Al St. John
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Al St. John (September 10, 1893 – January 21, 1963) in his persona of Fuzzy Q. Jones basically defined the role and concept of "comical sidekick" to cowboy heroes from 1930 to 1951. St. John also created a character, "Stoney," in the first of a continuing Western film series, The Three Mesquiteers, that was later played (at a low point in his own career) by John Wayne. Born in Santa Ana, California, St. John entered silent films around 1912 and soon rose to co-starring and starring roles in short comic films from a variety of studios. His uncle, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, may have helped him in his early days at Mack Sennett Studios, but talent kept him working. He was slender, sandy-haired, handsome and a remarkable acrobat. St. John frequently appeared as Arbuckle's mischievously villainous rival for the attentions of leading ladies like Mabel Normand, and worked with Arbuckle and Charles Chaplin in The Rounders (1914). The most critically praised film from St. John's period with Arbuckle remains Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916) with Normand. The name Fuzzy originally belonged to a different actor, John Forrest “Fuzzy“ Knight, who took on the role of cowboy sidekick before St. John. As the studio first intended to hire Knight for the western series but then gave the role to St. John instead, he took on the nickname of his rival for his screen character. In most of his films, screen time was set aside for St. John to do a sort of solo comedy act, emphasizing amazing pratfalls and acrobatics. He might "find" a bicycle on a fairground set, and do an astonishing sequence of acrobatic stunts on the cycle, or he might try to capture a rat, bat, skunk, gopher, or bug with hilarious and chaotic consequences. Another stunt which he used in nearly every Western was virtually his trademark: he would mount his horse in apparently the standard manner, but somehow wind up sitting facing backward, and often would ride off with the hero in this unusual orientation. When Crabbe left PRC (according to interviews, in disgust at their increasingly low budgets), St. John was paired with new star Lash LaRue. Ultimately, St. John made more than 80 Westerns as Fuzzy. His last film was released in 1952. From that time on until his death in 1963 in Lyons, Georgia, he made personal appearances at fairs and rodeos, and travelled with the Tommy Scott Wild West Show. Altogether, Al St. John acted in 346 movies, spanning four decades from 1912 to 1952. Description above from the Wikipedia article Al St. John, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.
The General
In a dance hall, two members of the orchestra and a tipsy dancer fight over the hat check girl.
Tango Tangles
James Kincaid controls the local water supply and plans to do away with the other ranchers. Government agent Sandy Saunders arrives undercover to investigate Kincaid's land swindle scheme, and win the heart of one of his victims, Fay Denton.
Riders of Destiny
In an attempt at greater efficiency, the chef and waiter of a fancy oceanside restaurant wreak havoc in the establishment. Adding to the complications is the arrival of a robber.
The Cook
Mabel goes home after being humiliated by a masher whom her husband won't fight. The husband goes off to a bar and gets drunk.
Mabel's Married Life
Western Slapstick. A good chance to see Al St. John moving into the western comedy sidekick that would be his bread and butter role for the next twenty years. Also, it's a rare screen opportunity for Addie McPhail, Roscoe Arbuckle's wife and therefore Al's aunt.
Western Knights
A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a horse race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
To show his girl how brave he is, Pug challenges the champion to a fight. Charlie referees, trying to avoid contact with the two monsters.
The Knockout
Two drunks fight with their wives and then go out and get even drunker.
The Rounders
Escaping from the law once again, Billy, Fuzzy, and Jeff ride to the ranch of Jeff's uncle only to find another family living their. They soon learn of Cobb Allen's scheme where he sells a ranch, makes sure the rancher can't pay off his note, kicks him out, and resells the ranch. But Billy has a plan to recover the ranchers' money and he sends Fuzzy to town with a fake map to a gold treasure.
Billy the Kid's Gun Justice
Two farmhands compete for the love of the farmer's daughter.
The Scarecrow
A once great stage and screen actor has fallen from fame because of his alcoholism; his young son is determined to see his father "make good" again.
Police Court
The hero, a janitor played by Chaplin, is fired from work for accidentally knocking his bucket of water out the window and onto his boss the chief banker (Tandy). Meanwhile, one of the junior managers (Dillon) is being threatened with exposure by his bookie for gambling debts unpaid. Thus the manager decides to steal from the company.
The New Janitor
A Western-genre narrative, loosely woven from old clips from B-Western features.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
In the South Seas, a half-caste island girl refuses to follow tradition and marry a fellow islander, instead falling in love with a white man and heir to an American fortune.
Aloha
A tramp gets drunk in a hotel lobby and, upstairs, causes some misunderstandings between Mabel, two hotel guests across the hall from her room, and Mabel's visiting sweetheart.
Mabel's Strange Predicament
Buster, the eldest son in a family of hillbillies who manage a hotel, attempts to raise money to save the hotel from foreclosure.
Love Nest on Wheels
Al St John loves Lena, but he also loves to sleep. Will he get out of bed soon enough to take Lena from his dull rival, so he can have an argument with the girl where he cries "LISTEN, LENA"? Or will he roll back over, and later get busted by a mean cop for sleepwalking in his bed clothes?
Listen Lena
Roscoe is a doctor who falls in love with a pretty woman whose boyfriend, in turn, falls in love with Roscoe's wife's jewelry.
Oh, Doctor!
When Buttonshoe Bill steals some papers from Buckwheat Ben, and kidnaps Ben's daughter, Rodney Hemingway comes to the rescue.