'The Garage' at 100 years

The Garage (1920)
Starring: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Harry McCoy, Molly Malone, and Dan Crimmins
Director: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Fatty and Buster (Arbuckle and Keaton) have a particularly chaotic workday at the combination gas station/firehouse where they work.

I am making this post exactly 100 years after "The Garage" was first released. Is it still worth watching today?

The answer to that question is an emphatic "YES!"

When this film was made, Buster Keaton had been a supporting player in short films directed by and starring Roscoe "Fatty Arbuckle" for three years; Arbuckle had given Keaton his break in film, and the two had become close friends. It was clear to both that it was time for Keaton to strike out on his own, and with this film, viewers got a taste of what Keaton would soon deliver once he struck out on his own. Keaton is the co-star of this film with Arbuckle, and he even gets some of the funnier solo bits and he is the driver of a couple of the better routines.

Story-wise, the film also holds together nicely, with the gags and stunts feeding smoothly into each other, as well as arising from, or prompting, plot-furthering character interaction. The presence of a female character who is both very much her own master and not the love interest or would-be love interest of either of the main characters also enhances the film, because it is a nice change from the common pattern in so many of these short films.

This fast-paced film can literally be described as provide a laugh-a-minute... but don't just take my word for it. I encourage you to take a little less than half an hour out of your day to enjoy a comedy that had stood the test of 100 years, and which will still amuse 100 years from now: it's embedded below via YouTube.

The Epic Tales of Buster & Sybil!

Looking for something a little different to build a couple "movie nights" or "watch parties" out of? Permit us to suggest watching the five films that Buster Keaton and Sybil Seely made together between 1920 and 1922. Don't watch them in the order they were made, but but the order in which they combine to form two different story arcs that relate The Epic Tales of Buster & Sybil!

TALE #1

Buster is an up-and-coming man of business, Sybil is the daughter of a prison warden, and they are in love. Upon getting married, they are gifted with an empty lot build-it-yourself house as a wedding present, and its construction proves to be the first test of their marriage. Several years and two sons later, Buster builds a boat in the garage and then sets out to take the family on a cruise.

   This epic is told in three parts. Click on the links to each film, as well as my comments.
   Convict 13 (1920)
   One Week (1920)
   The Boat (1921)

TALE #2

Buster woos a farmer's daughter. After being wed on the run, the two move to Alaska to make a new life. But Buster's dark side emerges, and this marriage is not a happy one...

   This epic consists of the book-end films from Keaton's and Seely's collaborations: The very first film they made together, and the very last.
   The Scarecrow (1920)
   The Frozen North (1922)


All five films can be found online (as is obvious from the posts linked to above), or, in DVD or Blu-Ray collections like the one that we've linked to below. The ones found on disc are generally sourced from better quality--and there's no risk of the link I provide in the posts becoming invalid.

'The Balloonatic' doesn't exactly soar

The Balloonatic (1923)
Starring: Buster Keaton and Phyllis Haver
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Kline
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A young man (Keaton) becomes stranded in the wilderness after accidentally taking off in a balloon. Will the more out-doorsy girl (Haver) he encounters be his salvation, or will she be the death of him?

"The Balloonatic" is one of Buster Keaton's lesser efforts. It's a series of loosely connected skits that sees our hero move from a bad day at the amusement park to a worse time in the wilderness, with the connecting element no so much being Buster but the far more interesting character of the young woman he first tries to put the moves on at the amusement park (and gets a black eye and bloody nose for his fresh behavior) and then later crosses her path again in the wilderness. But, as fun as Phyllis Haver's character is, the film is still feels disjointed and directionless.

This isn't the first Buster Keaton short I've watched that felt like its elements didn't quite connect properly ("The Frozen North" springs immediately to mind as the worst "offender" so far), but it is the first that felt like it lacked heart, as well as being short of elaborate stunt-based comedy that's made his other shorts so spectacular.

For a film titled "The Ballonatic", this is flick is very grounded. Most of the gags are modest, the stunts little more than prat-falls, and the balloon isn't much more than a device to get Keaton's character from the amusement park into the wilderness. While here is a little business onboard the drifting balloon, I really wanted a little more airborne dangling action, so while this colors my opinion of the movie as a whole, it's also fact that there are several routines that are predictable and therefore feel like they've gone on for too long by the time the pay-off arrives; and that Keaton already did similar bits in other films, and did them better. (The fishing routines in both "Hard Luck" and "Convict 13" are funnier than the one here.)

That said, the film does feature some very funny interactions between Keaton and Haver (with her rescuing him, and he later trying to rescue her but her ultimately having to give up on being the damsel in distress and deal with the threat on her own). Keaton also has some very funny bits with a canoe, both in and out of the water. There's just nothing as wild or exhuberant as what viewers experience in some of Keaton's other films. The relationship between Keaton and Haver's characters is one of the most interesting ones in any of Keaton's shorts, but it doesn't quite make up for the shortcomings. This isn't a bad film--it's lots of fun--but it isn't as good as Keaton's other works.

But why don't you check out this film for yourself, below. Afterwards, you can let me know if you agree or disagree with my take on it.

'The Haunted House' is a treat full of tricks

The Haunted House (1921)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, Joe Roberts, and Mark Hamilton
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

On the run from the law, a bank teller (Keaton) who has been wrongfully accused of counterfeiting and trying to rob his place of employment, takes refuge in a house seemingly haunted by ghosts and demons.

"The Haunted House" is fun, funny, but most of all, good-natured and cute. Sure, it's the story of crooks (led by the towering Joe Roberts) who are using a small-town bank to exchange their counterfiet dollars for real ones; and sure, an innocent, if mishap-prone, bank teller (Buster Keaton) ends up blamed for their crimes; and, yeah, Roberts and his gang end up kidnapping the bank president's daughter (Virginia Fox)... but, despite all of that, this movie has a jovial air about it that makes it breeze by while you're watching. You even forget how fundamentally silly it is that Keaton, an adult, is scared and confused by men in devil and skeleton costumes, or by people wearing sheets pretending to be ghosts. (And as is my habit when reviewing these short films, I'm not going to go into too man details about the jokes and gags, because that would ruin the film for you. It's established up front that the hauntings and demonic infestations are

High points of the film include a series of gags involving paper currency, glue, and a botched bank robbery; Keaton's character first reacting with fear to the fake hauntings and then with marked sarcasm once he discovers it's just a bunch of guys in costumes; Keaton's interactions with the "devil" in the house; and Keaton's adventures in the Afterlife following a last-minute dramatic twist. There are also some really funny slapstick bits involving a trick staircase, and a very clever--and surprisinglyspecial effects sequence that is actually the film's single truly unnerving moment. (It's also completely out of place with everything else in the picture, but I suspect it was just too good a concept to not use.)


Aside from the out-of-place special effects gag (which is still excellent, just out of place), the only other real complaint I can mount about the film is that Virginia Fox's character needed a little more screen time and development. What we get is a very perfunctory "this is our damsel in distress" and not much else, and the film would have benefitted greatly if just a little more time had been devoted to her. These weaknesses still result in me rating the film a very high Eight on my Ten-star scale rather than a Nine.

But just don't take my word for how fun "The Haunted House" is. I've embedded it below, via YouTube, for your viewing pleasure!


Trivia: Buster Keaton liked the stair gags so much that he developed further routines and included a similar idea in "The Electric House" (1922).

'Hard Luck' is one of Buster Keaton's Best

Hard Luck (1921)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, and Joe Roberts
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

After repeatedly failing to kill himself, a broke, impoverished, and unloved young man (Keaton) gets a sudden opportunity to turn his life around, be a hero, and possibly even find romance with a beautiful woman (Fox).

"Hard Luck" is at once one of the funniest and darkest comedies I've seen from Buster Keaton. It opens with Keaton's character being beaten down by Circumstance one time too many for him to bear, and then follows him through a number of attempts at killing himself (hanging, getting run over by trains and cars, trying to get himself crushed by a falling safe, drinking poison), all of which fail with hilarious results. Yes, you will find yourself laughing at this character who is trying to end his misery.

