Fatty and Mabel Adrift

Fatty and Mabel Adrift
Theatrical poster to Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916)
Directed by	Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Produced by	Mack Sennett
Written by	Roscoe "Fatty' Arbuckle
Starring	Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle Mabel Normand Al St. John Joe Bordeaux Jimmy Bryant Glen Cavender Luke the Dog Frank Hayes Wayland Trask Mai Wells
Production company	Keystone Studios
Distributed by	Triangle Film Corporation
Release dates	January 9, 1916
Running time	34 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English (original intertitles)

Fatty and Mabel Adrift is a 1916 Keystone short comedy film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, and Al St. John.

Plot

The story involves Arbuckle as a farm boy marrying his sweetheart, Normand. They have their honeymoon with Fatty's dog Luke, at a cottage on the seashore. At high tide that night, Al St. John (Fatty's rival) and his confederates set the cottage adrift. Fatty and Mabel awaken the next morning to find themselves surrounded by water in their bedroom, and the house afloat.

Cast

Scene from Fatty and Mabel Adrift

• Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle as Fatty
• Mabel Normand as Mabel
• Al St. John as Hiram Perkins' son
• Joe Bordeaux as Henchman
• Jimmy Bryant as Henchman
• Glen Cavender as I. Landem, Realtor
• Luke the Dog as himself
• Frank Hayes as Mabel's father
• Wayland Trask as Brutus Bombastic, Chief Criminal
• Mai Wells as Mabel's mother (as May Wells)

Critical response

Roscoe and Mabel receive a surprise.

Variety gave the films a positive review, commenting that "the picture is amusing with some new and good effects, without the customary dose of messy slapstick one expects in a Keystone with these principals."

As was often the case in contemporary reviews of Arbuckle films, the direction of the film is singled out for praise, though it is not mentioned that Arbuckle himself is the director. The review mentions "a dandy lightning storm is a feature of the film and there are some pretty views of breakers rushing on to the shore."

The review found Al St. John's performance not as good as his usual work for Keystone, but added "The picture is a sure laugh maker and as it is fairly clean, it is the more worthy."^[1]

Fatty and Mabel Adrift was the closing movie of the 56-film Arbuckle retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in April and May 2006 and was cited by the curators in the introductory remarks as their favorite of Arbuckle's work.

See also

• List of American films of 1916
• Fatty Arbuckle filmography
• Dave Douglas' Keystone (album), a new soundtrack for the film.

References

1. "Fatty and Mabel Adrift" (film review) in Variety Weekly. February 4, 1916.

External links

• Fatty and Mabel Adrift at the Internet Movie Database
• Fatty and Mabel Adrift available for free download at Internet Archive