Frank Hayes. Nothing at all against Hayes, whose distinctive appearance and style are a plus in any one-reeler. But the character is treated too roughly for those parts to be particularly funny.

The rest of it, though, is entertaining, and it has some good gags. It just would have been nicer to see more of Luke, since his scenes are both funny and engaging.

Even though Roscoe Arbuckle is listed as star, and the lovely Minta Durfee is billed second, Al St. John shines more brightly, but even he is overshadowed by Luke the Dog as "Fido."

Al and Roscoe are both tremendously gifted acrobatic actors, especially St. John, who carried his talent into countless roles during the coming years, especially into B Westerns.

Al "Fuzzy" St. John stole movie after movie from the likes of Buster Crabbe and Al "Lash" LaRue.

He was, in fact, one of the best cowboys on the silver screen.

Roscoe, known as "Fatty," didn't do so well, but became an admired director after a fatality incident ruined his reputation.

His own athleticism really made his role in this relatively minor short quite impressive. The story was slight, but the performers gave us LOTS of action, including fights galore.

"Fatty's Faithful Fido" is a charming knockabout that I do recommend your seeing, at least once.

Fatty's Faithful Fido (1915)

*** (out of 4)

Fatty and his bitter rival (Al St. John) get into a fight but Fatty's dog Fido saves the day. Later in the evening the rival hires two thugs to jump Fatty but the plan backfires. This is a pretty good short that moves by pretty quickly and contains some funny stunts and a couple nice fight sequences. The highlight is certainly the dog, real name Luke, who steals every single scene he's in. There's a great chase sequence where the dog has to climb up a ladder and do various other stunts.

This is an excellent Fatty Arbuckle comedy with Al St. John, his wife at the time Minta Durfee playing the girl both want, and Luke the Dog playing the title role. Lots of funny stuff involving bricks, rooftops, a dummy, a cat, a cross to mark a target, a Chinese laundry, its owner and bath inside, and a massive fistfight. Marvel at all the falls Mr. Arbuckle takes here! See Mr. St. John constantly try to either get away from Fido or have Fatty get knocked out or choked! Watch Ms. Durfee occasionally defend herself against Al! And see Fido get distracted by a cat after chasing St. John up a roof! This is one of the best Mack Sennett/Keystone comedies I've seen so far. Most highly recommended for silent movie fans especially those of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle!