Out Westhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpAnwrCakYThe Western is a movie genre as old as movies. The first Westerns were made in the 1890s. So it is no surprise that Arbuckle, Keaton and Natalie Talmadge (the future Mrs. Keaton) had a number of western cliches to make gags of. But instead of just making a Scary Movie, full of references, they created a full story, chock full of gags, at least half of which really work.
Arbuckle hides away in the water compartment on a train, from which he is unceremoniously thrown off after stealing some food. He lands in the "Last Chance Saloon", with Keaton as proprietor, just in time to do some fancy shooting to save the day from Will Bill Hiccup, a lusty outlaw with his gang. Hiccup and Arbuckle don't see eye-to-eye about how to woo the lone Salvation Army maiden, but the gentle Arbuckle wins the day.
So many gags, both visual and verbal, but for the most part the verbal gags fall flat (with a couple exceptions). The stunning part of this film are how many of the physical gags that work, either as humor or as feats of acrobatics. Arbuckle falls off a train, rolls down a long hill, Keaton falls again and again and keeps bouncing back up. Al St. John (Hiccup) has bottle after bottle smashed on his head, which is as funny as it is stunning. The stamina of these comedic actors is just amazing.
Keaton is still in a supporting role, but he is certainly a stand out for the comedy, with his timing impeccable. The racism in the film is quite disturbing, deeply mocking a black man for being black and accusing Native Americans of being cannibals. In Chicago, some of the violence was censored, today it would be all the scenes containing non-white roles.
Beside that, this film is funny and keeps one's attention, with very little dead time.
4/5
Additional note: This is Arbuckle and Keaton's first filming in the west (California), with most of the earlier films taking place in New York.