(1917)Craig ButlerHis Wedding Night is an amusing little silent diversion. It's certainly not one of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's best films, but it's a modest and entertaining little flick that gives plenty of laughs and keeps a smile on the viewer's face throughout its short running time. Arbuckle is given plenty of opportunity to display his special charm, which is roughly that of an overgrown (in more ways than one) nine-year-old schoolboy. He's a child in a man's body, and that persona enables him to get away with quite a bit that other actors couldn't, including chloroforming his customers for seemingly no real reason. Arbuckle's physical comedy is gentler than that of many other silent comedians; there's slapstick, but it's not especially aggressive. Still, watching Arbuckle tossing around an ice cream scoop or cracking eggs is a joy. Buster Keaton is also on hand, neatly stealing his scenes, which can only be expected when you put a comic of his talent in a wedding dress and give him free rein. Al St. John is good as Arbuckle's rival, and Alice Mann is fine as the love interest.
