The year 1918 became a very lucrative year for director/writer/actor comedian Roscoe Arbuckle. Receiving the rare opportunity to operate his own production studio under a major motion picture company's umbrella, Arbuckle, by his proven popularity, was able to renegotiate his contract with Paramount Pictures to one of the highest financial pacts in Hollywood at the time. He signed for three million dollars to make 18 two-reelers within three years, putting his salary in the stratosphere with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford.
In late 1917, he transferred his Comique production team from New York City to California for better weather and a more diverse typography. He utilized the new environment to great use in his first film on the West Coast in January 1918's "Out West." Arbuckle constructed an entire Old Western town to serve as a backdrop to his and his surrounding cast's antics. He plays the town saloon's bartender while Buster Keaton is its sheriff and Al St. John serves as the bad guy, Wild Bill Hiccup.
"Out West's" story was composed by Keaton's future wife, Natalie Talmadge, who used every Western movie cliche to poke fun at the genre. From a train chase to a gang of mischievous baddies disturbing the town, "Out West" contains every element that made Westerns so popular for movie goers.
Criticism has been heaped on "Out West" for one particular insensitive scene where the only purpose is to introduce heroine Alice Lake, a Salvation Army worker, who stands up to the saloon's bullies against a defenseless African American. Otherwise, comedies on the Old West don't get any funnier than this movie and is on par with Mel Brooks "Blazing Saddles."
In late 1917, he transferred his Comique production team from New York City to California for better weather and a more diverse typography. He utilized the new environment to great use in his first film on the West Coast in January 1918's "Out West." Arbuckle constructed an entire Old Western town to serve as a backdrop to his and his surrounding cast's antics. He plays the town saloon's bartender while Buster Keaton is its sheriff and Al St. John serves as the bad guy, Wild Bill Hiccup.
"Out West's" story was composed by Keaton's future wife, Natalie Talmadge, who used every Western movie cliche to poke fun at the genre. From a train chase to a gang of mischievous baddies disturbing the town, "Out West" contains every element that made Westerns so popular for movie goers.
Criticism has been heaped on "Out West" for one particular insensitive scene where the only purpose is to introduce heroine Alice Lake, a Salvation Army worker, who stands up to the saloon's bullies against a defenseless African American. Otherwise, comedies on the Old West don't get any funnier than this movie and is on par with Mel Brooks "Blazing Saddles."