He Did and He Didn't (1916) User Reviews

Clever, amusing, and one of the better Arbuckle/Normand shorts...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 16 March 2009]

Once again a jealousy motif is used to set up a fast moving comedy involving a husband and wife (FATTY ARBUCKLE and MABEL NORMAND) and a visitor from her past who spends the night under their roof.

Fatty is the suspicious husband when he catches the two of them flirting in the parlor and from then on the plot takes on a few other turns involving robbery, guns and mayhem when burglars enter the scene.

Not the usual elements found in a typical Fatty Arbuckle short, and he does well as the doctor who harbors strong suspicions about his wife's behavior with her old boyfriend.

A clever ending adds a little more zest to the whole story.

Summing up: Passes the time pleasantly and it's fun to watch the well-timed physical comedy.

Good film but Mabel is 'commonplace' here

[ducatic-82290 · 6/10 · 19 August 2017]

The first thing we have to say is, 'What happened?' Roscoe is still Roscoe,but toned down and not that funny. Mabel however is totally transformed. She is now a serious dramatic actress, and carries through the part very well. The problem is that she is now one of a thousand actresses, who did this type of work on a daily basis. She had become, as Charlie Chaplin later said, 'commonplace'. Good as the film is, her audiences were probably appalled - where was the Keystone Girl? Furthermore, what was everyone's favorite ingenue doing getting amorous with a man in her bedroom, while wearing a nightie? The very thought! From a mass-market point of view, films like this would have drained the very essence from Mabel, and ended her career. Fortunately, good sense prevailed, and Mabel was able to eventually produce funny, but dramatic, films under the good direction of the great Dick Jones. I can give 8 for the film, but only 4 for Mabel's performance - so 6 it is.

There's an expression something like "Green-eyed with jealousy" but is envy . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 7/10 · 7 May 2021]

. . . REALLY green? "Dr. E. J. Matthews" (portrayed by Fatty Arthur, according to this site's spell-checker) sees red when his wife Mabel is visited by her grade school sweetie Jack. However, since HE DID AND HE DIDN'T is a black & white film, it's really difficult to discern who shot who. Characters keep crawling out from under beds, and parading around in their nightclothes (which do not resemble Modern Day birthday suits at all!). Unfortunately, the action here is not taking place in San Diego, where the Keystone Cops would be sure to show up at the wrong address and shoot everyone dead before asking any questions.

Lobsters and mobsters, but Roscoe is un-shellfish.

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 10/10 · 22 April 2006]

Several of Roscoe Arbuckle's films have titles which became cruelly ironic in the hindsight of his 1921 trial for manslaughter: notably 'The Life of the Party' and this two-reeler, 'He Did and He Didn't'. There's a famous photograph of Arbuckle in evening dress, gaping in horror as he drops Mabel Normand down a staircase. That photo is a publicity still from 'He Did and He Didn't', though it doesn't actually correspond to any scene in the film as it now exists.

Arbuckle rose to film stardom playing boobs, rubes and bumpkins. By 1916, he had autonomy over his own films and was able to impose some tastefulness. Here, he plays a dignified and wealthy suburban doctor, in a loving marriage to Normand. But then Jack, her handsome beau from high-school days, arrives. There are no 'fat boy' jokes here. Instead, Arbuckle uses underplayed and sensitive acting to compare himself unfavourably to the leaner and manlier Jack. It's clear that Arbuckle's character loves his wife deeply but is (in some unspoken manner) unable to satisfy her, possibly down to sexual impotence. When Jack arrives to stay the weekend, the three of them sit down to a dinner of lobsters -- allegedly a male aphrodisiac -- prompting Mabel to comment that they'll all likely have nightmares.

SPOILERS COMING. Arbuckle (in a car with right-hand drive) is lured to a remote location on a ruse, so that he'll be away when burglars invade his house. It's up to Jack to defend the fair Mabel. Arbuckle returns home, distraught, and then -- believing that his wife has cuckolded him -- he calmly strangles her. This scene is immensely disturbing in its own right, and even more disturbing in the light of Arbuckle's real-life tragedy a few years later.

