Review: Speak Easily (1932)

courtesy Doctor Macro

David Macleod writes in his indispensable The Sound of Buster Keaton that Speak Easily is "easily one of Buster's better MGM features".   I was skeptical, as I always am when approaching Buster's talkies, but I actually enjoyed this!


First, a plot summary.  From IMDb:


Naive, bookish Professor Post [Keaton] inherits a huge amount of money and decides that now he can afford to go out and enjoy life. He falls for a dancer in a bad stage show [headed by Jimmy Durante], and with his new money decides to buy the show and take it to Broadway. Will the Professor prove too nice to succeed in show business? Or will he triumph over bill-collectors, critics, and sexy vamp Eleanor Espere [Thelma Todd]?  (Ken Yousten)

courtesy Doctor Macro

I'm a sucker for backstage comedies, and this one plays like vaudeville.  Sure, Buster's natural talents are wasted -- it's always a little painful watching him in his 30s work -- but the film is surprisingly funny.  Jimmy Durante does his huge personality thing, but somehow manages to not overwhelm the picture (which I've heard is not the case for What, No Beer?); in fact, the two men play well off each other.  Thelma Todd spices things up, proving as usual that she wasn't just eye candy - she was a terrific comedienne.  

courtesy Doctor Macro

It's uneven, a bit creaky in spots, and the ending could've been better...but if you're going to watch one of Buster's talkies, you could most certainly do worse.


One thing I've been wondering: that panned shot of the skyscraper...was that recycled from The Crowd?  Sure looks like it!




I give this one:  




[A little note here: I must thank David and Graceann Macleod, for not only providing me with this film and the wonderful book, but for being fantastic friends as well.  ☺]

House Problems = Lack of Inspiration

Hello folks!  The last few weeks have been troublesome, to say the least.  Besides being very busy at work, I've dealt with plumbing problems, broken appliances, even squirrels nesting in the walls!  It's just been a lot to deal with and as such, FF&SS has suffered.  Please stick around though because I promise there will be some worthwhile updates.

In the meantime, please say a prayer or cross your fingers that things improve for us soon. ☺

Buster Keaton: Parkour and Pathos

If you know me, you know that Buster Keaton is my favorite of the silent film comedians. He’s the Star of the Month on TCM (!) and I’ve been giddy as a fifth-grader at a Justin Bieber concert, pushing my poor rickety old VCR to grab up all the shorts and films I haven’t seen yet.


“But Jen,” you might be saying, “why such a soft spot for Buster instead of, say, Charlie Chaplin?”

Damfino, dear reader!

(But seriously, folks…)

I have great respect and appreciation for Chaplin as an artist, and I find Lloyd’s films very funny and extremely entertaining (he’s my second favorite), but my heart belongs to Keaton, and it all started with The Cameraman (1928).


I’d never seen a Keaton picture before, and had only passing acquaintance with a short or two, when the local art-house theatre advertised a screening complete with accompaniment by the wonderful Ben Model. Ooh, I couldn’t pass that up! I’d already seen Safety Last! that way and it was fantastic.


The lights dimmed, the piano thrummed an intro, and suddenly we were transported through the time machine of a little fellow with large, limpid eyes and a stoic expression. (And a surprisingly athletic body under all that baggy clothing!)


For those who haven’t seen it, The Cameraman is about a photographer who – after falling in love with Sally, a girl working for the newsreels (Marceline Day) —decides to ditch the tintypes, get himself a movie camera, and impress her. Sounds simple enough – until he gets embroiled in enough trouble for ten newsreels! It’s a lot of fun, especially the scenes where Buster and Sally spend a day at the swimming pool. But...there’s more to it than that.


A way I’ve taken to describing Keaton lately is parkour and pathos: he does his breakneck stunts—how that man lived to be as old as he was, I’ll never know—but there is also genuine love and heartbreak. Without spoiling it for newcomers, there’s a scene on the beach where you positively ache for him, the disillusionment and bitterness seeping out of his frame and keenly making its mark on the audience. It’s a powerful shot because we can all relate to what he’s going through at that very moment. (Though most of us don’t have a monkey filming it!)

This looked like a promising first picture under his new contract with MGM, but history sadly proved that not to be the case. Yet, even knowing it was the harbinger of a difficult period in Buster’s life, I still love this movie and consider it to be one of his best.


Simply put: Buster wasn’t just a comedic genius, he was an excellent actor. By the time the lights went up, I was hooked.


Since that day back in 2007 I’ve read and watched a great deal of Keaton and I have yet to be disappointed. Some of it might be hysterical (Steamboat Bill Jr, amongst many others) and some might be horrendous (Free and Easy), but it’s always worth the time. I can’t ever imagine becoming tired of him.


This year we celebrate his 116th birthday. Why not get one of his films or shorts and let him enchant you? I could make a starting suggestion… ;)

Happy Birthday Buster!

Happy 116th Birthday to one of the most talented men to ever grace the screen (and my silent film boyfriend -- shh, don't tell Eleanor!).  I watched "The Boat" and "The Love Nest" last night and have more goodies waiting for me when I get home!

Bubbles, Burst

Thanks to Lya dePutti, who won the contest last week. She knew William Haines' best friend was Joan Crawford, and that he called her "Cranberry". She chose Margaret Leahy as my subject for this week - a woman with a painfully fascinating story.


she closed the box
she struck the match
and fanned the fire so it would catch

one of the "lovely hundred", what a scam

she watched the flames
consume the pile
her winner's photo - what a smile!

chaplin and griffith's welcome telegrams

she had the look
but couldn't act
Schenck noted this with little tact

and cast her in her only claim to fame

keaton met her
on the dock
and subsequently felt the shock

of being trapped beneath the talmadge name

the ephemera of November
now naught but grief and smold'ring ember




Margaret Leahy

A Title? Damfino

Sheer comic bliss for every fan,
From "One Week" to "The Cameraman".
Who made this work they idolized?
The man with stardust in his eyes.

'Til one stroke with a fountain pen
Propelled him to the Lion's den;
They snubbed and underutilized
The man with stardust in his eyes.

His brilliance dulled by angst and drink,
His future teetered on the brink -
But Fate would change, revitalize
The man with stardust in his eyes.

It brought him Eleanor, his wife,
And retrospectives of his life;
They loved his work, and truly prized
The man with stardust in his eyes.

If I could write his epitaph,
I'd say he lived to make us laugh...
His kind of genius never dies.
The man with stardust in his eyes.


















Buster Keaton