The Cook (1918) User Reviews

Comedy served up with all the trimmings

[wmorrow59 · 8/10 · 17 January 2007]

What I love about this movie is that it feels like a live action cartoon, one of those Betty Boop-style cartoons where everyone seems to be made of rubber, and even the cars and buildings come to life and bounce to the music. That isn't exactly what happens in The Cook, but it sure is the "cartooniest" comedy Roscoe Arbuckle & Buster Keaton made together. This was the last short Buster appeared in before he shipped off to France for military service in the First World War, so it's all the more striking that everyone appears to be having so much fun. The Cook has a party atmosphere that's contagious, even now.

Most of the action is set in a medium-sized restaurant, where the clientèle is respectable and there's a jazz combo on hand to entertain. Roscoe is the cook, and this of course gives him the opportunity to perform a medley of his favorite food prep gags: flipping pancakes high in the air and catching them behind his back, playing "hacky-sack" with wads of dough, etc. Buster is the waiter, and we're treated to several close-ups that reveal just how amazingly handsome he was at this point in his life. The Cook isn't as violent as some of the other Keaton & Arbuckle shorts, but there's a gag early on that made me gasp: Roscoe is using a meat cleaver to chop a large fish, and when Buster unexpectedly flies headlong into the kitchen and lands on the chopping block, Roscoe brings the cleaver down on his neck! No harm done, however, just like cartoons.

The highlight is an impromptu musical number. An exotic dancer in an Arabian costume is performing for the customers, and although Buster is busy waiting tables the music inspires him to participate. His pseudo-Egyptian "snake dance" is great fun to watch, but back in the kitchen Roscoe manages to top him when he joins in, transforming common kitchen items into a Cleopatra costume. (He also works in a reference to Salome, using a cabbage as the head of John the Baptist.) Most of Roscoe's dance isn't visible to the patrons, he's just clowning back in the back for his own amusement -- and ours, of course. When he dances into the dining room and enhances his act by smashing plates no one is especially shocked or even much surprised, and the finale is greeted with a vigorous round of applause. The mood is downright giddy. Unfortunately the mood darkens when scuzzy Al St. John shows up and manhandles pretty cashier Alice Lake, but the staff at this establishment knows how to handle the undesirable element, and Luke the Dog is soon on call to teach the tough guy some manners. The next sequence features Roscoe, Buster, and two restaurant staffers eating spaghetti in a variety of funny ways; they turn a long strand into an impromptu clothes-line, Roscoe gets the food mixed up with his tie, etc. That's the joy of this film, there's no plot to worry about and no reason to hurry: these guys seem to have all the time in the world to sit around and perform clever gags. (Incidentally, the staffer with the big mustache is John Rand, familiar from a number of Chaplin films; Laurel & Hardy fans will recognize the other gent as Bobby Dunn, the cheerful shoplifter from Tit For Tat.)

The finale takes place in a nearby amusement park, where customers are borne in goat-carts. Al St. John reappears to menace Alice, so Luke obligingly reappears to menace Al. The last shots of the film are missing, unfortunately, but we're lucky we're able to see this much; The Cook was believed to be gone forever until the 1990s, when a portion of the film was found, and that section was matched up with another newly discovered fragment in 2002. The result is a funny and light-hearted comedy, offering modern day buffs a pleasant reunion with two great comedians supported by familiar colleagues, all having a blast.

Keaton steals the show.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 8/10 · 25 December 2006]

I may be biased toward Buster Keaton since I have seen so many more of his films than of Fatty Arbuckle's, but I think that he was a far better physical comedian than Fatty was. Arbuckle performs some astonishing tricks as the cook, flipping pancakes behind his back and tossing utensils and such, and he should be recognized for this as well as his tremendous contributions to silent comedies. Both actors have much stronger works, but this is a clean short comedy, surprisingly well restored for having been sitting lost in some attic for more than 70 years. It makes me wish I was around back then, when the magic in Hollywood was still alive.

Once believed lost, very funny short has emerged

[archiveguy · 8/10 · 22 October 2000]

Long believed lost, an extended fragment of "The Cook" has been found, and it confirms how graceful Fatty could be, this time slaving over a hot stove and casually throwing prepared items to an equally blase Buster. Though the film closes at a pier-based amusement park, the kitchen antics are best, with the highlight being two dance pieces--Fatty's tribute to Salome (with salami) and Buster's hilarious rug-cutting with a belly dancer. The vicious (but not malicious) dog is good, too.

