Back Stage | |
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![]() Charles A. Post (with gun) | |
Directed by | Roscoe Arbuckle |
Written by | Jean Havez |
Produced by | Joseph M. Schenck |
Starring | Roscoe Arbuckle Buster Keaton Al St. John |
Cinematography | Elgin Lessley |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 26 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
Back Stage is a 1919 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton and Al St. John.
In this film, Keaton, Arbuckle, Al St. John, and others work back stage as stagehands in a playhouse trying to help out and, in some cases, stay away from the eccentric performers. When the performers rebel and refuse to do the show, the stagehands, along with Arbuckle's love interest (the assistant of one of the rebelling performers) perform in their stead—including Keaton doing butterflies and no-handed cartwheels in drag.
Several Arbuckle shorts use sight gags that other comedians elaborated on in other films. In Back Stage, Arbuckle uses the falling wall sequence, where a piece of set falls on him but a window in the set piece allows him to escape being crushed. Keaton used this gag in his first short One Week (1920) and, most famously, in his 1928 film Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Fatty, Keaton and St John play stagehands at a theater preparing the sets for the next big show. Fatty puts up a sign on the front door of the theater reading:
YOU MUST NOT MISS
GERTRUDE McSKINNY
FAMOUS STAR WHO WILL
PLAY THE LITTLE LAUNDRESS
FIRST TIME HERE
TOMORROW AT 2PM
But upon returning inside the theatre he unwittingly leaves the door open so it obscures the left side of the sign and appears to read:
MISS SKINNY WILL UNDRESS HERE AT 2PM
The evening's entertainment arrives, first an extremely flexible dancer whom Fatty and Keaton feebly attempt to mimic. Next, a tall and egotistical, strongman who badly mistreats his assistant (Malone). The staff attempt to defend the assistant but the strongman is so powerful that he is able to blow Fatty away using only his breath and does not even flinch when Keaton repeatedly hits him over the head with an axe. Eventually the staff manage to subdue the strongman by challenging him to prove his immense strength by lifting a heavy weight then electrocuting him.
That night the theater is completely full (due to the partially obscured sign) but due to his treatment earlier the strongman quits and takes the dancer with him forcing Fatty, Keaton and the assistant to plan an operetta, which they title "The Falling Reign", at short notice. Fatty and Keaton dress in drag and perform an elaborate dance act. The dancer who quit earlier is in the audience and frequently heckles the show but is soon dispatched when Keaton's dancing proves to energetic and launches him into the audience knocking the dancer out. The second act is a routine in which Fatty and Keaton are being covered with fake snow but the theater is so hot that Keaton has to fan himself and take off his coat, ruining the illusion. Things are made worse when the man slowly releasing the fake snow accidentally drops the whole bag onto Fatty, and during a scene where Fatty is serenading the assistant who sits in the window of the facade of a house, Keaton accidentally bumps into it knocking it over and causing it to fall towards Fatty but the open window fits neatly around his body saving him from harm.
Despite the show being a disaster, the audience nevertheless applaud and roar with laughter, believing the performers fumbles to be part of the act. The strongman, sitting in the audience, is outraged that his assistant is now a success. He produces a gun and shoots her before starting a brawl with the entire stage team. As Keaton and St John keep the strongman busy, Fatty loads a trunk full of weights and drops it on the strongman's head, knocking him out.
The short ends with Fatty visiting the assistant in the hospital who is recovering well.
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently maintained a stoic, deadpan facial expression that became his trademark and earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".
Sherlock Jr. is a 1924 American silent comedy film starring and directed by Buster Keaton and written by Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, and Joseph A. Mitchell. It features Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, and Ward Crane.
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd as well as with his nephew, Al St. John. He also mentored Charlie Chaplin, Monty Banks and Bob Hope, and brought vaudeville star Buster Keaton into the movie business. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s and one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, signing a contract in 1920 with Paramount Pictures for $1,000,000 a year.
Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle Hammons (1882–1962). Educational primarily distributed short subjects; it is best known for its series of comedies starring Buster Keaton (1934–37) and the earliest screen appearances of Shirley Temple (1932–34). The company ceased production in 1938, and finally closed in 1940 when its film library was sold at auction.
The Butcher Boy is a 1917 American two-reel silent comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Al St. John, Buster Keaton and Alice Lake. This was the first in Arbuckle's series of films with the Comique Film Corporation, and Keaton's film debut.
Out West is a 1918 American two-reel silent comedy film, a satire on contemporary Westerns, starring Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, and Al St. John. It was the first of Arbuckle's "Comique" films to be filmed on the West Coast, the previous five having been filmed in and around New York City. The idea for the story came from Natalie Talmadge, who was later to become Keaton's first wife.
The Cook is a 1918 American two-reel silent comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton and Al St. John. The movie is a slapstick comedy and focuses on goings-on at a high-end restaurant with Arbuckle as the Cook and Keaton as the Waiter.
Good Night, Nurse! is a 1918 American two-reel silent comedy film written by, and directed by, and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton. Roscoe's character's wife reaches the last straw with his drinking and admits him to the No Hope Sanatorium, which promises to cure all cases of alcoholism. Hilarity ensues.
The Garage is a 1920 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton. This was the fourteenth and last film starring the duo before Keaton set up his own studio and Arbuckle started making feature-length films. The film also stars Luke the Dog, who starred in many other short comedies with Arbuckle. The film was also known as Fire Chief.
The Bell Boy is a 1918 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle for the Comique film company.
Coney Island is a 1917 American two-reel silent comedy film starring, written and directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton.
The Waiters' Ball is a 1916 American silent short comedy film directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle. Arbuckle's nephew Al St. John has a memorable role as Roscoe's rival. The film is extant.
The Rough House is a 1917 American two-reel silent comedy film written by, directed by, and starring both Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton. The Rough House was Keaton's first film as a director.
His Wedding Night is a 1917 American two-reel silent comedy film written, directed by, and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.
Oh Doctor! is a 1917 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton.
A Country Hero is a 1917 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton. The film is considered to be lost.
Moonshine is a 1918 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton. The movie is available on YouTube.
The Hayseed is a 1919 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton.
The Frozen North is a 1922 American short comedy film directed by and starring Buster Keaton. The film is a parody of early western films, especially those of William S. Hart. The film was written by Keaton and Edward F. Cline. The film runs for around 17 minutes. Sybil Seely and Bonnie Hill co-star in the film.
Luke the Dog (1913–1926) was an American Pit Bull Terrier that performed as a recurring character in American silent comedy shorts between 1914 and 1920. Some claim he was a "Staffordshire Bull terrier" or "American Staffordshire bull terrier but neither of these breeds existed until the 1930's, and this is why his name nickname was Luke the pitbull.
He was also the personal pet of actress Minta Durfee and her husband, the comedian and director Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.