Fatty at San Diego

Fatty induces wife to let him take a day off to go to the celebration at San Diego. He has a wonderful time, flirting with the girls, breaking up a parade, fighting the police force and falling into the fountain with him, escapes, and with the crowd after him, leaps into the river. Here he rescues a little boy and becomes a hero. He goes home to wife in a bedraggled condition, tells of rescue and is set upon a pedestal. Wife, as a reward, takes him to the movies at night and sees husband flirting and fighting in the fountain, where some enterprising cameraman caught him. That explaining, as she thought, the bedraggled state in which he arrived home, she turns and beats him all the way home.

Directed by George Nichols, Fatty at San Diego leans on a strong ensemble — Roscoe Arbuckle, Phyllis Allen, Minta Durfee — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1913.