Even after it looks like his luck may be turning around, and he'll have a chance to find some semblence of stability and happiness in his life, viewers who are paying attention will see that this is initially a false hope; our suicidal hero falls in with a group of rich people among whom he will never fit in and that he will certainly find himself rejected and dejected once again. This is made even clearer when his new friends go on a fox hunt and he tries to join them but is left behind while trying to get on a Clydesdale. The jokes and physical gags during this part of the film are as funny as the various failed suicide attempts, and the humor isn't quite as dark, because you will find yourself buying into the character's new-found hope.

"Hard Luck" is at its best when Keaton's character finds himself in the middle of a robbery and kidnapping, and he defeat a gang of desparados led by a hulking brute (who is played by Joe Roberts, who has never been as menacing as he is here). The stakes are as high as they can possibly be--because if Keaton fails, he will be dead and the lovely Virginia Fox will most certainly be raped. The clever way by which Keaton's character singly takes on and defeats an entire gang of armed men features one of the best application of the silent movie standard of characters running in and out of rooms while fighting or pursuing each other. It was an old bit in in 1921, but Keaton puts a different spin on it, as well as adds some dramatic and hilarious complications.

Despite his heroism, however, Keaton's character still ulimately ends up without prospects and love... or so it seems. The film has one last big joke, which, according to sources, was not avaible in prints for decades... much to Keaton's disappointment, because he described it in at least one interview as his favorite part of this, one of his favorite works. (This last gag also ultimately brings light to the darkness of this movie, with a final twist that demonstrates that no matter how hopeless life can seem, no matter how much hard luck you're being beaten down by, happiness can be waiting any moment. That's the message I took from the final moments of the film, so I'm glad that lost footage was found and restored.)

After watching several versions of "Hard Luck" available on YouTube, I think the one I've embedded below is the most complete one that is easily available. I strongly encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to take 25 minutes out of their day to do so. If you are a Keaton fan, you won't regret it... and if you're not familiar with his work, you may just find yourself a new filmmaker to admire.




Note: September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Look out for those around you... and if you're ever in the mindset of the Keaton character in "Hard Luck", please remember that things CAN get better. I know; I've been there.

Buster Keaton delivers in 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.'

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Ernest Torrence, Tom McGuire, and Marion Byron
Director: Charles Reisner
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Although a disappointment to his gruff, riverboat captain father (Torrence), effete college boy William Canfield, Jr. (Keaton) tries his best to impress him. It seems that it may be impossible when it turns out that William Jr.'s girlfriend, Kitty (Byron) happens to be the daughter of his father's hated rival (McGuire).

"Steamboat Bill Jr.", like the majority of the films that Buster Keaton co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in during the 1920s, was an elaborate affair with costly sets and expensive special effects around and within which Keaton performed his hilarious stunt work. Unfortunately, it was a box office failure of such a magnitude that it was the final film Keaton would make as an independent filmmaker, and he would spend the rest of his career acting in and writing for projects controlled mostly by others.

I don't know what made audiences ignore this film 90 years ago, because I found it to be well-paced, well-acted, and very funny. It follows the structure of almost all of Keaton's independent productions I've seen--the first part of the film sets up the story and the conflicts while delivering some funny character moments, and the second part delivers a stream of sight gags and impressive stunts, with Keaton risking life and limb for our entertainment. "Steamboat Bill Jr." does this, and more. Although Keaton does return to a variation of a stunt he did in his very first solo effort ("One Week"), the performance here is much more elaborate and impressive, and the context so different, that I think I only people like me who are watching for things to comment on would even notice.

The film's commercial failure is unfortunate not only because it didn't deserve such neglect by viewers, but also because it may tempt potential modern viewers to think it's not as good as many of Keaton's other silent films. And they'd be wrong.

"Steamboat Bill Jr." holds up nicely. The simple story of a father whose disappointed in his son, and the son who wants to impress and be accepted by him despite it all, is one that works as well today as it did back then. The same is true of the film's climax--during which a small town get demolished by a storm while Keaton's character runs around dodging falling buildings--due to all the chatter about Climate Change and how severe weather is going to kill us all. Heck, if there's any reason to warn a modern viewer away from this film, it's the same one that applies to all silent pictures: They require audiences to devote their full attention to what's unfolding on screen, because there's no stretches of dialogue during which they can "multi-task".

