Fatty and Mabel Adrift

Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

One of Keystone's best films has Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle and Mabel Normand playing kids from the farm who fall in love and decide to get married even though it drives a rival (Al St. John) mad. Her parents buy them a house right on the ocean but to get even with them the rival hires some men to push the house into the ocean one night. The next morning the couple wakes up floating in the ocean. FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT is somewhat of a masterpiece for the company. I say that because I find a lot of their two reelers to be way too long and short on actual material but this thing here clocks in at 34-minutes and it goes by so quickly and without a problem that it's clear the studio put a little extra into it. There's no question that Fatty and Mabel were their two biggest stars and that's why they appeared in many films together. This one here works on so many levels but the one thing running throughout is the wonderful chemistry of the two actors. This is so obvious in the scenes on the farm as they flirt with one another and just play around. It really does seem like the two are very legit in their feelings. The chemistry is top-notch from start to finish but I thought the two of them were also perfect in their comic timing. Al St. John is a real blast as the nutty maniac who wanted Mabel for himself. The stunts involving the house in the ocean are actually pretty good and I'd also add that we get some pretty funny stuff in this sequence. Fans of Keystone or the stars will certainly enjoy this one as it's clearly one of the best they ever delivered.