1920: Bonus ShortsOne Week (Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline, 1920)
The build-it-yourself house that newlyweds Keaton and Sybil Seely put together based on sabotaged directions is a feat of comedic engineering. Had this not been made the same year as
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the oblong window frames and other inverted architecture might have seemed a sly wink at the art direction of Wiene's film. The stunts are almost too impressive, taking me out of the film as I fret about the safety of the actors. Maybe that's why the biggest laugh of the film, for me, is the completely innocuous moment when Keaton paints "WELCOME" on a mat, upside-down, only the spin the mat right-side up afterwards. I'm like, "See, Buster? You don't have to hurt yourself to make me happy!"
One Week is perhaps
too set-piece oriented, with too much filmed at a distance. The style makes the stunts all the more stunning, but it robs us of Keaton's wonderful face and sense of expression, and that in turn makes the film something of a clinical exercise in cleverness — a human comedy that's not quite human enough. Just one or two more shots of Keaton's nonplussed mug would have had me laughing all the louder at the surrounding gags.
I'm excited to see more of Seely in
Convict 13,
The Scarecrow,
The Boat, and
The Frozen North. She provides a really wonderful counterpart for Keaton here, with just the right amount of spark.
Grade: B+
Convict 13 (Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline, 1920)
After the heightened cleverness of
One Week, it's jarring to see Keaton performing such generic slapstick in
Convict 13 — though not as jarring as seeing prison guards get shot to death in a otherwise benign comedy short. There are a few nice gags, of course — I was particularly amused by Keaton's use a golf club to paddle his makeshift raft — but
Convict 13 is a disappointing effort overall. The score on the Kino Blu-Ray does the film no favors.
Grade: C+
The Scarecrow (Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline, 1920)
The Scarecrow isn't as technically impressive as
One Week, but it might very well be the better overall film. There's just such a breezy joy to the comedy here, starting with the brilliant choreography of the breakfast scene. A small taste:
As always, I am in loving awe of the precision of Keaton's movements. He's magic. And I'm so happy that
The Scarecrow includes more of the human touch that I felt was lacking in
One Week. Case in point: I can't help but smiling now just remembering the moment when Keaton realizes the true intentions of the mad dog that's been chasing him.
One fascinating moment is when Keaton and Joe Roberts are looking at a picture of Sybil Seely (hugely likable, yet again) and Keaton remarks, "I don't care how she votes, I'm going to marry her!" It's a very timely line, given that the 19th Amendment had only been an official part of the Constitution for four months at the time
The Scarecrow was released. (There's also a reference to saloons being empty, a nod to the 18th Amendment, which went into effect another seven months earlier.) It made me wonder what other films other the 1920s — and even of the 1930s — remark at all on women's suffrage. I can't think of many examples offhand.
I'm very curious to check out the Arbuckle/Keaton film
The Cook, to see just how much Keaton borrows from it here. But
The Scarecrow is delightfully fun entertainment, regardless, and I look forward to many future viewings.
Grade: A-
Neighbors (Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline, 1920)
Neighbors only really came alive for me during the amazing stunt at the end (pictured) involving The Flying Escalantes. It's a treat to behold, and I can only wish it were part of a more engaging and funny overall film. Much of
Neighbors feels like very rote slapstick, unfortunately, with too few sparks of Keaton's originality.
Grade: B-
pixote