The Butcher Boy 1917 

Made at the Colony Studios on 48^th Street New York, Keaton's first appearance on screen. During these early Keaton appearances he has not fully developed his subtle style and is seen laughing and crying and generally mugging to the camera. The film is set in a turn of the century general store with its accompanying parody of store occupants from the regulars sitting round a pot bellied stove playing chess to the lady shoppers. Arbuckle, the Butcher Boy of the title, is seen dexterously sharpening knives and creating comic business with some sausages, every time he enters the cold storage room he dons a large raccoon coat against the cold.

Buster's entrance is quite subdued compared to the general ruckus perpetually going on in the store, he immediately goes into some business with a barrel of brooms, testing the bristles for durability, after plucking some of the bristles from one of the brooms he returns it to the others. Buster's eyes fall on another barrel filled with Molasses, this reminds him of his purpose for being there. He samples some molasses from the drip that has formed on the barrel's spigot. En route to the counter to place his order he detours via the chess board, here he assists one of the gentlemen players with his move much to the others annoyance. Keaton puts the molasses can down for Arbuckle to fill which he does before holding out his hand for payment. Buster looks at him quizzically and points to the molasses can where he had left the money then he wanders to the other end of the counter to investigate something that has caught his eye. Arbuckle tries to retrieve the money with a yardstick and fails, spying Buster's upturned porkpie hat beside the can gives him an idea. Arbuckle tips the molasses into the hat, removes the money and returns the molasses to its proper receptacle turning the hat right side up to hide the evidence. Buster returns, picks up the hat, places it on his head and picks up the can, he goes to raise his hat in farewell only to discover it is well and truly stuck to his head with the molasses. This instigates a series of comic gags with Arbuckle trying (and eventually succeeding) to remove the hat, knocks the can off the counter spilling molasses all over the floor. Buster gets his feet stuck in it and finally, only after the application of boiling water from a kettle, Keaton is sent somersaulting backwards through the store's door with the aid of a Arbuckle's feet. Buster manages to knock down the head mistress of the store owner's daughter's boarding school on his way out.

Arbuckle and Al StJohn proceed to fight over the owner's daughter, with whom they are both in love, they hurl bags of flour at each other across the store. Buster chooses this particular moment to return to the store for his forgotten hat, he walks in while simultaneously apologizing and trying to explain to the disgruntled headmistress still standing outside how he came to knock her down and why he is returning. He appears oblivious of the flour bag fight going on between Arbuckle and Al StJohn until he turns his head in their direction and instantly receives a bag full in his face which promptly puts his feet where his head had been. Buster joins in the fight and receives the only pie in the face he in his entire movie career until Alice Fay got him with one in 'Hollywood Cavalcade' in 1939. The end of the first reel sees the young girl going off to her boarding school, pursued by an ill intentioned Al StJohn.

The second reel sees Arbuckle, bent on saving the girl's honour by enrolling at the young ladies academy, he is dressed in a voluminous flowered dress with a huge bow at the back and sporting a long 'Shirley Temple' wig. This disguise of course gives plenty of leeway for comedic possibilities in the girls' dormitory and at meal times when table manners are rather lacking in some quarters. Likewise the appearance of Al StJohn in dress and braids gives similar opportunities. Keaton comes along with a friend as StJohn's helpers in a plot to abduct the girl. StJohn calls them into the school after everyone has gone to bed and they proceed with their plan by grabbing the girl as she sleeps. This is foiled by Arbuckle and the girl's pet dog who has followed them to the school. Arbuckle fights with his adversaries who one by one run out of the dormitory only to be chased into another one by the dog. Eventually StJohn and his henchmen find themselves in the principle's bedroom who holds them at bay with her gun as she calls the police. Arbuckle and the girl take this opportunity to run away to the conveniently close preacher's house where they get married.

A Reckless Romeo 1917

No longer survives. There is also the probability Keaton was not in this movie although it is usually credited in Keaton filmographies. He may have had a small role as a photographer or policeman.

Rough House 1917

This is very much an Arbuckle film in the way it falls into two distinct reels. In the first reel Arbuckle is caught up between his henpecked family and the attractive cook-housemaid. It finishes up in a wild slapstick chase with Buster, who would seem to be the gardener, and Al StJohn. The second reel introduces some rather run of the mill comedy involving thieves and comic cops, very much a fashion with most comedy studios to imitate the Keystone Cops in some form or another. Keaton, playing one of the cops manages to get himself ridiculously caught on top of a fence in the course of the chase.

But it is in this film that the unique Keaton style is born, there is the first clear and sustained evidence of the identifiable Keaton. There is one of his favourite jokes of disproportion. Arbuckle tries to put out a fire with a teacup full of water, on his second trip he absent-mindedly drinks the water before arriving at the fire. Other gags that are so typical of the mature Keaton style and do not appear in the earlier films are those of mechanical ingenuity. The use of an electric fan to chop vegetables, Arbuckle's trick of laying the table by setting down a bundled up cloth which when unwrapped reveals perfect place settings. There is also a bit of camera trickery that makes it appear StJohn has caught a knife thrown by Keaton in his teeth. One interesting observation, Keaton was obviously, by this point, taking a hand in the invention of gags for the films, one scene is of special interest. Sitting at the meal table being disapproved of by his female relatives Arbuckle spears two dinner rolls, each with its own fork, he makes these two little feet and legs perform a dance. Did Arbuckle then invent the gag that Chaplin used seven years later in 'The Gold Rush'? Or did Keaton?

