AllMovie

Having shot his fist five Comique Film Corporation comedies in New York, star-director Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle moved his unit to California to make Out West, and remained in the Golden State for the rest of his silent-screen career. Arbuckle plays the sheriff of a wild-and-wooly western town, where shootings, maimings and killings are an everyday occurrence. The local saloon even has a huge trap door to accommodate the falling bodies. Though no saint himself, Fatty is redeemed by the love of Salvation Army lass Alice Lake, and dedicates himself to tracking down notorious outlaw Al St. John. Cornered by St. John, our hero discovers that the villain can be subdued through the simple expedient of tickling his foot! Stealing the show is Buster Keaton in the first of his poker-faced lampoons of "strong silent" western hero William S. Hart. A generally amusing subject, Out West is marred (at least for contemporary viewers) by an extended scene in which a tremulous African American bartender is terrorized by the trigger-happy Fatty and Buster.