Several years back we discussed all the surviving Arbuckle/Keaton collaborations. Those were made after Arbuckle left Sennett and were done at his own Comique Studios, distributed by Paramount. While the majority of the shorts Arbuckle made at Comique were indeed with Keaton, there are a handful without Keaton, mainly due to the fact Keaton was away in Europe during World War I. The lack of Keaton means there was less interest for Raymond Rohauer to preserve the non Keaton Comiques, so several don’t survive. 1919’s LOVE, fortunately, is still with us and is the subject of this week’s review.
LOVE is a fine short that sees Arbuckle mixing drama and slapstick comedy, which on the surface, you’d think would be a natural segue into features for him (how Arbuckle’s features actually played out are for perhaps a future review). Nonetheless, the story aspect involves Arbuckle and Al St. John in love with the same girl. However, the girl’s father wants his daughter to marry Al because of a property arrangement. The plot revolves around Arbuckle trying to stop the marriage and get the girl and without giving the ending away, let’s just say there is a very clever resolution towards the end. It advances the plot and is clever and comic at the same time. There is also a dramatic scene in the middle between Arbuckle and his girl that plays genuine and well, so Arbuckle is showing signs of maturity here.
I said signs of maturity, let’s not say fully mature - and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Yes, there are some fine comic bits here. The opening well bit is a comic tour de force that is milked for a good five minutes. Al St. John, Monty Banks (a silent comic in his own right who would later direct Laurel and Hardy in GREAT GUNS), and Frank Hayes take various solo and combination turns falling down this long well. The falls are long enough where we see inside the well, comics screaming, praying, scratching at the side - all really entertaining stuff. My favorite part is when the handle is moving with a comic falling. In order to stop the fall, Arbuckle takes a bent over Monty Banks and uses Banks’s backside to stop the momentum of the handle on the side.
The other big comic bit involves the leading ladies head caught in a window hanging from the second floor of the house. This is caused as Arbuckle tries to elope with her. The ladder breaks, Arbuckle falls through the first fall window projecting a character from the inside of the house to fall out the window and land outdoors. They also do the broom gag where three comics take turns hitting each other on the backside. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that a Three Keatons stage bit? The only part of this short I don’t care for is Arbuckle making fun of Kate Price’s weight, which I always thought was crass and tasteless. Beyond that, LOVE is just the right combination of story, memorable gags and good characters. Recommended.
