Another
Buster Keaton MGM talkie, one that happily continues my trend of “really not
all that bad.” It’s a bit like Speak Easily, a decent-ish, unremarkable
film. Though it has a few memorable
scenes, its chief sin is that it squanders its biggest asset: Buster.
If the
name didn’t give it away, Doughboys
is a World War I comedy (probably not many of those.) Buster plays Elmer J. Stiverson, a less
memorable echo of his rich dandies in The
Navigator, Battling Butler, and The Saphead. Trying to secure a new chauffeur, Elmer mistakes
the recruiting office for the employment bureau and accidently enlists. The silver lining is that Mary, the girl he
loves, is there as well, entertaining the troops. Even better, while she turned up her nose at
him back home, her opinion has improved now that he’s a brave soldier going off
to fight for freedom. Now if only they
can make it to France and back in one piece.
The Good – Although Elmer isn’t as funny or
well-characterized as Rollo in The
Navigator or Alfred in Battling
Butler, he’s a great improvement over the dopes in Free and Easy and Parlor,
Bedroom and Bath. What’s more, he’s
fairly resourceful and proactive; he holds his ground against his sneering
drill sergeant and even plays a pretty clever joke on him. It’s great to see Buster again playing
someone who can make things happen in his own story. I’m also a fan of Mary, who might be my
favorite MGM love interest so far. She’s
cool and gorgeous, and she and Elmer have sweet chemistry together. I like the nods to Buster’s own military
service, like Elmer’s ill-fitting uniform (he looks like a 14-year-old in his
dad’s suit,) and there are a few standout moments. There’s a great scene of Elmer singing and
playing the ukulele with some fellow soldiers that’s a lot of fun, and Buster’s
wonderfully acrobatic performance as an impromptu drag act in the company show
is a riot. Some of the dancing in this
scene is reminiscent of his dance with
Fatty Arbuckle in Back Stage, and it’s
made even more fun by Elmer’s attempts to extricate himself from the
situation. A great sequence, and very
Buster.
The Bad – As perfect and hilarious as
Buster’s tumbling is in the drag routine, there’s far too little of it. This film is woefully short on physical
comedy, and what little there is mostly features Elmer tripping unimpressively
over things, with none of the eye-catching twists, flips, and rolls that Buster
does so well. Quick example –in the
recruiting office, Elmer resists taking his clothes off for the physical, and
the military doctor has to forcibly strip him.
Amusing, but over in… maybe thirty seconds? A handful of years later, Buster reused this
idea for the short General Nuisance,
and the half-clothed scuffle that results is hysterical. Here,
though? Hardly anything. Additionally, Elmer and Mary’s cute dynamic
is hampered by tired misunderstanding-based conflicts. More than anything, though, it’s just a bland
movie. It’s not hugely funny – for the
most part, the comedy only elicits bemused chuckles (the physical comedy in the
drag scene being the major exception, because that’s simply outstanding.) It’s just there,
nothing special. Given Buster’s incredible
comic talents, he’s wasted in this okay-but-unmemorable film.
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