Most of The Cook was a wonderful discovery of a previously lost Arbuckle/Keaton film

[tavm · 7/10 · 21 July 2009]

Until 1998, this short silent comedy starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle with support from Buster Keaton and Al St. John was considered lost. Watch in amazement as Arbuckle tosses food to Keaton who just catches them on his plate effortlessly. Watch them both dance to the music of the jazz band as Buster impersonates the female dancer next to him and Roscoe does the same with Buster while fitting pots and pans and broom and dustpan on himself. Oh, and throw in some sausage and cabbage while you're at it! By the way, the most shockingly funny bit was when Arbuckle almost chops Buster's neck off! You'll just have to watch this short to know what I mean. I did notice some scenes still missing like when Buster was taking that bass from one of the African-American musicians and was targeting it at St. John. The later amusement park scenes also had some missing sequences though the titles explained what happened at the end. That setup wasn't as funny though there were still some decent laughs. So on that note, I recommend The Cook.

Light and Loose, The Cook is All About the Laughs

[drqshadow-reviews · 7/10 · 18 August 2020]

The epitome of Arbuckle and Keaton's flash-over-substance tendencies. Every last storytelling beat exists solely to maneuver the comic duo into a new backdrop for adlibs and pratfalls. Silent comedy two-reelers will never be known for their rich themes and steep character arcs, but The Cook seems egregious even by those low standards.

Which isn't to say it's without merit. Actually, I really enjoyed myself. The bulk of the film finds our heroes working a high-end restaurant - Arbuckle in the kitchen, Keaton waiting tables - and, despite revisiting a few bits from their first partnership in 1917's The Butcher Boy, remains largely original, averaging a laugh every quarter-minute. It's stuffed with comic gold, from the little throwaway gags (Fatty tossing finished meals over his shoulder, Buster smoothly snatching them from the air) to the more elaborate productions (an explosive, dish-smashing dance number before a raucous dining room). Arbuckle's famous pet bull terrier, distinguished enough to merit his own lengthy Wikipedia entry, even enjoys a few wonderful guest spots as the mayhem spills out to the streets and beyond.

The Cook is great fun - pure, unchained visceral comedy - if you can shut your mind to the dumb plot and just enjoy the sheer physical spectacle of it all.

What's Cookin'?

[SendiTolver · 6/10 · 29 August 2018]

'The Cook' as the title refers tells the story of the cook, Roscoe Arbuckle in the titular role, and Buster Keaton gives him wonderful support as a waiter, and Al St. John is there to make trouble again. The film starts in the kitchen of some restaurant where Fatty works, and where he produces different kinds of foods and drinks (coffee and soup are coming from the same tap) from the same vat, and the series ends with him taking out his jacket from the same receptacle. Fantastic scene with the dancer, where Buster takes over, until Fatty who decorates himself with pots and pans causes havoc with his moves. Soon the two friends journey out from the restaurant to again save the girl from the grips of evil Al St. John.

Enjoyable slapstick romp.

much better than average slipstick era short

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 25 May 2006]

Read the trivia section of the IMDb listing for this film--it's really interesting how this silent short somehow survived to only be recently discovered.

The is a Fatty Arbuckle film with assistance from perennial support players, Buster Keaton and Al St. John. It's interesting how much silent comedies had evolved over just a few short years. In 1914, most comedy shorts were incoherent snippets with little plot and lots of slapping and kicking. But 1917-1918, the films, though still short, had real plots and weren't all stupid slapstick (falls, punches, kicks, etc.). This film is an excellent example of a decent well-plotted comedy of this era. Fatty is a cook at a restaurant and lots of silly things occur both here and when he takes a trip to a very strange amusement park late in the film (where people ride around in carts pulled by goats). My personal favorite scenes involve Fatty's dog chasing the bully.

This isn't a great film--Fatty and other silent comedians did better films, but for having a coherent plot and excellent pacing, it's a film worth seeing. If you want to see a GREAT Arbuckle comedy, try finding a copy of FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT--the best one of his shorts I have seen.

What silent comedy should be

[chucksalty · 9/10 · 23 May 2003]

I was amazed at the effortlessness and grace of this "lost and found" Fatty Arbuckle-Buster Keaton comedy. The first reel is particularly hilarious, with Fatty cooking and juggling his utensils, "flipping a flap" onto waiter Buster's plate. A less inhibited Buster also provides a spontaneous, exotic dance. And, as usual, Arbuckle's nephew, Al St. John, heartily contributes to the anarchy.

