These
aren’t “educational shorts,” by the way.
They’re talking shorts made by Educational Pictures in the mid-to-late
‘30s, after Buster Keaton was fired by MGM.
Like with the Columbia shorts I already reviewed, they’re quick and
cheap, but some of them are really funny and Buster is marvelous. Here are my top picks.
The
Gold Ghost (1934)
A
typical Buster dandy skips town after being rejected by his girl; he settles in
a ghost town, where he takes up the post of sheriff just in time for a big boom
when gold is rediscovered in the area.
It’s a nice Bustery plot with some fun ghost town gags and a great final
shoot-out that really lets Buster shine.
Hayseed
Romance (1935)
Here,
Buster moves in with a pretty girl and her short-tempered aunt, answering a
want ad for a husband, but he immediately regrets it when he realizes which one
placed the ad. There’s a long bedtime sequence
that’s just to die for, and Buster and the girl he likes are way too cute
together.
Grand
Slam Opera (1936)
This
one’s probably the funniest of the bunch.
It features Buster taking part in a radio talent show (unfortunately,
juggling isn’t really made for a radio audience.) There are two incredible dances that are
hilarious (and impressive!) in different ways, and the short also adapts the
“Anvil Chorus” gag that Buster first performed back in his vaudeville
days. It’s still sometimes staggering
how think how wonderfully funny he was.
Blue
Blazes (1936)
In this
short, Buster is a disaster of a fireman who’s relocated to a small-town
firehouse after one too many screw-ups.
He naturally gets off to a colossally bad start, but it’s terrific to watch
him eventually make good in a very Busterish fashion, and I could pull a muscle
laughing at his ridiculous attempts to get into a burning building.
The
Chemist (1936)
While Grand Slam Opera is funnier, this one
might be my favorite of the bunch. In it,
Buster plays a hapless scientist who, having finally gotten his big break after
inventing a noiseless explosive, is kidnapped by a trio of bank robbers looking
to blow safes inconspicuously. Buster is
in fine resourceful form – he gets to do lots of creative quick thinking, there
are some good chase scenes, and one gag features the best use of sound that
I’ve seen in any Buster Keaton talkie.
Great fun all around.
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