Tag Archives: Joseph M. Schenck

1921, Recommended, Short

The Haunted House (1921, Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton)

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The Haunted House has some excellent gags. There’s a lot of set gags in the finale, when bank clerk Keaton ends up in the–well, the haunted house. His coworker–a delightfully evil Joe Roberts–is actually a counterfeiter who uses the haunted house to print money; the haunted bit is just a cover. Lots of great comedic set pieces, including the collapsing stairs.

Earlier, there’s even a nice bit with Keaton doing lower key physical comedy when he can’t get dollar bills off his hands (there was an incident with some glue). The Haunted House is a smooth experience, with lots of pay-off, at least in terms of the gags.

Keaton and co-director Cline are somewhat limited in their ambitions for House. The gags are good, but lengthy. There’s nowhere near enough story. House is funny stuff and extremely well executed, but it finishes up somewhat underweight.

2/3Recommended

CREDITS

Written and directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton; director of photography, Elgin Lessley; produced by Joseph M. Schenck; released by Metro Pictures Corporation.

Starring Buster Keaton (Bank Clerk), Virginia Fox (Bank President’s Daughter) and Joe Roberts (Bank Cashier).

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1920, Highly Recommended, Short

Neighbors (1920, Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton)

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I’m not sure what the best thing is about Neighbors. There’s the comic pacing, there’s the comic acrobatics, there’s the story, there’s the acting. Co-directors Keaton and Cline quickly introduce this fantastic setup–Romeo and Juliet across a fence in an alley and then immediately get into two very complicated Keaton-fueled acrobatic mastery. It segues into a mistaken identity chase sequence, then resolves in a melodramatic plot development giving seven cast members (sadly, the bride and groom’s mothers are uncredited) each something to do, before wrapping up in another acrobatic chase sequence.

It’s the perfect slapstick comedy, but it’s also a great romantic comedy, a great comedy of errors. All in seventeen or so minutes. Keaton and Cline perfectly time every shot, every scene.

Neighbors is a perfect seventeen minutes of film. Keaton and Cline do a fantastic, masterful and totally understated job with the film. It’s magnificent.

3/3Highly Recommended

CREDITS

Directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton; screenplay by Cline and Keaton, based on a story by Keaton; director of photography, Elgin Lessley; produced by Joseph M. Schenck; released by Metro Pictures Corporation.

Starring Buster Keaton (The Boy), Virginia Fox (The Girl), Joe Roberts (Her Father), Joe Keaton (His Father), Edward F. Cline (The Cop) and Jack Duffy (The Judge).

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1920, Recommended, Short

Convict 13 (1920, Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton)

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Convict 13 has some undeniably funny stuff in it, but directors Keaton and Cline rely almost entirely on physical comedy. By physical, I mean actors doing choreographed comedy. Sometimes it’s Keaton, both for the smaller sequences and the larger, or Joe Roberts as a gigantic, revolting prisoner.

Both senses of revolting.

Oh, right. Real quick–Convict is about Keaton, a klutz (which is one of the problems with the short), mistakenly going to jail. He’s not the jail type; his girlfriend, played by Sybil Seely, tries to help him out. That description is maybe the first two-thirds, with the remainder being a whole different, jail and mistaken identity setup.

That emphasis on the choreographed comedy shows skill from Keaton and Cline as directors, but it’s kind of boring. There’s nothing exciting about Convict 13; it’s fine, but also a missed opportunity. The absurdist plotting can’t stand on its own.

2/3Recommended

CREDITS

Written and directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton; director of photography, Elgin Lessley; produced by Joseph M. Schenck; released by Metro Pictures Corporation.

Starring Buster Keaton (Golfer), Sybil Seely (Socialite), Edward F. Cline (Hangman) and Joe Roberts (The Crazed Prisoner).

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1920, Highly Recommended, Short

One Week (1920, Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton)

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One Week is pretty much perfect. Directors Cline and Keaton structure the short beautifully. It takes place over a week, the passage of days torn off calendar pages, as newlyweds Keaton and Sybil Seely set up their home. Literally, set up; they’re constructing their own pre-fab and things go wrong.

The tone of the comedy at this point is more traditional slapstick than what Week becomes. It’s also where the film establishes Keaton and Seely’s relationship. They’re a lovely couple, with Seely getting some rather good moments. Even towards the end, when it becomes a disaster picture–but a light-hearted one–and Keaton is more front and center, Seely still gets attention. Keaton and Cline put as much into the story as they do the filmmaking.

Well, maybe not as much; they literally spin a house around, but an excellent amount.

Gorgeous Elgin Lessley photography. Week’s a masterpiece.

3/3Highly Recommended

CREDITS

Written and directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton; director of photography, Elgin Lesley; edited by Keaton; produced by Joseph M. Schenck; released by Metro Pictures Corporation.

Starring Buster Keaton (The Groom) and Sybil Seely (The Bride).

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