The only serious complaint I have about "Steamboat Bill Jr." is that there's a sequence where Bill Jr. is trying to break his father out of jail that feels like it should have been its own two-reeler. While it's  got some funny gags in it, helps deepen the bond between the two characters, and it sets up one of the more dramatic events of the climax, I still would have liked to see more action on the riverboats, or maybe even additional scenes involving Keaton, Torrence, and Byron. (In fact, I would have liked to have seen more of Byron, period. I liked her with Keaton almost as much as I have Sybil Seely, and far more than Virginia Fox.) That jail digression is the only reason I'm not giving this one a Nine of Ten rating.



Trivia: "Steamboat Bill. Jr." was the screen debut of Marion Byron. She was 17, and had already been performing as a chorus girl in music productions throughout the Los Angeles area.

'The Electric House' will spark laughter

The Electric House (1922)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Joe Roberts, Steve Murphy, and Virginia Fox
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A botanist (Keaton) is mistaken for an electrical engineer and is hired to install electricity in a millionaire's mansion. He goes above and beyond the call of duty and turns the house into a mechanical marvel that puts the smart-houses of 2019 to shame... but then the engineer who should have had the job (Murphy) decides to take revenge.

"The Electric House" is a tour-de-force of set building. The devices and the prop comedy around them are the real stars of this picture, and the film starts to drag when it strays from this, like the bit where Keaton struggles with a heavy trunk. While this sets up other gags, it feels like filler, which is a bad thing in a movie that only runs a little over 22 minutes.

That sequence, though, is the only real quibble I have with the picture. I have a few nitpicks with how long it took Keaton's character to catch onto the sabotage (which is mostly excused by the way he ultimately deals with the saboteur), as well as some of the business at the end (which is almost made up for by the film's final moment), but over all, this is an enjoyable picture. It doesn't have that frenetic feeling that my favorite Keaton films convey, but it is still a heck of a lot of fun. (It's also interesting to see that diploma mills have been around for at least 100 years, because without an indifferently run university, the story of this movie would not have taken place.)

But just don't take my word for how fun "The Electric House" is. I've embedded it below, via YouTube, for your viewing pleasure!

Move over Romeo & Juliet... because here come Buster & Ginnie!

Neighbors (1920)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, Joe Roberts, Joe Keaton, and Eddie Cline
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A romantic relationship between two neighbor teens (Keaton and Fox) triggers a feud between their parents, and eventually throws their entire neighborhood chaos.

"Neighbors" starts with a "Romeo and Juliet" vibe, with two young lovers who just want  and then spirals outward outward into total chaos. Within the space of less than 18 minutes, this film moves from being a spoof of a stereotypical melodrama (about young lovers being kept apart by angry parents) into being a wild series of crazy slapstick routines and acrobatic stunts (as Buster alternately tries to circumvent the angry fathers to make time with the love of his life, tries to get back at her father for standing in his way, and then tries to avoid arrest after mistakingly bopping a beat cop on the head), before circling back around to satire by poking fun at the court system and ultimately returning to making fun of melodramas as the star-crossed lovers try to get married.

Like most of the Keaton short films I've watched, "Neighbors" has a dream-like quality about it where life itself seems to be a series of non-sequitors and everyone seems, annoyingly, to be getting in the way of achieving even the simplest of goals, no matter how hard you trying to avoid them and run around them. (Although, maybe, the fact that I consider this to be dream-like may say more about me than it does about the movie...)

"Neighbors" was the first short that Buster Keaton made with Virginia Fox, and for most of her roles during the rest of her career, she would be teamed with him; Fox retired from acting in 1925 after marrying Hollywood Kingpin Darryl F. Zanuck. Fox is a decent performer, but she's no Sybil Seely, who was prettier, more charismatic, and whom Keaton reportedly would have liked to have made more films with if Seely had been available.

But why don't you take a little time out of your day and check out "Neighbors" for yourself? I've embedded the films, via YouTube, so you can enjoy it right here, right now.

'Cops': Filmed on location in Crazytown!

Cops (1922)
Starring: Buster Keaton
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Through a series of missteps and misunderstandings, a young man (Keaton) trying to win his girlfriend's hand in marriage ends up being chased by the city's entire police force.

