Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as Back Stage: Cult Guide

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Fatty is the suffering spouse who comes home every night to an empty house and a neglectful wife. His wife is furious when she discovers Fatty is cheating on her with a neglected wife.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Fighting Dude perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Lupino Lane is a wealthy young sap very much loved by the young hostess at the party, but not by the young clubman athlete who is his rival. The latter finds cause to eject him from the house and does so. Lane is advised to start training in a gymnasium and eventually to get his revenge. After six lessons he thinks the time has arrived, but gets himself another beating. A month later a regular bout between them is arranged and after a terrific battle Lane is again defeated. Still later he meets the girl and his rival on the links and in a rough, and tumble fight wins, only to find the girl has fled over the course with two other suitors.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Sheriff perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Roscoe and Buster operate a combination garage and fire station. In the first half they destroy a car left for them to clean. In the second half they go off on a false alarm and return to find their own building on fire.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Reggie Hemingway is a rich broker who continually bullies his valet. World War I breaks out and the valet enlists immediately. Reggie goes to the army later and arrives at the training camp to find that his valet is now a tough sergeant in charge of the recruits.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Garage perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

The Sheriff is a "desert hero," so lucky as never to get a scratch amid all the shooting, such a remarkable shot himself that he hits the cuckoo in a clock and causes it to drop into a glass of beer below, converting it to a cocktail. He thwarts all the villains, foils all the plots, rescues the persecuted maiden, destroys the bar, closes the dance hall, and is instrumental in converting a long line of hardened gunmen to lives of usefulness as members of the Salvation Army.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

In 1830, a train known as the Iron Mule is loaded with passengers, and starts off on its trip. Along the way, the train faces numerous obstacles and delays. The engineer is prepared for most of them, but the real challenges come when the train is ambushed by Indians.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of His Private Life perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

When Buttonshoe Bill steals some papers from Buckwheat Ben, and kidnaps Ben's daughter, Rodney Hemingway comes to the rescue.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

A man is offered a great job, but with two drawbacks: it's on the other side of the country, and he has to be there by a certain date--and he's broke. He sets out anyway, and along the way gets tangled up with escaped convicts and long-distance runners.

Dir: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Although his parents have warned him to stay away from the movies, our hero winds up acting in a costume picture, doubling for comedian Lloyd Hamilton.