While I've seen Mabel Normand is some feature silent-movie compilations from Robert Youngston, this is the first time I've seen her in an entire film. Both she and Fatty Arbuckle provide some good chemistry as they get some ice cream (which Fatty pays with a coin he snuck from the register after Mabel inadvertently stole some ice cream earlier), go down some slides (with Fatty accidentally hitting a cop who hates him and accidentally lands on Mabel too), and meet her parents (with the father hating a friend of Fatty's, Edgar Kennedy, because of an earlier encounter and likewise for the mother with Fatty). Not too much logic here but this short is fast-moving and pretty amusing throughout with a nice reverse-film sequence of Fatty sliding up. Only a brief blackface sequence partially ruined Mabel's Willful Way for me. Recommended for any silent film buff.
Review of Mabel's Wilful Way
