The Cook | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Roscoe Arbuckle |
Written by | Roscoe Arbuckle |
Produced by | Joseph M. Schenck |
Starring | Roscoe Arbuckle Buster Keaton Al St. John Alice Lake Glen Cavender |
Cinematography | George Peters |
Edited by | Herbert Warren |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 22 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
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.
The film is notable for a scene spoofing the 1918 Theda Bara film Salomé , with Arbuckle dancing around with a length of sausage links and pots and pans. It also contains many of Arbuckle's favorite food gags and some well-received work by Keaton. [2] It was filmed at The Pike and the Balboa Amusement Producing Company. [3]
Fatty is the head chef at the "Bull Pup" restaurant where Keaton serves as the head waiter. One evening while service is in full flow Keaton and Fatty entertain the crowd with their dancing (despite breaking most of the plates and bottles in the restaurant in the process). The fun is soon spoiled when a vagrant (St. John), referred to as "Holdup Man" in the film's credits, comes in and begins ruining everyone's good time and dancing with the waitress (Alice Lake) against her will. Fatty, Keaton and the manager are no match for Holdup Man but he is subsequently scared off by Luke, Fatty's dog. Later, Fatty and Keaton join a pair of gentlemen in the restaurant for a big plate of spaghetti, not being able to replicate the correct way of eating it they resort to their own methods of eating one string at a time and cutting the pasta with scissors to make it shorter.
The next day Fatty plans a fishing trip with Luke while Keaton simultaneously takes the waitress on a date to the amusement park. Fatty takes a shortcut through the park and knocks several people out with his exceptionally long fishing rod before arriving on the beach. The waitress gets separated from Keaton and is chased around the park by Holdup Man and ends up falling off the top of a roller coaster, falling into the sea. Holdup man is chased off by Luke yet again and Fatty and Keaton attempt to rescue the waitress but find that the key to a flotation device is "in a courthouse one mile east". Acting fast, they grab a rope to throw to the waitress but Keaton falls off the pier still holding the rope and drags Fatty in with him.
The movie was believed to be a lost film for several decades before a damaged nitrate print was uncovered in the Norwegian Film Archive in 1998 in an unmarked canister with A Reckless Romeo (1917). [4] Another print, with 600 additional feet of footage (about eight minutes), was found in the EYE Film Institute Netherlands in 2002, and the two were combined, using the synopsis from the Library of Congress as a guide to create the restored version, although there are still missing scenes. [4] [5] This version is currently available on the DVD The Cook and Other Treasures.
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.
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.
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. The action centers in a sanitarium where Arbuckle's character is involuntarily brought to by his wife to be operated on by Keaton's character for alcoholism.
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.
The Round-Up is a 1920 American silent Western film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Wallace Beery. The movie was written by Edmund Day and Tom Forman, directed by George Melford, and based on Day's play that was a huge hit for Roscoe Arbuckle's older cousin Macklyn Arbuckle and Julia Dean on the Broadway stage in 1907. It was Macklyn in the play who created the famous phrase used in advertisements of the film, nobody loves a fat man.
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.
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 Sheriff is a 1918 American short comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. The film is considered to be lost.
The Hayseed is a 1919 American two-reel silent comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and featuring Buster Keaton.
Elgin Lessley was an American hand-crank cameraman of the silent film era—a period of filmmaking when virtually all special effects work had to be produced inside the camera during filming. Though Lessley worked earlier with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, and later with Harry Langdon, he is best known for the groundbreaking effects he produced with Buster Keaton, who dubbed him "the human metronome" for his ability to crank consistently at any requested speed.
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.
Louis Anger was an American vaudeville performer and movie studio executive. During the early days of the American silent film industry, Anger was considered to be "the king of slapstick comedy producers," and was instrumental in developing the film careers of famed actors Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton.
Corinne Parquet was an American actress who appeared in silent films with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.