Sterling again, though without the goatee, and the gulf betwen him and Chaplin and Arbuckle is certainly... notable. Fatty has by far the lesser role of the three of them here, but it's still nice having him around. The three comedians are rivals for a hat-check girl's affections at the local dance hall. Fatty and Sterling are musicians, Charlie is a suave drunk. There's no nore to it than that, but it's different enough to be very watchable.
Chaplin is the very model of subtlety, understatement and poise- he is without his moustache here, and he just looks like he did in all those old newsreel films: young, fresh, innocent and English, with a hell of a head of hair and wildly excited eyes. He has a couple of fight scenes with Sterling and here at least the great gesticulator is... good. Sterling takes a good fall, a spinning eye-catching collapse and back up again. The fight scenes momentarily becomes dances themselves. But wherever he is and whatever he is doing, you can't help watching Chaplin. We are watching him with hindsight of course because of what he became, but even if you're judging him on what he is, you're watching someone who shouldn't have been allowed to fill the same screen as Ford Sterling. He is so clearly putting the older comedian to shame with every movement he makes.
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