The payoff: remember those lobsters? Sure enough, it WAS all a nightmare ... and Mabel has remained faithful to her husband. There's a good performance by Rube Miller as Arbuckle's saturnine butler, and Al St John's tumbling skills get a protracted showcase here. 'He Did and He Didn't' is an astonishing film: quite removed from the lowbrow slapstick of Arbuckle's early Keystone efforts, yet still extremely funny. Watching this movie, I deeply regret that Arbuckle's career was so tragically and unfairly terminated just as he was nearing the heights of his talents. I'll rate this fine funny movie 10 out of 10.

Good Film

[Michael_Elliott · 10 March 2008]

He Did and He Didn't (1916)

*** (out of 4)

Extremely black comedy about an overweight doctor (Fatty Arbuckle) who eats too much and then dreams that his wife (Mabel Normand) is cheating on him. If you go through the films of Fatty Arbuckle then you're going to notice that he usually played soft, good guys but when he was given a chance to do something else he usually really delivered. This could be playing a hobo, a drunk or the rather crazy character here. I think this film works so well simply because it's something you're not used to seeing him do. There were a few funny scenes throughout but when it's not working in regards to laughs it still remains interesting just because of how dark it is and how it goes about trying to get laughs (murder, abuse and other dark targets).

I didn't. Not at all.

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 25 January 2017]

"He Did and He Didn't" is an American live action short film from 1916 and as this one had its 100th anniversary last year, it is of course a silent black-and-white film. This one features some of the great names in the cast from back in the day, namely Fatty Arbuckle (who is also the director), Mabel Normand and Al St. John. This one originally ran for 20 minutes, but the version I saw was a couple minutes longer, so I guess they just reduced the fps overall. It's nothing uncommon for silent (short) films. Anyway, this one here has a major problem: intertitles, or I could maybe say the lack thereof. And when there is one, it usually only includes 2 or 3 words, if at all. I don't think that's acceptable and the consequence is that it is virtually impossible to understand what is happening here in terms of the plot, no matter how good the actors may be or how hard they try. And they sure try very hard here. There is a good deal of overacting in this little movie, but that's nothing too common for the black-and-white silent film genre either. I generally was really unimpressed by the performances I sadly have to say. Even Normand, a personal favorite of mine left me cold this time. Admittedly, she did not have as much to work with here, in terms of both quantity and quality. Anyway, I also like Arbuckle a lot more than I did here usually. So yeah this was not a good watch and 4 stars out of 10 is still very much on the generous side. Not recommended.

Dark Comedy

[boblipton · 10/10 · 14 September 2002]

This is one of the remarkable short comedies that Arbuckle turned out at the end of his contract at Keystone while he was in New Jersey, far from Sennett's grasp: quite possibly the best. Elaborate, realistic sets, varieties of characterizations -- here he plays an irascible doctor who is jealous of wife Mabel's old boyfriend --and the darkest lighting in a comedy until BRINGING UP BABY combine to produce a comedy far from Keystone's frenetic mold.

Add in Arbuckle's casual gags and the result is an excellent comedy that is still highly watchable -- except, of course, when you are trying to make sense of real-life nephew Al St. John's awful mugging and high-speed rowdyism. Still, the man can take a fall.

Not as laugh-out-loud funny as some of Arbuckle's other work, but relatively subtle

[sno-smari-m · 8/10 · 23 March 2006]

If you have never seen a film with Roscoe Arbuckle, HE DID AND HE DIDN'T is not my foremost recommendation to begin an acquaintance. Instead, I would rather recommend titles such as FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT, LOVE or THE GARAGE. These short comedies are some of the most amusing from the era, providing plenty of pure, often clever fun. That said, HE DID AND HE DIDN'T is still one of the best films Arbuckle made during this period, but somewhat uncharacteristic; rather than the time-typical slapstick, we are offered a more subtle kind of humor.

The idyllic family life of Roscoe and his wife (as usual played by Mabel Normand) is suddenly interrupted when a childhood sweetheart of the former turns up. The man, whose name is Jack, is invited to dinner, making Roscoe jealous, but his reactions do not resemble what one would expect in a Keystone-film; rather than hit and kick, he stares solemnly into the eyes of Jack while slowly eating. When Mabel offers Jack to sleep over for the night, Roscoe's had it; he takes his coat and storms off, Mabel being unable to convince him that Jack doesn't mean anything to her any more. Of course, a little bit of mayhem in traditional Keystone-manner is soon thrown in, but does not last for long; upon Roscoe's return, he finds Mabel in the arms of Jack, and his reaction is thoroughly underplayed. I do not regard it as an exaggeration to claim that these moments arguably prove that Roscoe would have been very capable of doing some other kind of acting than comedy, had he wanted to.

