Buster Keaton had appeared in a number of Roscoe Arbuckle films before he volunteered for the United States Army in the summer of 1918 during the Great War. He was shipped over to France shortly before the war ended in November 1918. Because of his acting talent, the Army decided to have him entertain the remaining troops in Europe before he was discharged in April 1919. Keaton immediately returned to Los Angeles to pick up where he had left off with Arbuckle, appearing in three films with the comedian, the first being September 1919's "Back Stage."
Arbuckle and Keaton are stage hands getting ready for the upcoming show's star performer, a strongman who turns out to be very abusive toward his female assistant. Well before the 'Me-Two' Movement, the pair take it upon themselves to set the larger man straight. Because no one treated him like that before, he refuses to go on the stage. So Arbuckle and company decide to improvise the entertainment, much to the delight of the sell-out crowd. Trouble is, Mr. Muscleman doesn't appreciate their act.
A notable sequence shows one of the stage set's large false wall designed as a side of a house collapsing onto Arbuckle, who is standing underneath it. Thankfully, an open window frame on the second floor falls directly on top of him, allowing Fatty to escape without a scratch. Keaton remembered that trick and used it twice in his movies when he went solo, most famously in 1928's 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.'
Arbuckle and Keaton are stage hands getting ready for the upcoming show's star performer, a strongman who turns out to be very abusive toward his female assistant. Well before the 'Me-Two' Movement, the pair take it upon themselves to set the larger man straight. Because no one treated him like that before, he refuses to go on the stage. So Arbuckle and company decide to improvise the entertainment, much to the delight of the sell-out crowd. Trouble is, Mr. Muscleman doesn't appreciate their act.
A notable sequence shows one of the stage set's large false wall designed as a side of a house collapsing onto Arbuckle, who is standing underneath it. Thankfully, an open window frame on the second floor falls directly on top of him, allowing Fatty to escape without a scratch. Keaton remembered that trick and used it twice in his movies when he went solo, most famously in 1928's 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.'