One get the sense that these three men (along with Luke the dog) had the time of their lives designing such memorable slapstick!

This treat ranks alongside "The Garage" has one of the best Keaton-Arbuckle shorts!

Arbuckle & Keaton

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 11 July 2009]

Arbuckle's the star and has the writing credit, but given the more subtle humour on show I can't help feeling that the young Buster Keaton - only one year into his movie career after spending most of his life in vaudeville, and already relegating Arbuckle's former sidekick Al St. John to a less significant role - had quite a lot of input. Before Keaton came along Arbuckle's movies were a parade of slapstick and pratfalls - funny, but mostly unremarkable - but after Buster the humour in their films became increasingly sophisticated.

It almost seems as if they shared the film here: Buster's more intelligent humour supplying the restaurant dance scenes, with Arbuckle's influence taking centre stage in the final scenes set at Coney Island. That's only conjecture on my part, of course.

Either way, the film is an above average comedy. There's no real plot to speak of, just a string of loosely related scenes culminating in a spectacular chase and rescue sequence that takes place on a gigantic roller-coaster. Some of Keaton's acrobatics in this part of the film are incredible, practically somersaulting in mid-walk at one point. It might not be the greatest comedy short of the silent era, but The Cook is definitely one of the best.

Talented duo/trio, but this one isn't a winner

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 13 April 2017]

"The Cook" is an American movie from 1918, so it will have its 100th anniversary next year and at this age it is of course still a silent black-and-white film. And it includes some of the big names from that era, most of all Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who wrote, directed and acted in here. His co-stars are Buster Keaton and Al St. John, silent film greats in their own right. The title already gives away that this is a bit of a culinary comedy. But sadly, it is never a film that is going to wet your mouth really. It's basically sketch comedy from start to finish and I think this film could have done with a better story/plot. Or if I were mean I could say with a story/plot in general. Not even the comedic talent of the protagonists can make up for that unfortunately. Intertitles could have been more frequent too, a common problem of films from that time, and when there were some, then they really included extremely little text for this film as if letters were expensive, so they tried to keep them down. I like Buster's and Fatty's physical presence usually more than I do here (not really a connection with ASJ), so I don't think this one deserves to be among their most known which it probably is. Not recommended. Thumbs-down and it's only worth checking out for the very biggest fans of the protagonists and old silent films.

In Every Way A Masterpiece In The Art Of Slapstick

[janek303 · 10/10 · 25 October 2006]

This is one movie I never will forget. It scores a 10 in all departments: Choreography (unbelievable !), Pacing (Fast and Accurate), Weird (the rendition of "salome" with kitchen stuff as costume, coming out of nowhere, is by far the most decadent stuff to be ever put on a Silent Movie - I mean: Fatty Arbuckle is Genius !) I would have wanted to roll on the floor laughing but it was not possible, because I couldn't get my eyes off the screen, I was THAT amazed by the furious things Buster and Fatty are doing all the time. The humor is outstanding. This Masterpiece was long time vanished, but for god's sake found again. It was the first movie I saw from Fatty, so after that I was a huge fan of him. And Buster - never saw a guy who was more fitting in Slapstick. This Movie is one hell of a ride - GO SEE IT !!!!!

The Cook

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 17 March 2024]

Arbuckle is the cook, Keaton is the waiter. The restaurant? Well that's a glorified café with a limited menu but some customers who clearly think they're in the Waldorf. That's not an accusation that could be levelled against the two staff members who spend much of their time mucking about causing quite a bit of wreckage and mayhem as they go. With the floor now bestrewn with crockery, an hoodlum arrives with designs on the gal and so the two men must team up with the maître-d' and their dog "Luke" and chase him away! There's a great deal of energy in this charming short feature from a very natural looking Arbuckle. He has an agility and nimbleness as he dances around the kitchen, cracking eggs whilst indulging in some knife throwing. Keaton, too, is clearly having some fun as they invent the world's first spaghetti laundry but I suppose it has to be the ladder-climbing dog that steals the story! "A restful afternoon"? Well maybe not for the carriage-pulling goats - and, of course, there just had to be a roller-coaster and a damsel in distress to rescue too!

Arbuckle the genius

[Spuzzlightyear · 10/10 · 12 October 2004]

Although I am somewhat biased towards Harold Lloyd, I'm SERIOUSLY infatuated with Fatty Arbuckle comedies now. With a man his size, he was enormously agile, fearless and funny. This is plainly evident in The Cook, a classic example of his often riotous teamings with Stone Face, Buster Keaton. Essentially a bunch of gags which revolve around a restaurant, then an amusement park, Arbuckle just astounded me with his stunt work and clever slight of hand (his cooking stills was outstanding!). And oh dear, this movie is too funny. Many many pratfalls, comedic situations, and great comedic timing.. Seek it out if you can, it's a riot.

