New Arbuckle Restoration

[Paul E. Gierucki]

Several months ago we located vintage 16 & 35mm materials which contained the long missing footage from Roscoe Arbuckle's 1916 short subject THE WAITERS' BALL. There were major technical issues due to poor storage and nitrate decomposition but through great care and perseverance I have been able to resurrect the footage. We are currently reconstructing the film for CineMuseum's new Arbuckle Anthology DVD collection.

Of particular interest is a major extension of the "Anvil Chorus" broom gag which had been appropriated from the Keaton's vaudeville act.

Arbuckle's mighty swing:



The aftermath:



Thanks to Brittany Valente, Richard M. Roberts, Joe Rinaudo, The Silent Comedy Mafia, Rob Stone and the other usual suspects for their assistance with the restoration and preservation of this find.

Paul E. Gierucki

[Joe Moore]

Excellent news Paul. My thanks to you and all others involved in this restoration.

Best

Joe Moore

[Gary Johnson]

So could we assume that Arbuckle was fascinated with Keaton's stage work even before he brought him officially into the fold, or is this merely a matter of appropriating someone's routine at the moment because it fit the comic situation?

[Paul E. Gierucki]

Gary,

Arbuckle absolutely knew and appreciated Keaton's stage work prior to bringing him into the fold. Not surprisingly, Keaton was also familiar with Arbuckle's work and was a fan. Both men had spent the bulk of their youths on the stage and I suspect this commonality was the primary reason for their mutual respect and enduring friendship.

-- PG

[Ed Watz]

Thank you, Paul, this is terrific news! Can't wait to get these...whatever you issue will be fantastic, I'm sure.

I once spoke with a fellow who worked for Paul Killiam back in the 1970s telling me that Killiam had a storage room full of trims from films he had edited for his various series. The employee discovered whole segments from different Sennett shorts (Keystones and Pathes) including fragments with Roscoe but none of the footage was labeled. He also found a box containing only the 35mm remnants of what appeared to be a Keaton Educational that was so butchered he wasn't able to reassemble the shots cohesively. Reminds us how difficult it was to view so many rarities not that many years ago. So again, Thank You for all the great work!