Lost Silent Classics Collection: Fatty Arbuckle Follies

Back when cinema was still in its infancy, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle earned the distinction of becoming the highest-paid comedic film actor up through that time. By 1914, Arbuckle was receiving the unholy sum of $1,000 a day (or roughly, $22,490 per day in current dollars) plus 25% of all residuals to make movies; by 1918, Arbuckle was raking in the equivalent of $15 million per year in current dollars. Creatively speaking, Arbuckle influenced such legends as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and even Bob Hope. Tragically, however, Arbuckle's fame was short-lived; an infamous 1921 scandal involving the death of showgirl Virginia Rappe found the comic indicted for manslaughter, and although the courts dropped all charges, Arbuckle's reputation never recovered. This collection travels back to the period before the scandal, to present four classics that illustrate Arbuckle's groundbreaking onscreen work with slapstick: FATTY AND MINNIE HE-HAW (1918), FATTY JOINS THE POLICE (1913), FATTY'S SPOONING DAYS (1918) and FATTY'S SUITLESS DAY (1914).