Roscoe, Buster, Al, Alice and Luke the dog star in a funny 2 reeler.

[weezeralfalfa · 8/10 · 20 August 2018]

Just the year before(1917), film comedian Roscoe Arbuckle(he hated to be called Fatty) was introduced to veteran vaudevillian Buster Keaton, and the latter was invited to participate in a series of 2 reeler comedies. Thus was born the first (to my knowledge)of a series of famous 2 man comedy teams, in which one was fat and the other skinny or average. Other examples through the years include Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and Jackie Gleason and Art Carney. In this film, Roscoe continued to employ his nephew Al St. John as a third lead, in this case, as the villain, who danced roughly with Alice, and chased her on the roller coaster by the ocean, causing her to make a high dive into shallow water. With the coming of sound, Al switched to roles in westerns, eventually staring in a long list of B westerns , as Fuzzy, sidekick to several cowboy heroes, including Buster Crabb........In this film, which was lost for decades until a near complete copy was found in an attic in 1999, Roscoe plays a very dexterous restaurant cook, who flips pancakes up in the air and catches them behind his back, then slings them to Keaton, on the other side of the kitchen, who catches them on a plate, to be served. Roscoe does the same with ham and eggs, after bouncing the rotund eggs off the floor. Roscoe even flings cups of coffee across the room, which Keaton catches.......A young lady provides some hooche cooche dancing. Later, Keaton joins her in dancing. Roscoe then dresses himself up with pots and pans and such, with a bowl on his head, and dances a bit.......Al St. John arrives, as 'tough' guy, and dances roughly with Alice, spinning her around, off her feet, until she hits Keaton. Luke, the dog, then locks his jaws on the seat of Al's pants, as Al swings around, as he had done with Alice. Luke finally is induced to let go, so that Al can run outside. But Luke soon chases, as they go round and round a building, until Al quickly scampers up a long ladder. Luke follows , at a slower pace. Surprisingly, that's the end of this scene. .....Next, Roscoe, Keaton, and another man are eating spaghetti, using various methods to tame the stringy mess. One cuts them with scissors. Another cuts thern with an egg beater. Eventually, Al, followed by Luke, fall in the middle of this springy table, Luke having chased Al to the roof(like a continuation of the previous scene)......Next, Roscoe gets out his absurdly long fishing pole, and rides, with Luke, in a goat-pulled cart to the ocean for some surf fishing. Along the way, he knocks some people down with his pole. Meanwhile, Alice rides in another goat-pulled cart, to the adjacent amusement park. She gets on the roller coaster, alone, but villainous Al gets on the next car, and chases her. At a peak, she gets off and climbs to a vantage point above the ocean, and dives off. Rosco and Keaton busy themselves trying to find rope or lifesaver, as they don't seem to swim. Finally, they steal a rope, tie one end around Roscoe, while Keaton jumps off the pier with the other end. Roscoe gets pulled into the water. We don't find out if they saved Alice.......See it on YouTube or commercial DVD.

A must for Fatty Arbuckle fans

[psteier · 8/10 · 1 December 2000]

You may have seen some of the kitchen gags, but there are many that are new. Highlights include an extended parody of Salome (probably the 1918 Theda Bara version), Keaton dancing in vaudeville style, Arbuckle throwing plates of food to Keaton, and some location shots of a seaside resort.

Oldtime Mayhem

[Shimakaneda · 9/10 · 13 January 2009]

The Cook had been presumed lost for decades, until fragments of it turned up in both the Netherlands and Norway. I for one am very happy that most of this silent film was found and restored!

It's a typical Arbuckle/Keaton production, which is to say *wonderful.* Being a fan of both, it was very interesting for me to see the first filmed instance of the Cleopatra routine, which was later attributed only to Keaton; this film inclines me to believe it was originally Arbuckle's shtick. Whatever the case is of who dreamed up the gag first, it's very well done by both of them and the rest of the usual cast in Arbuckle/Keaton collaborations.

Parts of this film reminded me very much of their Coney Island to the point where I suspect footage from Coney Island was used to supplement whatever was missing from The Cook. I don't have both films available to compare, and I'm probably wrong. I'm just saying there are amusement park scenes which look very familiar.

