The Butcher Boy is a 1917

1917 in film

The year 1917 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Foundation of Universum Film AG , as a propaganda film company, in Berlin.*Technicolor System 1, a two-color process, is introduced...

 short comedy film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton

Buster Keaton

Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...

. This was the first in Arbuckle's series of films with the Comique Film Corporation, and Keaton's film debut.

Plot

The story involves Arbuckle working as the butcher boy in a country store. He falls in love with the cashier, who is the daughter of the store owner. He follows her, disguised as a female cousin, to an all-girl boarding school.

Cast

• Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Fatty / Saccharine (as 'Fatty' Arbuckle)
• Buster Keaton
  Buster Keaton
  Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
  
   - Buster
• Al St. John
  Alfred St. John
  Al St. John in his persona of Fuzzy Q. Jones basically defined the role and concept of "comical sidekick" to cowboy heroes from 1930 to 1951. St...
  
   - Alum
• Josephine Stevens - Almondine
• Arthur Earle - The Manager
• Joe Bordeaux
  Joe Bordeaux
  Joe Bordeaux was an American film actor. He appeared in 73 films between 1914 and 1940.He was born in Colorado, and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* The Great Dictator...
  
   - Accomplice (as Joe Bordeau)
• Luke the Dog
• Charles Dudley - (uncredited)
• Alice Lake
  Alice Lake
  Alice Lake was an American film actress. She began her career during the silent film era and often appeared in comedy shorts opposite Roscoe Arbuckle.-Career:...
  
   - (uncredited)
• Agnes Neilson - Miss Teachem (uncredited)

Critical response

A contemporary Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

review indicates the film was well-received, stating: "The Comique Film Co.'s series of Arbuckle two-reelers starts off with Fatty shaking out a bag of laugh making tricks. The cast fits the star, and not the least important member is 'Luke,' the bull terrier. It is a wonder. Arbuckle's juggling with the accessories of the country store where he is an important factor, also his way of handling the feminine clothes worn in his visit to the girl's boarding school, is done in such a serious, earnest way the comic effect is all the more forceful... The first of the Arbuckle series has set a good mark to aim at. While there is some slapstick, the comedy is recommended."

See also

• List of American films of 1917
• Fatty Arbuckle filmography
  Fatty Arbuckle filmography
  These are the films of Roscoe Arbuckle. Films marked with a diamond were directed by and featured Arbuckle. He used the name William Goodrich on the films he directed from 1924 onwards.----...
  
  
• Buster Keaton filmography
  Buster Keaton filmography
  - Starring Roscoe Arbuckle, featuring Buster Keaton :- Starring Buster Keaton :- Starring Buster Keaton, for Educational Pictures :- Starring Buster Keaton, for Columbia Pictures :- Starring Buster Keaton, for independent producers :...
  
  

Further reading

• "The Butcher Boy" (film review) in Variety Weekly
  Variety (magazine)
  Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
  
  . April 20, 1917.
• Corliss, Richard. (2001) That Old Feeling: Fatty and Buster at Time
  Time (magazine)
  Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
  
  online.