There are three kinds of people who get in trouble with the police: The criminal, the stupid, and the unlucky. In the space of this film's 18-minute running time, Buster Keaton character is every one of those. He steals some money (from someone who just happens to be the police commissioner), he is conned into buying property from someone who doesn't actually own it (but some of it belongs to a police officer), and he inadvertently becomes the center and perpetrator of a terrorist attack on a police parade.

"Cops" is a little slow in the wind-up (although it opens strong with an excellent site gag that plays with audience expectations given the title), but once it really gets going it's a one long, hilarious chase scene.

Like almost every Keaton short I've written about in this space, I feel like I can't go into too much detail without ruining the amazement you'll feel the first time watching the events unfold  I will say, though, that the stunt involving Keaton balancing on a ladder atop a fence while cops on both sides are trying to get at him is worth sitting through the film almost all by itself.

Above, you can see that I only listed one star of this film. While Joe Roberts (as a cop from whom Keaton's character steals money) Virginia Fox (the girl he is trying to impress), and Steve Murphy (as a con man who rips him off) all play pivotal characters in the plot, Buster Keaton is the only true star of this picture. He owns this film from the first moment though the very last frame (even if only his hat appears in it).

If you like rambunctious comedies, whether you admire cops or are more likely to walk around saying "fuck the police", I think this is a film you'll enjoy the heck out of. I've embedded the film below, so you can watch it right here, right now. It may well be the funniest 18 minutes of your day!

Witness Keaton do satirical impersonations in 'The Frozen North'

The Frozen North (1922)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Freeman Wood, Bonnie Hill, Sybil Seely, and Joe Roberts
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

After failing to rob a casino, shooting his neighbors due to mistaken identity, covering up the apparent death of his wife (Seely), and being stopped from ravaging the wife of another neighbor (Hill), a Bad Man (Keaton) goes on the run (and fishing) in the frozen wilderness of Alaska.

"The Frozen North" was the last movie Buster Keaton would make with Sybil Seely, and it was her last film, period, as she retired from show business to focus on her family after completing it. It's different than any of the other four films they made together. Where the other films featured plots and gags that flowed smoothly into each other, with the plot driving the gags and the gags likewise furthering the plot, there isn't much connection between segments here. Even "One Week", which essentially is a series of connected individual skits, felt like it had more of a plot than this film. Here, the main character moves from event to event, and gag to gag, with only the faintest of motivation for doing so--not even the plot moves him to do so, because there is very little plot to speak of here.

This is probably because "The Frozen North" was motivated by very different creative impulses than those previous films. This is, first and foremost a satire of western melodramas starring the extremely popular actor William S. Hart. Although Hart is not well-remembered today, audiences in 1922 recognized who Keaton was lampooning--because Keaton reportedly mimicked several of Hart's gestures perfectly--and they reportedly loved it. Hart, however, was not amused, and he made his displeasure known, publicly. According to some sources--including a aquote from Keaton himself--Keaton was upset that Hart was angered, because Keaton was motivated to make the film because he admired and respected Hart. Other sources, however, hold that Keaton didn't mind angering Hart, because they state the motivation for making this film was anger with Hart, who had been a loud and sanctimonious voice condemning Keaton's friend and mentor Roscoe Arbuckle when Arbuckle was falsely accused of raping and killing a starlet. This article (which also reviews "The Frozen North, but contains more spoilers for the film than I usually include here) addresses both theories, and it's an interesting read.

Comedic highlights of "The Frozen North" include Keaton robbing a casino with a cardboard cowboy as his accomplice; the melodramatic scene involving the murder of Keaton's neighbors, perhaps the most savage swipe at Hart's films, as well as one of the funniest dismissal of double homicide ever put on film; where Keaton's dogsled is pulled over by a traffic cop in the Alaskan wilderness; an ice-fishing trip gone wrong; and an attempt on the part of Keaton's character for force himself on his pretty neighbor--a scene that pokes fun at Erich von Stroheim, another melodrama mainstay of the time. (Unlike Hart, Von Stroheim reportedly got a kick out of being the subject of a spoof.)

