(Where's Bob Vila when you need him?)
You all know how fond I am of Buster Keaton, so I'll do my best to be objective.
Yeah, right. ;)
This was a clever, adorable, and thoroughly enjoyable short film - Keaton's first to be released without Roscoe Arbuckle. In it, he plays a newlywed trying to set up house (and failing miserably). He's supported by Sybil Seely as his new bride. Seely does a fine job with Buster, keeping up with the fast-paced gags (even the scary ones!) and even injecting her own vivacity into the story. Not an easy feat when you're opposite a genius (and a house that's trying to kill you!). She's quite pretty, too; I suspect quite a few men in the audience got a thrill out of the bath scene. Oh, and the stunts! The stunts alone are nothing short of amazing!
One would be hard-pressed to give much of Keaton's work a bad review...but this short, especially, is a lot of fun and highly recommended.
I give this one: 
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6 comments:
As a man, I'm thinking perhaps you should have posted a photo of the bath scene instead of the house. Just sayin'.
Heh. Maybe you'll be lucky and I'll post it on my Tumblr:
silentstanzas.tumblr.com
;)
Just watched this on TCM and was delighted by it. The gags just kept coming one after the other without letup, and they were all tremendously imaginative. I haven't seen many of Keaton's shorts, but for me this one ranks right up there with "Balloonatics." The house itself was the greatest gag--just looking at it made me want to laugh, which you can see from your picture of it. I especially liked the rotating walls. When the one rotated and a window opening went right over Buster, it anticipated the renowned wall falling on Buster scene in "Steamboat Bill, Jr." And that last gag with the train was the absolute capper!
That's one of the reasons I love Buster so much - he never lets you catch a breath! Whether making you laugh or gasp, he keeps it up at breakneck pace.
I saw this film for the first time as part of a Keaton birthday celebration. Sybil Seely is adorable and if I'm not mistaken, she appeared in at least one other Keaton short. I've often wondered if Chaplin's closing shot for "Modern Times" wasn't influenced by Keaton's sentimental end to the chaos.
This is is my favourite Keaton short. I'll show it to my brother last week, he had never seen a Keaton film before and now he loves him too :)
Sybil is my favourite girl of his works...I think she also was in convict 13 and the boat. Perfect partner for Buster.
I think I'll make a cartoon drawing of this soon, it's lovely.
Great review.
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