Of course, a strong case could be made that HE DID AND HE DIDN'T is plain parody. The very fact that Mabel apparently has genuine feelings for Jack as an adult even though they were *childhood* sweethearts and have not met since, suggests this. Even so, the parody is sufficiently underplayed that the intrigue actually feels more engaging than that found in many authentic dramas of the same period. Arbuckle's direction is quite sophisticated (in fact, he was the most sophisticated comedy director besides Chaplin at this point) and so is his acting. (This review has later been revised and updated, Dec. 2012)

a sophisticated comedy from Arbuckle

[kidboots · 8/10 · 22 May 2008]

I am just starting to familiarise myself with silent films. This comedy short was on the DVD I purchased, with "Mickey" .

I love Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton but I am unfamiliar with comedy from the very early years - apart from Charlie Chaplin and the zany chases from the Keystone Cops. This was quite amazing, almost a sophisticated comedy from Fatty Arbuckle. The subtleties of acting for this 1916 comedy were, I thought, quite advanced.

Fatty plays a doctor, who along with his cute wife, Mabel Normand lives in a comfortable home. The whole look of the comedy was, I thought, very real (there were no obvious cheap sets - the house looked real, the roads looked real - nothing looked fake.)

Things don't seem to be going too well between them at the start. Mabel seems loving but giddy and when a childhood friend comes for a visit, Mabel and he begin to flirt. Fatty becomes quite jealous and tears up a photo that Mabel had given Jack. They sit down to a lobster dinner, joking that it might give them nightmares.

Meanwhile two thieves plan to rob the doctor's house. One, pretending to be lame asks to see the doctor, while the other does the thieving - but the doctor soon discovers the ruse and sends the "cripple" about his business. One of the thieves rings the doctor and gets him out of the house on a bogus house call.

When Fatty is out the robber (Al St. John) hides under Mabel's bed. She goes to Jack for protection and there is an extremely funny sequence involving the robber jumping, running, swinging from the chandelier - doing anything he can to dodge the bullets from Jack's badly aimed gun. Fatty returns home to find Mabel and Jack (having sent the robbers fleeing from the house) holding hands and he believes that was why he was called from the house. More gun play ensues and the comedy turns quite black as Fatty decides the world would be a better place with Mabel and Jack not in it!!!

I won't spoil the end but the whole comedy (apart from Al St. John's wonderful comedic acrobatics) is one of subtle acting and nuances from Arbuckle. It is a wonderful little film and I can recommend it.

Clever & Amusing

[Snow Leopard · 2 August 2005]

This clever and amusing short comedy features engaging performances from Roscoe Arbuckle and Mabel Normand, with some good slapstick and entertaining story ideas. Al St. John also appears, in the kind of hyper-energy roughneck role that was typical of his earlier years.

Arbuckle and Normand play a doctor and his wife, and as usual they seem very natural in the role, showing the mutual affection and occasional peevishness that immediately tell us all about their marriage. They are joined by an old friend of the wife's (William Jefferson), and later they tangle with St. John's character.

The plot is purely lightweight, but it has some clever turns, it makes good use of the settings, and it provides Arbuckle and Normand with some good material, both in their interactions with each other and by themselves. The overall effect is a light but quite entertaining feature.

A better than usual Arbuckle short

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 17 July 2006]

This is a better than usual Fatty Arbuckle film because the plot is different--so many of his Keystone films look awfully similar and this one is unique. Dr. Arbuckle's wife has a childhood boyfriend that comes to visit. Despite being happily married, Fatty is jealous. And, in some very odd scenes, his worst nightmares come true,...however, they actually DO appear to be nightmares. The old flame is really a nice guy and Fatty finally realizes this and welcomes the guy when he awakens from these bad dreams.

While the way these dreams aren't integrated perfectly, it is still a great idea and a lot of fun to watch. This is one of the few cases where there is a pistol that shoots dozens of times without reloading (a common thing in Arbuckle films) that makes sense, since this is part of a dream and dreams DON'T need to make sense!