One thing that both films do have in common, however, is a few frames of Buster Keaton smiling, contrary to the legend that he never smiled on film. Keaton did indeed smile in these early films (The Cook and Coney Island), in the years before his stoic persona completely gelled. And he has a gorgeous smile!

Oh, another comedic gag in this film that appears in very early Keaton films is the "pie fight,"although in this particular case it isn't pie but vanilla ice cream being thrown. I'd read somewhere that Keaton did not do pie throwing, but he did engage in food fighting in his early films to great effect, including this one and The Butcher (flour). Buster and Keaton are both master acrobats. One doesn't view this level of physical artistry in contemporary films.

The Cook was a lovely little romp. I'd recommend it to just about anyone.

Buster's Last Film Before Shipping Out To WW1

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 12 September 2021]

The pairing of Buster Keaton and Roscoe Arbuckle was fast becoming the most popular attraction on the movie screen in 1918. Fans flocked to the theaters in droves to witness the latest antics of the two genius comedians. Once the call for Americans to volunteer for the Great War kicked in earnest, Keaton decided to enlist in the United States Army. His reporting date for training at Camp Kearney, California, was July 24, 1918.

Before leaving, Keaton filmed what would be his final movie for several months, "The Cook," released in September 1918. Taking elements from his earlier 1916 "The Waiter's Ball," Arbuckle returned to familiar grounds of being a cook in a restaurant while expanding upon scenes in an amusement park. "The Cook" also served as showcase for one of the first inside jokes of a parody from a recent popular film, Theda Bara's "Cleopatra" of the previous year. Fatty dresses up like the Egyptian queen using kitchen implements and imitates Bara's emotional death scene by taking a long string of sausages, symbolizing an asp, and applying the end of the link onto his breast underneath a frying pan. Frustrated by the ineffectual poison of the meat, Arbuckle proceeds to eat the entire sausage link.

Keaton was shipped out to Europe after his training session in California. During his tour overseas, he slept in drafty tents, resulting in deafness in one ear. When the war was over in November 1918, the Army brass decided to keep the film star in Europe to entertain the remaining troops. His most popular act was "The Snake Dance," where Buster was dressed as an Egyptian dancer engaging with Theo The Snake--a long length of link sausage. If that sounds familiar, the sequence is exactly what appeared in "The Cook" when Keaton was dancing with Arbuckle in the kitchen appearing as ancient hopalong Egyptians.

Don't miss this gem

[scsu1975 · 8/10 · 30 November 2022]

This is one of the funniest shorts I've seen. Fatty plays a cook, Buster a waiter, at a hotel. The first several minutes of this thing are absolutely hilarious, with Fatty and Buster combining on some incredible bits. Fatty is quite adept at flipping food over the shoulder, between his legs, and into Buster's waiting hands. Then Fatty improvises a dance number in the kitchen. It was at this point that my wife looked up from her cell phone, and started laughing hysterically. Eventually, she asked me "who is this guy? He's funny!" Later, we see multiple ways of eating spaghetti, which had never occurred to me (and I'm Italian.) Al St. John, as a villain, is constantly chased by a dog, and the climax takes place in an amusement park.

Hilarious!

Brilliant

[gbill-74877 · 9/10 · 2 April 2023]

The Cook is choppy in places because scenes are missing and on top of it the short doesn't have much of a story, but what a little treasure it is. Roscoe Arbuckle reprises a role as a cook from The Waiter's Ball (1916), but improves upon it, helped considerably by the appearance of Buster Keaton this time around. Arbuckle shows a flair to all his actions, flipping stuff between his legs and behind his back, as well as launching various food and drinks across the room to his waiter (Keaton). He also almost cuts Buster's head off with a comically large cleaver. Meanwhile, Keaton tries to make time with female customers, bellows customers' orders into the kitchen, and deftly catches everything thrown to him. The smoothness of this team's physical comedy is a delight to watch.

However, the real highlight - and one of my all-time favorite sequences for Buster Keaton - occurs at 5:05, when he begins dancing alongside an "exotic" dancer in the restaurant entertaining the diners. I almost gasped watching this scene, as Buster's moves were so stylish and modern it almost looked like a deepfake. After comedically falling over, he keeps it up with King Tut-like moves and some hip swiveling in the kitchen that's as hilarious as it is skillful. The whole thing is pure gold. Arbuckle then performs a little dance of his own with strategically placed cookware, creating a drag look of sorts. He mashes together elements of Salome, the head of St. John the Baptist coming in the form of a giant cabbage, and Theda Bara's Cleopatra from the year before, the deadly asp in the form of a string of sausages, which was funny in its own right.

