When Arbuckle is in drag he and Keaton exchange a lot of long glances with their fingers in their mouths. Now, I get that women will do that in a sultry or playful manner to be suggestive of -- ahem, we all know what. But why would it be considered flirtatious for the man to stick his fingers in his mouth? (Arbuckle himself does this in a lot of films, where he's flirting with women.)
shareArbuckle also does that in The Cook when he's dancing.. slightly strange!
I think in this particular short, Arbuckle is meant to be a woman and Buster is just mimicking him in a comically overblown way..
Another thing that Arbuckle does a lot is spit.. neither of those habits are pleasant!
Arbuckle seems to spit when he's in drag because spitting is seen as something women just don't do. It's for the contrast.
(Does anybody else think he makes a much more attractive woman than he did a man?)
Though he spits in more than one short, though I've got a memory block as to which ones!
And yes, he does! That dress in Coney Island suits him somehow, haha...
I think it's supposed to be a sign of the person is being coy. You couldn't be too suggestive back then.
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