His Wedding Night 1917

A print has been found but I do not have a synopsis of it to date

Oh, Doctor 1917 

No longer survives.

Coney Island 1917

This was the last film made at the New York studios before the Arbuckle company moved to California. Shot primarily on location at Coney Island.

Keaton has taken his girlfriend to see a parade at Coney Island, Arbuckle and his wife are also on holiday there and Arbuckle takes the first opportunity he can to escape from her by burying himself in the sand on the beach. The wife bumps into Al StJohn while searching for Arbuckle and as it turns out that they are old friends, he offers to help her look. Arbuckle has meanwhile gone into the amusement park, Keaton's girlfriend wants to go too but he has no money. StJohn, who just happens to be passing steps in and buys her and himself a ticket leaving Keaton crying by the entry styles. Keaton manages to get into the park for free by hiding in one of the empty garbage barrels waiting to be taken back in.

Once inside he pursues his girlfriend and StJohn on each ride they take. One particular ride makes the girl feel rather queasy so StJohn offers to go and buy ice cream while she sits on a bench recovers. Arbuckle sees her alone and sits next to her although he becomes a little weary when she threatens to be sick in his hat and prudently moves it to the far side of the bench. Keaton meanwhile is about to try the 'Test Your Strength' machine, StJohn returning with the ice creams takes a kick at Buster's sticking out bottom and he in turn swings the mallet at StJohn, missing him and hurling himself to the ground. StJohn returns to the girl with the ice creams, finding her sitting with Arbuckle angers him especially when Arbuckle takes both of the ice creams giving one to the girl and eating the other himself. StJohn punches Arbuckle in the stomach in his anger, which causes him to spray StJohn with ice cream. An ice cream fight ensues but Arbuckle gets the upper hand when he kicks a policeman, he picks up StJohn and places him directly behind the policeman which gets StJohn promptly arrested. Arbuckle walks off with the girl past Keaton who is just swinging the mallet to try his strength when it hits Arbuckle under the chin knocking him over. Keaton sits on the 'Test Your Strength' machine laughing, Arbuckle picks up the dropped mallet and hits Keaton over the head with it, it's hard enough to make the bell ring and Arbuckle wins the cigar.

Next Arbuckle takes the girl onto the water shoot, naturally they get thrown out of the car as it hits the water [Buster doubles for the girl]. Buster sees them and dives in to rescue the girl, he succeeds and then tries to pull Arbuckle out but Buster ends up falling back in instead and is left once again in tears as Arbuckle goes off with the girl. Next Arbuckle and the girl decide to go swimming as they are already wet, they go to the bathhouse where they can rent swimsuits. The bathhouse is also advertising for lifeguards for which the dejected Buster, who is also still very wet, applies. Arbuckle of course has trouble finding a large enough costume and ends up taking a large lady's one, a hat and a wig that has been left over a chair. Keaton goes into the changing room as Arbuckle is putting the costume on. Arbuckle kicks the hysterically laughing Keaton out. Arbuckle in drag again gives more excuses for humour in a ladies changing room.

Meanwhile Arbuckle's wife has gone to the police station to report her husband missing, she sees StJohn in the cell and stands bond for him vouching for his good behavior. They leave the police station together and sit on a beachside bench deciding what to do next. Arbuckle comes along still dressed in the woman's bathing suit, wig and hat. He sits down next to StJohn who starts to flirt with him, Arbuckle's wife looks suspiciously at the 'woman' and then at a photo she has of Arbuckle in a locket around her neck. Buster comes along with a fishing pole and Arbuckle's wife asks him if he knows who this woman with StJohn is. Keaton laughs and says, "That's no woman it’s a man". He holds out the fishing pole and hooks the wig and hat off Arbuckle's head. StJohn is furious at being duped by the man who stole the girl that he stole from Buster, not to mention him being the 'lost' husband of his old friend. StJohn chases Arbuckle into the sea where they start to fight and chase each other in the water, Arbuckle does a wonderful impersonation of a porpoise diving in and out of the water's surface. Arbuckle's wife calls the police to report the men's fight and Buster takes the opportunity to run off along the beach with the girl, who has suddenly reappeared. He is last seen sitting on a breakwater contentedly smiling with the girl by his side.

The police [the one with the droopy moustache is Keaton doubling again] come to arrest Arbuckle and StJohn, they are taken off to the cells where they make a request to be locked up together so they can continue their fight. One by one the cops go in to stop them fighting and one by one they get hit over the head until they are all lying in an unconscious heap and Arbuckle and StJohn are free to escape… except for Arbuckle's wife who is waiting outside. Arbuckle grabs her around the neck, and locks his last hurdle to freedom in a cell. He and StJohn go off free to chase more women.