Fatty and Mabel Adrift

This is a wonderfully sweet and romantic movie. Mabel and Fatty speak slapstick fluently and poetically here. Al St. John and Teddy are great in it too. Does anybody know who did the cinematography? It is beautiful.

The scene of Roscoe's shadow kissing Mable goodnight is still incredibly beautiful after more than 100 years.

This is another movie where Mabel Normand gets to run around in her pajamas. It was risque for the day. It was the equivalent of a nude scene today. She also did it in 1914 in her first film with Charlie Chaplin - "Mable's Strange Predicament."

This should be included in all retrospectives of the best works of both Mabel Normand and Roscoe Arbuckle.

Watching it again, I noticed the actor Wayland Trask. I didn't know who he was and he was hilarious as the gang mob boss. I wondered why he hadn't gone on to be a known silent film comedian.

I looked him up on IMDB. It turns out that he died in an auto accident, the following year that this movie was released. He only had a four year career doing shorts. He appeared in 48 of them, most of them with Charles Murray and Louise Fazenda, and a few more with Al Saint John. He did get co-star billing with Murray in three or four films. He was talented and may have become a star if not for the accident.

I've decided to dedicate my first review to this short silent as it seems to be long forgotten and underappreciated. While watching this short, I felt as I was watching a long lost silent classic. This film has managed to remain fresh and could easily have been made today without need for any changes. Easily one of Keystones greatest films.

Highly recommend for anyone, especially lovers of early cinema.

"Fatty & Mabel Adrift" is very enjoyable, has a little bit of everything, and was also made with care and skill. It would have been a very good film even in a somewhat later era when movie-making was more refined, and for the mid-teens it is impressive. There are some short features from this era that are quite entertaining, but that were rather obviously thrown together without careful planning. Then there are other short features from the 'teens (such as those of D.W. Griffith) that are quite impressive for the time in terms of their technique and refinement, but whose content sometimes leaves you feeling distant or even cold. This is one of the rare shorts from the era that is strong in both respects.

The opening sequence is mostly just pleasant slapstick silliness in a farm setting, nothing especially creative, but enjoyable. The characters are simple, but well-defined. Then, when the couple gets to their honeymoon cottage, the rest of the film is a fine combination of humor and action. Mabel Normand is at her most charming, Roscoe Arbuckle is full of energy and good cheer, and the supporting cast pitches in too (and even the Keystone dog gets some good moments). There is a good assortment of comedy material; there are some nice, touching moments with the new couple; and then of course there is plenty of action in the later scenes. It's well-made and entertaining, and it remains just as enjoyable even after repeated viewings.

Anyone who scorns silent comedy should see this little piece of work. It has crude slapstick and goofy rustic humor, but also charming moments of pure beauty. Roscoe Arbuckle, still unfairly maligned as a rapist, is boyishly romantic with the unbeatable Mabel Normand. Their puppy love antics warm the heart and make one despise Hollywood for cutting short these two amazing careers simply because of circumstantial evidence in two of early Hollywood's biggest scandals (Arbuckle: Virginia Rappe's death; Normand: William Desmond Taylor's death). This film, under the helm of Arbuckle and Normand, is a stark contrast to the grotesqueries of the main output of Keystone and Mack Sennett. One of the most beautiful moments I have ever seen in film is Roscoe's silhouette bending down to kiss Mabel, who is asleep in bed, their dog curled up next to her. This one is not to be missed by silent film fans.

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was the second most popular film comedian behind Charlie Chaplin during the mid-1910's. Arbuckle had frequently teamed up with Mabel Normand during their early Keystone Studio days in 1913. Their January 1916 movie, "Fatty and Mabel Adrift" is considered the pair's best. "Adrift" is a departure from their usual slapstick-filled mayhem on the screen by containing a romantic angle, which boyfriend/producer Mack Sennett must have approved despite his inherent jealous demeanor.

"Adrift's" premise slots Arbuckle, a farmboy, marrying his sweetheart Mabel and spending their honeymoon in a cabin by the sea. An envious rival, played by Al St. John, who in real life was Arbuckle's nephew, makes things interesting for the newlyweds by hiring a gang to create some memorable moments.

Arbuckle hardscraple life began when his father refused to support his son at 11 years old upon the death of his mother. A velvety singing voice opened up doors for the young boy, introducing him to an early acting career in vaudeville. Touring internationally throughout the early 1900's, Arbuckle latched on to Chicago's Selig Polyscope Company in 1909 before signing on with Keystone in 1913. The over 300-pound comedian refused to be in skits involving his weight, like getting stuck in doorways, and lobbied to emphasize his physical dexteriety, of which he was super coordinated for his size.

Sennett remembers first seeing Arbuckle, that he "skipped up the stairs as lightly as Fred Astaire and without warning went into a feather light step, clapped his hands and did a backward somersault as graceful as a girl tumbler."