"The Frozen North" feels a little more disjointed than some of the other early Buster Keaton comedies, and, because the satire has been has been muted by the passage of time, a little lighter on the laughs. However, it's still worth checking out if you enjoy silent movies, because watching Keaton make fun of many of the period's tropes is well worth your time. In fact, you can watch it right now by clicking on the embedded video below.

'Convict 13' is a wonderful blend of slapstick and absurdist humor

Convict 13 (1920)

Starring: Buster Keaton, Joe Roberts, and Sybil Seely

Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A series of events leads a golfer (Keaton) to be mistaken for an escaped convict and get dragged off to prison. That's when things get really crazy.

The first few minutes of "Convict 13" is a fun bit of comedy based around golf, which at that time was a growing craze sweeping the nation, flowing downward from the upper-class to engage anyone who had the money for clubs and the time to play. It offers up a little social commentary that's relevant even today, as well having an African-American play the part of a black caddy rather than have someone in black face doing it. The part was substantive in the opening scenes, which makes this even more remarkable.  (I recently watched a Harold Lloyd picture that I think was from this same year, and there were numerous men and women made-up to look as if they were African-American but weren't.)

With no warning, however, the film takes a turn for the humorously bizarre. After he gets hauled off to prison in case of mistaken identity, his problems keep escalating following failed escape attempts, foiling his execution in place of the prisoner he's been mistaken for, and finally a prison riot during which his girlfriend, who also happens to be the warden's daughter (played with great charm by Sybil Seeley).

As with a couple of the other early Buster Keaton films I've written about here, I don't want to go into too much detail about the storyline and the wonderful blend of absurdist humor and slapstick gags that come rapid-fire at the viewer, because it would spoil a lot of the fun. (I will say that "Convict 13" has one of the funniest aborted executions scenes you are likely to ever see. Additionally, Sybil Seely really gets to show off her comic chops in this one; it's easy to see why Keaton reportedly wished he could have been able to work with her on more films.)

Although it's a little slow at first, once "Convict 13" gets going, it turns into a hilariously wild ride. What's more, it's tightly scripted, so gags set up other gags as the film unfolds. It is so good that I am even able to overlook the fact that it concludes using what I find one of the most annoying ways to wrap up a story, be it fiction or film; in fact, if I were to set aside my biases, I might even say that this is one of those very rare creations where that ending is actually appropriate.

I recommend that you sit back and watch this great movie, right now, via the embedded YouTube video below!

 

'The Boat' is another must-see silent flick

The Boat (1921)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Sybil Seely, and Eddie Cline
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A husband (Keaton) builds a boat in his garage and takes his family sailing. Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong.

I read somewhere that "The Boat" was, in Buster Keaton's mind, viewed as a sequel to "One Week", a film about the doomed effort by newly-weds to a home from a kit. At one point, Keaton even suggested that the two films be combined to form a single longer feature, although that never happened.

"The Boat" is another masterful mix of aburdist humor, slapstick and set construction, none of which I want to go into detail about because it will spoil the surprises and the laughs. There is also some impressive miniature effects when the boat is caught in a storm and capsizes again and again and again (which is where some of the impressive sets and stunt work also come into play).

The final five or so minutes of the film get a little too intense for me, and I found laughing despite myself--especially at the joke around the boat's name, Damfino--but that intensity gave the film's conclusion (and the SECOND joke based off the boat's name) that much more impact.

This is another film that makes it clear why Buster Keaton is considered one of the masters of early filmmaking. I think it would be entertaining to anyone who enjoys absurdist humor, especially if it is darkly tinged. That's even if you usually say you don't like silent movies. I've made it easy for visitors to watch this great little movie, as I've embedded it below, via YouTube.


aa

Will Their Marriage Survive 'One Week'?

One Week (1920)
Starring: Buster Keaton and Sybil Seely
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

Newly-weds (Keaton and Seely) build their dream house from a kit they've been given as a wedding present. Thanks to their lack of handiness and sabotage from her ex-boyfriend, things go less than smoothly. Will love conquer all, or will their marriage be over by the end of the week?

