The Waiters' Ball
About The Waiters' Ball
A cook and a waiter both want the cashier. She sees an ad for a waiters' ball that night, and evening clothes are required. The waiter has none. They fight with brooms over who sweeps the litter. The waiter calls orders in hash-house slang, including "Adam and Eve on a raft" for two eggs on toast. A live fish gets loose in the restaurant. The waiter sees the cook kiss the cashier, goes at him with a knife, and steals his dress suit. The cook wears the dishwasher's evening gown. At the ball the cook pulls the suit off the waiter and leaves him in striped underwear.
Cast & crew
More about The Waiters' Ball
Roscoe Arbuckle directed and plays the cook. Al St. John, his nephew, plays the rival waiter. Mack Sennett supervised. Ferris Hartman assisted. Elgin Lessley photographed. Keystone produced it. Triangle released it on 25 June 1916. Two reels, 2,013 feet. Wikipedia lists 20 minutes. AFI lists 22. Corinne Parquet, Joe Bordeaux, Kate Price, and Alice Lake are on the cast lists. David Glass later restored a version from three copies owned by himself and David Wyatt.
Themes
Making
Arbuckle shot the restaurant and the ball at Triangle's eastern studio in Fort Lee, with St. John as the waiter who has no suit.
Look
Elgin Lessley photographed the broom fight, the loose fish, and the ball.
Preservation
David Glass assembled a restoration from three prints. A copy is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- The kitchen slang gag has two eggs on toast called "Adam and Eve on a raft.
- AFI's length is 2,013 feet, which it times at 22 minutes.
- Brent E. Walker's Mack Sennett's Fun Factory is the source AFI cites for the Fort Lee dates and the working title.
Scenes
- Cook and waiter hit each other in time with the brooms.
- A fish jumps out of the cooler and the whole restaurant chases it.
- At the ball the cook strips the stolen suit off the waiter.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-the-waiters-ball)
Quotes
Adam and Eve on a raft.
