Keaton and Arbuckle's final collaboration is also their finest. With Fatty soon moving on to feature-lengths and Buster continuing as a solo act, the prolific duo came together one last time to entertain audiences (and themselves) in a typically short, simple silent comedy.
Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle team up for the last time for "The Garage", in which they play mechanics for whom everything goes wrong. It's clear that these two made a great comedy team.
"The Garage" is an American 20-minute short film from almost 100 years ago. So of course, it is still a silent film and also in black-and-white.
The Garage was a wonderful piece of work, reminding me of a great meandering film called Tender Mercies in 1983, it was timeless also. Carl Thibault captured the small town feel and the raw realism of family dynamics in the rural areas of America.
In this true coming-of-age story, young Matt is ready to leave his one-horse town and travel with his best friend Schultz. The only thing keeping him in town is his father's garage, which isn't doing good business.
The final collaboration between Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle and Buster Keaton, and the duo end on a high in a comedy that's filled with inventive gags and comical situations. They're mechanics at a garage who also double up as firemen.
I came away from this film with a warm feeling of nostalgia. A longing for those long summers of youth.
Keaton and Arbuckle have come a long way since "The Butcher." It's wonderful to see how well they work together in this one.
Just watched the movie at the LONG ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM EXPO on Long Island, New York. What a great film!
