Product Description

At the Bull Pup Cafe, Fatty Arbuckle is chef of all trades while Buster Keaton waits tables in own inimitable fashion. When a tough guy annoys the pretty cashier, Keaton comes to her defense with help from Luke the Dog, feisty canine defender of womanhood! One of the finest and funniest of these comedians' collaborations, "The Cook" was long considered one of cinema's lost holy grails until its discovery in 1998 among a cache of undentified nitrate prints at the Norsk Filminstitutt, followed by the discovery of even more footage in 2002 at the Nederlands Filmmuseum! This new edition combines the sources to approximate the original U.S. release of this comic milestone. Also included is "A Reckless Romeo," a legendary lost film also recovered. Arbuckle is at the height of his comedic talents as an adventurous young husband exploring greener pastures, but his attempts at indiscretion at the Palisades Amusement Park are filmed by a newsreel cameraman and shown at the local movie house with both philanderers' nearest and dearest in attendance! Arbuckle's "escape" is one of the most memorable endings of any cinematic comedy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39390 in DVD
• Brand: ARBUCKLE,ROSCOE
• Released on: 2003-02-11
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Silent, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Dubbed in: Japanese
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 70 minutes

Amazon.com
A long-lost two-reel comedy starring and directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and costarring Buster Keaton, The Cook (1918) has been reclaimed from nitrate materials found in Norway and Denmark in 1998-99. A few seconds' worth of footage remains lost, but the minor burps in continuity can't dim the two comic geniuses' balletic precision and freewheeling inventiveness. Keaton, new to the flickers, is more devil-may-care than in his own films, but the careening dynamism perfected in two decades of vaudeville knockabout is fully in play. Arbuckle's trademark fat is 95 percent muscle, and his no-sweat juggling rivals W.C. Fields'--though the image viewers will carry to their graves is his kitchen-pan jeu d'esprit as Cleopatra, clutching a link-sausage asp to "her" bosom. All this--plus a ladder-climbing dog named Luke!--makes for a comedic tour de force. Milestone has filled out the package with another Arbuckle rediscovery, A Reckless Romeo (1917), and Harold Lloyd's characteristically zippy Number Please! (1920)--all three shot on glorious amusement-pier locations. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Oh yes, worth the wait!
So, there's not much more I can say about the restoration of "The Cook", so let me simply speak to the quality of the dvd.

The three films here are well presented. They have been carefully transferred and encoded, so that as much detail as possible comes through.

The Cook is amazing to see. IT's obvious that the materials used were not of high-quality, but the restorers have brought as much quality into the print as possible, and the results are very watchable, certainly more watchable than most low-budget dvd releases.

The music is good, it accompanies the film without taking over.

There is a bonus function where you can view the two unrestored copies of "The Cook". You can also put the dvd into your computer and try to edit together your own version. "Look mom, I'm a silent film restorer!!" An amazing idea whose time has come....P>Kudos to the producers!

Arbuckle's Masterpiece.
I have seen the VHS version of this which is exactly the same as the DVD. It is worth it alone for THE COOK which I feel to be Arbuckle's masterpiece. All of his best comic bits including his incredible acrobatic ability with objects (throwing knives, flipping pancakes behind his back) are on full display as well as a merciless parody of Theda Bara in CLEOPATRA which is wickedly funny even if you don't know the source. Buster Keaton as the "pest/waiter" has some great moments including nearly being beheaded with a meat cleaver by Fatty. Al St. John is the "toughest guy in the world" and even Fatty's dog Luke gets to play a prominent part in the proceedings. This short must be seen to be believed.

A RECKLESS ROMEO is typical silent comedy fare with Fatty taking his wife and mother-in-law to the local cinema only to see his earlier flirting in the park shown on the screen with the obvious results. Both of these long lost films were discovered in archives in Norway. They are 95% complete with both prints in very good but not great shape. The Harold Lloyd short NUMBER PLEASE? included to fill out the disc is not top notch Lloyd but is funny nevertheless. It too is in very good condition but has some rough spots thus 4 stars instead of 5. THE COOK however is the real find here. Milestone Films has done their usual fine job by providing tinted prints with an appropriate piano score. If you're a big fan of Arbuckle then you'll want to get this DVD even if you have the earlier Kino or Image releases. If you don't have those then this is the ideal introduction to the "Prince Of Whales", Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

Incredible!
I saw THE COOK in a rough print of the restoration. The crowd loved it. Picture a theater filled with continuous roaring laughter during Arbuckle and Keaton's riotous rendition of Salome's dance, which somehow manages to incorporate the death of Cleopatra. We laughed until it hurt, and didn't stop.