Now here’s stunt you just have to see to believe! It’s just that cool.
Sometimes simplicity and finesse are all that’s needed for a very effective and very cool stunt. For my example of this, I present the Best Movie Stunt for 1917, which features Keaton in Oh, Doctor!, where he plays Fatty Arbuckle’s little boy, a reprise of the sort of comedy Keaton and his father Joe had done for years on stage, and pulls off a stunt you have to see to believe—Arbuckle smacks him, Keaton tumbles backwards over a table, picks up a book as he falls, and lands upright in a chair, with the book on his lap as if he’s been there all along, reading comfortably.
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle directs this short movie for Comique Film Company (a company Arbuckle started with Joseph Schenck, and on another note – when Arbuckle was promoted to feature films, Keaton inherited Arbuckle’s controlling interest in Comique, which launched his own separate career as a comedy star) and Buster Keaton plays his son in the film. It’s a great comedy short just stocked full of funny stunts and gags. Al St. John, from the Keystone Kops (and Arbuckle’s nephew) even plays into the mix as the gambler and has some fun gags on his own.
It’s also interesting to note that not only did Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle give a start and mentor two of the greatest screen comedians of all time, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, but he also gave a start to Bob Hope in 1927, when Arbuckle hired Hope to be the opening act in his comedy show in Cleveland. Roscoe then gave Hope the names and numbers of his friends in Hollywood, telling him to “go west”. He had a great eye for talent.
Things to look up (click on item to go to IMDB page):
Glossary of film terms as defined by Wikipedia:
- Gag – In comedy, a visual gagor sight gagis anything which conveys its humor visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretations of the going-ons. Visual gags are used in magic, plays, and acting on television / movies.
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