Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Garage

Operating a firehouse and an auto repair shop out of the same building, two men engage in a series of mishaps that range from dirtying a car they were supposed to be destroying to rescuing a young lady trapped in their garage while it is burning to the ground. Before embarking on an extremely successful solo career, Buster Keaton was the sidekick to Fatty Arbuckle, who was the most famous silent comic of his time. The Garage came at a time when Keaton's career was beginning and Arbuckle's was coming to a close (due to being beset by a scandal), and is a slapstick short pulled off in very fine fashion. Demonstrating the visual gags and high risk stunts known to Keaton and Arbuckle I'm sure, The Garage is a fine example of a partnership whose members would produce the best comedies of the 1910s and 1920s.