There is also an amusing scene with the fellas finding creative ways to eat spaghetti. Keaton puts his in a cup, trims the excess, and makes like it's tea time. Arbuckle winds individual strands around his fingers and then puts them into his mouth. Keaton helps out a fellow diner by using giant shears to trip off the ends dangling down from below his mouth. Arbuckle dumps a plateful into a funnel to help his neighbor. All funny stuff, from two masters.

The action gets a little scattered with the appearance of a "hold-up man" (Al St. John), but it opens the door for a fine appearance for Arbuckle's pit bull terrier Luke, who gets a good amount of screen time chasing the robber around buildings and up ladders. I love seeing these old amusement parks in films from this era, and here we get a glimpse of various exhibits like Goatland (goat drawn carts) and the Jackrabbit Racer roller coaster. Arbuckle out in the surf with the giant fishing pole and his dog on a small post, backlit, was also a wonderful sequence. That was also quite a high dive off the coaster railing from whoever the stunt double was for Alice Lake. The ending was a bit abrupt but I didn't mind at all, enamored as I was by everything that had come before it.

It's hard to fathom Buster Keaton being drafted and sent off to WWI, but that was the backdrop for this film, his last for a full year (quite a drought in those days, considering he had made 11 with Arbuckle in less than a year and a half). He was classified 1-A in April, 1918 and called to duty in June, but was granted a two week delay in induction so that he could complete The Cook, which wrapped in early July. Less than two months later he would be in France, but mercifully didn't see any fighting. "(I got) just close enough to hear it, but by the time I hit the front, the Germans were in retreat, which was a great thing," he would say. Unfortunately, all of the time spent on "chilly floors of old mills, barns, and stables" with the troops (as James Curtis described it in his biography of Keaton) resulted in Buster getting an infection the permanently impaired his hearing. Reading about how he conducted himself as a soldier was inspiring. He took it seriously and earned a promotion, then after the armistice entertained the soldiers with his version of the dance Arbuckle had done in this film, which knowing about was the cherry on top to enjoying The Cook over a century later.

Fun Short Feature

[Snow Leopard · 13 February 2003]

This is a fun short feature, and having it restored is a nice bonus for anyone who enjoys the Keaton/Arbuckle comedies. While hardly refined, it has some entertaining material, and most of it works well. As "The Cook", Arbuckle gets to do some of his trademark tricks in the kitchen, and then he, Buster (as a waiter) and Alice Lake (as a waitress) get involved in a series of escapades with a villain played by Al St. John. Luke the dog also gets in on the fun, and while a lot of it is pretty goofy, the light-hearted style works well enough, and makes it enjoyable to watch.

Salami Salome

[Tinlizzy · 16 August 2004]

Buster Keaton walks like an Egyptian and sips spaghetti from a teacup. Fatty Arbuckle shifts from cootch dancer to Salome to Cleopatra...(the snake gets bitten) and performs acrobatics with pancakes and knives, nearly decapitating Buster in the process. Which is to say this is a record of a pretty typical day on the Comique lot, circa 1918. Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton made some of the most violent films ever shot...and it's a wonder that they walked away from some of them in one piece. THE COOK is amusing, and it is a remarkable job of restoration, so if you are a completist for either Keaton or Arbuckle it's worth having. Not their best, but it's good cartoon fun.

The 15th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival, David Jeffers for SIFFblog.com

[rdjeffers · 3 July 2010]

Dinner at The Bull Pup

Saturday July 17, 10am, The Castro, San Francisco

A cook (Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle) and waiter (Buster Keaton) stoically go about their jobs with reckless abandon and silliness. A rough character (Al St. John) disrupts their enterprise, harasses the waitress (Alice Lake) and the cook's dog runs him off.

Arbuckle demonstrates why he was the king of slapstick in The Cook, executing a series of hilarious gags with flawless timing and agility. He magically serves everything from the same tureen including, soup, coffee, milk, ice cream, gravy and his jacket when he leaves. Orders are tossed blindly through the air to the waiter, who never spills a drop. Keaton mimics the entertainment and Arbuckle can't resist joining in the Egyptian dance with hilarious references to Salome and Cleopatra. Additional scenes from this fragment, re-discovered in 1997 (the ending remains lost), feature their lunch break (how many ways can you eat spaghetti?) and a trip to a seaside amusement park.