"One Week" was the first film Buster Keaton made after his partnership with 'Fatty' Arbuckle ended. When compared to the works that would follow--with their wild chase scenes and elaborate stunts--this is a fairly sedate movie. But it's some 25 minutes of solid hilarity, plus more than a few pratfalls and even some stunts.

In some ways, "One Week" is a collection of brief comedic sketches. The film is divided into sections, each covering a day in the week of the title, each featuring a little bit of plot, a gag or two, maybe a stunt, and all tied together by the couple working together to build their future home together. As the days unfold, the problems with their construction project escalate, in no small part due to interference from the bride's ex. One of the seven days is a Friday the Thirteenth, so on that day, things get really crazy for the newlyweds and their new home.

Humorous highlights of the film include a fun little bit where Keaton and Sybil trade places on the ground and first floor of the house in an instant; Keaton trying to get the chimney onto the roof; a piano delivery gone awry; a storm that has a most unusual effect on the house; the film's climax on the final day of week, which I can't even comment on without spoiling it; and one of the funniest bits of fourth-wall humor I've ever come across. There's also the scene where Sibyl takes a bath, which I partially covered in this post.

Perhaps even more important than the comedy bits are the way that Keaton and his co-creator Eddie Cline deftly fit enough character development of the newly-weds into the scenes that viewers see how much they love each other and subsequently become invested in the success of their do-it-yourself home construction project. For me, their first fight as husband and wife was one of the film's most dramatic moments and it made me smile broadly to see it resolved.

"One Week" is a movie I feel is well-worth your time and attention. I've made it easy to watch it by embedding it for you to watch right here. Just click, sit back, and be ready to laugh.

Picture Perfect Wednesday: Sybil Seely

Sybil Seely was a silent movie comedienne who spent most of her career under contract to Mack Sennett and appearing as a "Bathing Beauty" in some of his films. Her best movies, however, were the short films she made with writer/director Buster Keaton while "on-loan" to him. Keaton enjoyed working with her, but five films were all they were able to make together before she retired from acting in 1922.

The first of the movies Seely made with Keaton was "One Week", a tale of a newly-weds putting up a pre-fabricated home on a lot they were given as a wedding present. In the film, Seely takes a bath... so this film sees her literally being a bathing beauty.

And here are some stills from the part where Sybil drops the soap...

What happens next? Click here to find out! You'll be able to watch the entire film there, as well as read my review of it! (I will be posting reviews of all of the Keaton/Seely films here at Shades of Gray.)

'The Scarecrow' shows why Buster Keaton is a legendary comedian and filmmaker

The Scarecrow (1920)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Joe Roberts, Sybil Seely, Joe Keaton, and Luke the Dog
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

A pair of friends sharing a one-room house (Keaton and Roberts) are both in love with the farmer's rebellious daughter (Seely)... and both will go to great lengths to win her hand in marriage.

"The Scarecrow" opens with a scene that deftly establishes the relationship between the two main characters, roommates Buster and Joe, but it revolves around a gag that isn't terribly funny. As a result, I didn't have high hopes for what was going to follow, but then the film got into gear and ended up becoming one of the funniest things I've seen.

From the Rube Goldberg contraptions that permeate the main characters' living space, through the business involving the titular scarecrow, and the film's three spectacular chase scenes, viewers are treated to 15 minutes of amazing prop-based and physical comedy. The longest chase involves Keaton being pursued by a dog he believes is rabid and if you don't find it hilarious then you are probably dead inside--or just plain dead. (I included the dog among my list of stars at the top of this review, because it performed as well as its human co-stars!)

But don't just take my word for how funny this film is. Watch it, right now, because I've embedded it below, via YouTube.

Keaton and Todd are absolute greatness in 'Speak Easily'

Speak Easily (1932)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Thelma Todd, Ruth Selwyn, Sydney Toler, and Henry Arnetta
Director: Edward Sedgewick
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A bookish professor (Keaton) gets news that he has inherited $700,000, and he decides it's time to live his life to its fullest. While on his way to New York, he encounters a struggling theatre troupe with more heart than talent. He become smitten with Pansy, the lead dancer (Selwyn), and he decides to be their financial backer for a Broadway show.

