Coney Island (1917 film)

Coney Island
French theatrical poster to Coney Island
Directed by	Roscoe Arbuckle
Produced by	Joseph M. Schenck
Written by	Roscoe Arbuckle
Starring	Roscoe Arbuckle Buster Keaton Al St. John
Cinematography	George Peters
Editing by	Herbert Warren
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	29 October 1917[1]
Running time	24 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English intertitles

Coney Island (also known as Fatty at Coney Island) is a 1917 short silent film comedy written and directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, and starring Arbuckle and Buster Keaton.

Synopsis

Fatty rides "The Whip" in Coney Island

The twenty-four minute film follows Arbuckle's antics at Coney Island, the New York City amusement park and beach resort, where he sneaks away from his wife to enjoy the attractions, gets a rival for another woman arrested, and disguises himself as a woman. The Keystone Kops are also featured.

Coney Island was filmed before Keaton had fully established his screen persona. Because of this, he employs a wide range of facial expressions, including mugging and laughing, differing drastically from his subsequent unsmiling, but still eloquent, expression.

Arbuckle breaks the fourth wall in one scene where, about to change his clothes, he directly looks at the camera and gestures for it to raise its view above his waist; the camera obligingly does so.

Cast

• Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Fatty
• Agnes Neilson - Fatty's wife
• Al St. John - Old friend of Fatty's wife
• Buster Keaton - Rival / cop with mustache
• Alice Mann - Pretty girl
• Joe Bordeaux - Sledgehammer Man / Cop (as Joe Bordeau)
• Jimmy Bryant
• Alice Lake

Production notes

The film was shot on location at Coney Island, and prominently features many contemporary rides and attractions as venues for the slapstick action. These include The Witching Waves and Shoot-the-Chutes.

See also

• List of American films of 1917
• Fatty Arbuckle filmography
• Buster Keaton filmography

References

1. ^ Knopf, Robert (2 August 1999). The theater and cinema of Buster Keaton. Princeton University Press. p. 180. ISBN 9780691004426. http://books.google.com/books?id=fU5qDx7tawIC&pg=PA180. Retrieved 21 October 2010. 

External links

• Coney Island at the Internet Movie Database
• Coney Island at AllRovi
• The first 10 minutes of Coney Island on Youtube