Al St. John buys a touring car and takes his extended family on a disastrous trip.
Although the Internet Movie Data Base claims this was directed by St. John, the on-screen credit for writing and directing is William Goodrich, the pseudonym of his uncle, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. After the mess of his trial, Arbuckle could not perform in the movies, but he had many good friends who appreciated his real abilities, so he spent the next decade writing and directing, most frequently for Educational Pictures. He did some marvelous pictures. Even in more standard fare, like this one, his sure knowledge of comedic structure and gags produced superior cartoons.
This movie is a catalogue of increasing disasters that could have been performed by almost any competent set of comic actors, so there is little to comment on the performances. Nonetheless, it is done with such a will and at such a steady pace that it carries the audience wonderfully; if this particular set of gags is not to your taste, wait five seconds and another bunch will come along. It should please any fan of silent comedy and be interest even to those who don't have the taste for it.
Although the Internet Movie Data Base claims this was directed by St. John, the on-screen credit for writing and directing is William Goodrich, the pseudonym of his uncle, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. After the mess of his trial, Arbuckle could not perform in the movies, but he had many good friends who appreciated his real abilities, so he spent the next decade writing and directing, most frequently for Educational Pictures. He did some marvelous pictures. Even in more standard fare, like this one, his sure knowledge of comedic structure and gags produced superior cartoons.
This movie is a catalogue of increasing disasters that could have been performed by almost any competent set of comic actors, so there is little to comment on the performances. Nonetheless, it is done with such a will and at such a steady pace that it carries the audience wonderfully; if this particular set of gags is not to your taste, wait five seconds and another bunch will come along. It should please any fan of silent comedy and be interest even to those who don't have the taste for it.