"Speak Easily" is a very uneven comedy that is dragged down by long stretches of unfunny or repetitive gags separated by some excellent bits. It's got a solid and talented cast that deserved better than the material they have to work with.

For example, poor Buster Keaton is the star of the film, but he still has very little do. He is more frequently than not relegated to the role of straight man to Jimmy Durante, and most of the bits he has of his own are dragged out past the point of being funny. As for Durante, he, too has to struggle with routines that drag on; there's a bit involving luggage that starts out amusing and grows tiresome and annoying by the time the film finally moves on.

The one performer in the film who gets to appear in all the films best scenes is Thelma Todd, and it's in these scenes were Keaton gets to shine his brightest, too. Todd shows up in the second act, and she is the closest thing this genial story has to a villain. Her character, Elanor, is a burlesque dancer who is willing to do almost anything to get a part in a Broadway play, from stripping down to her underwear at the slightest suggestion--which immediately convinces Durante's character, James, that she has what it takes to be in the show--to setting up Keaton's Professor Post to be blackmailed for sexual indiscretions. Unfortunately, the good professor is simply too oblivious to even realize that Elanor is trying to seduce him, and her big scheme backfires when her efforts end up with both of them so blindingly drunk the couldn't be "indiscreet" if they wanted to.

This drunken scene, and its aftermath, with Keaton and Todd features a hilarious mix of spoken and physical humor and it is the highlight of the movie. In fact, the story-thread that starts with Elanor showing up in the Professor's office, through her attempts to seduce him and blackmail him, through the steps that James takes to extract him from any possibility of scandal, is so sharp and so well-done that it feels like it belongs in a much better movie. These scenes show that it wasn't that the famed silent movie star Keaton was getting old and had lost his edge (as some claimed at the time... and perhaps even today); it was that he didn't have anything good to work with. With quality material, and partner that can give as well as she got--which he had in Todd in these scenes they did together--Keaton could still deliver the physical humor that had made him famous, as well as deliver spoken jokes with perfect timing and the driest of dry wit.

While Keaton also has a few great moments toward the end of the film--during a Broadway opening  that's bound to be a disaster unless some miracle happens--the scenes he shares with Todd really are the film's high point. It's really a shame that the rest of the cast is stuck with mostly sub-par material,. because there are several instances where they show that they are all quite talented. Nowhere is this more clear that the scene where Professor Post decides to bring the troupe to Broadway. The performance they put on is such a wretched display of hammish acting, lousy singing, and bad choreography that leaves viewers in awe at how bad it is... which is proof that we are watching performers of the highest caliber. It takes a lot of skill, and even more practice and rehearsal, to be as bad as they are in that scene.

It's at once heart-breaking and touching that Professor Post is so smitten with the troupe's leading later that he can't see how bad Pansy and her fellow performers are... and it also gives Jimmy Durante's character a likable dimension to what otherwise comes across as a fairly wretched human being: James truly believes that he and his troupe could be the next big thing if only they could get a break. When the Professor offers to fund their show, James isn't motivated by greed, but rather by the excitement of making his (and his fellow actors) dreams come true and to get them the recognition he believes they so richly deserve. At no point does James's faith in his troupe waver, even when the experienced Broadway director that Professor Post hires (played by Sydney Toler, who is best known as Charlie Chan) accurately and truthfully describes the level of talent the performers have. As annoying as I find Durante as an actor, I really liked his character of James... and I really wished he'd been given  better material to work with.

(Of course, here I am laying blame on the scriptwriters and the director for the movie being  mostly weak when maybe I should be giving credit to Buster Keaton and Thelma Todd for making the scenes they have together so sparklingly brilliant. After all, they are the common denominator for the movie's best parts... and their hilarious scenes together are plenty reward for sticking around through the rest of the film.


One odd bit of trivia: When she appeared in this film, Thelma Todd was co-starring in her own series of comedy short films with ZaSu Pitts that was being produced by Hal Roach and released through MGM. One of these was titled "Sneak Easily", released in December of 1932 (and I actually posted a review of it last week). "Speak Easily" was released in August of that same year. That these titles are so similar can't be an accident--especially since the title of the short film makes little sense given its subject matter--but I can't figure out what the reason for it would be. Anyone out there have a thought about it?