Tomalio Review: A messy, bittersweet final bow for Roscoe Arbuckle

Is it worth your time?

If you are a fan of old-school slapstick or just curious about movie history, you have to see this. It is the last thing Roscoe Arbuckle ever did before he died, which gives the whole thing a weird, heavy feeling.

Most people today will probably find it too loud or just plain confusing. If you want something polished and perfectly timed, you should definitely skip it. 🎬

The movie takes place in a fictional place called Tomalio. It looks exactly like a dusty Hollywood backlot where someone just threw a few palm trees in the dirt and called it a day.

Roscoe plays a guy who wins a contest to visit this place. He looks older here, and a bit tired, but he still has that strange grace for a man of his size.

There is this one scene where he is trying to eat, and the physical comedy feels like a ghost of his silent era days. He moves his hands in this delicate way that almost makes you forget how much the world had turned against him by 1933.

The sound is... well, it’s not great. You kind of have to squint with your ears to catch everything because the microphones back then weren't ready for a guy like Charles Judels yelling at the top of his lungs.

The Dictator and the Noise

Charles Judels plays the local dictator and he is incredibly loud. He spends about ninety percent of his screen time screaming orders or looking like his head is about to pop off.

It is the kind of performance that makes you miss the silence of the 1920s. Sometimes, the movie feels like it’s trying to hide a thin script by just making everyone shout.

I noticed a guy in the background of the plaza scene who looks like he has no idea why he is there. He just wanders into the frame, looks at the camera with a blank face, and then sort of drifts away. 🌴

It’s small moments like that which make these old shorts feel so real. They didn't have the budget or the time to fix every little mistake, so you get to see the cracks in the production.

The way the dictator's uniform fits him is also pretty funny. It’s clearly too small, and the medals on his chest look like they were made out of bottle caps and ribbon from a craft store.

It reminds me of the low-budget charm you see in something like Hollywood Goes Krazy. There’s a frantic energy to it that you just don't see in modern stuff.

A Bittersweet Vibe

It is hard to watch Tomalio without thinking about the fact that Roscoe died the night after he finished his work on these shorts. He was finally getting his career back after years of being blacklisted.

Because of that, even the dumbest jokes feel a little bit more important than they probably are. You want him to succeed so badly while you're watching.

There is a dance sequence that goes on a little bit too long. The editing gets really jumpy there, like they were trying to piece together different takes that didn't quite match up.

One of the dancers has a hat that is so big it keeps wobbling over her eyes. She keeps trying to fix it while she’s dancing, and it’s way more entertaining than the actual choreography.

If you've seen The Man from Blankley's, you know how awkward early talkies can be when they don't know what to do with the silence. Tomalio has that same problem where a joke will end and the camera just lingers on a face for two seconds too long.

It makes the timing feel 'off' in a way that is actually kind of charming. It’s like watching a rehearsal that someone accidentally filmed and released to the public.

• The bullfight scene is pure chaos and doesn't make much sense.
• The female lead has a very high-pitched voice that might make your dog bark.
• There is a lot of running around in circles for no reason.
• The ending happens so fast you might blink and miss it.

I don't think I would call this a 'good' movie in the traditional sense. It’s messy and the plot is basically non-existent, sort of like a series of sketches tied together with string.

But there is something about Roscoe's face in the final few shots. He looks happy to be working again, and that’s enough to make it worth the twenty minutes of your life.

It’s definitely better than some of the other weird shorts from that era, like One Glorious Scrap. At least here you have a real star at the center of the mess.

The way he handles a simple prop, like a hat or a cane, shows that he never lost his touch. Even when the script is giving him nothing, he’s still Fatty.

I noticed the film stock gets really grainy during the outdoor shots. It adds to that feeling of looking at a dusty relic that was pulled out of a basement somewhere.

You can tell the director just wanted to get through the day. There’s no fancy camera work or clever lighting, just a guy and his camera in the sun.

If you’re looking for more obscure stuff, you might find Miss Arizona interesting, though it’s a completely different vibe. Tomalio is strictly for the people who want to see a legend say goodbye.

It isn't a profound piece of art, but it’s a piece of history. And sometimes, that is more than enough to keep you watching until the credits roll.

I’ll probably forget the name of the dictator by tomorrow. But I’ll remember the way Roscoe looked when he finally got to hear the director say 'action' one last time.