"The Rough House" is an American black-and-white film from 1917, so this one has its 100th anniversary this year. According to IMDb, it is 22 minutes long, but the version I watched ran for under 19 minutes, so probably had more frames per minute. Anyway, the star in here is Fatty once again, but two other stars of the silent film days, namely Buster Keaton and Al St. John, play big supporting parts too. The former is even credited for writing and directing here next to Arbuckle. Like most of Roscoe's other stuff, it is all about the comedy in here. This is the story of something like a hotel, but the employees, played by the actors I mentioned, create all kinds of chaos. Sadly the outcome does not equal the talent and premise here as honestly, it is a case of quantity over quality. Constant attempt at hilarity make it seem a bit desperate, but only very few of them were actually working. In my case that would be the swam/ soup scene for example, but that's pretty subjective. Fatty managed to elevate the material while the other two weren't that great to me. Have to give this silent film a thumbs-down here. Not recommended.
Review of The Rough House
The Rough House
(1917)
Not a rough watch, but could have been funnier
15 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers