''The Butcher Boy'' is a

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

American

two-reel A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written by, directed by, and starring

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...

and featuring

Al St. John Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on ...

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

Plot

Fatty, a butcher boy in a country store, is in love with Almondine (Alice Lake), the daughter of the store's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Mr. Grouch. Fatty's attempts to get close to her are sidetracked when the store's clerk Alum (Al St. John), a rival for Alice's affections, starts a fight with the rotund butcher. Their confrontation in the store soon involves a customer (Buster Keaton) as well as Grouch. The resulting mayhem includes small bags of flour being hurled and "exploding", pies being tossed, and brooms being wildly swung amid the thick clouds of flour lingering in the air. Determined to marry Almondine, Fatty disguises himself as a female cousin and follows her to an all-girls boarding school. Unfortunately, Alum has the same idea and masquerades, too, as a female student. After another fight breaks out between Fatty and Alum, Fatty is taken by the school's principal Miss Teachem to a separate room to be punished. Meanwhile, Alum and his accomplices (Keaton and Joe Bordeaux) attempt to kidnap Almondine. Luckily, Fatty's dog Luke distracts the gang while Fatty and Almondine escape. Once outside, the couple see a sign on a tree identifying a nearby parsonage, so they run off arm-in-arm to get married there. Note that the subtitles in a later release of ''The Butcher Boy'' cite new names for the characters: Alum is "Slim Snavely" and Almondine is "Amanda"."The Butcher Boy (1917) - 1st Buster Keaton Movie Appearance - Fatty Arbuckle"
posted by Change Before Going Productions, available for viewing by the general public on the video-sharing service

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, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Inc., Mountain View, California. Retrieved September 22, 2017.

Cast

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...

as Fatty / Saccharine (credited as 'Fatty' Arbuckle) * Buster Keaton as Buster *

as Alum * Alice Lake as Almondine *

Arthur Earle Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

as The Store Manager *

Joe Bordeaux Joe Bordeaux (March 9, 1886 – September 10, 1950) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1914 and 1940. He was born in Colorado, and died in Los Angeles, California. Selected filmography * '' Mabel at the ...

as Accomplice (credited as Joe Bordeau) * Luke as The Dog * Charles Dudley (uncredited) *

Josephine Stevens Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States *Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Coun ...

(uncredited) * Agnes Neilson as Miss Teachem (uncredited)

Critical response

A review of ''The Butcher Boy'' was published in the April 20, 1917, issue of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', a trade magazine for the entertainment industry:

References

Footnotes

External links

* * *
The Butcher Boy
at the

International Buster Keaton Society The International Buster Keaton Society Inc.— a.k.a. "The Damfinos"—is the official educational organization dedicated to comedy film producer-director-writer-actor-stuntman Buster Keaton. Mission According to the Damfinos, their mission is "t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher Boy, The 1917 films 1917 comedy films 1917 short films American silent short films Silent American comedy films American black-and-white films Cross-dressing in American films Paramount Pictures short films Films directed by Roscoe Arbuckle Films with screenplays by Roscoe Arbuckle Articles containing video clips American comedy short films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films