The Knockout

Fatty Arbuckle swings his weight around in this super-shallow pugilistic comedy. There's almost no story to speak of, just a basic theme (prize fighting) wrapped around the loosest of frameworks, which can certainly be attributed to its incredible age. Keystone Studios had only been around for two years at this point and secondary star Charlie Chaplin was still an eccentric supporting player. Fritz Lang wouldn't direct his first film for another five years! Even bearing that in mind, it's lacking as anything more than a historical curiosity. Chaplin is all over the posters, despite being involved for less than five minutes as the rubber-booted ref in charge of the big fight. There's little to the humor beyond cartoony chase scenes and constant head-over-heels pratfalls. Everybody's taking a pratfall. The boxers, the fans, the dream girl in the front row, the infamous Keystone cops... if they've got feet, you better believe they'll be pointed up at the sky before it's all said and done. No way this should stick around for twenty-seven minutes.