Moving
on to Buster’s sound shorts of the late ‘30s.
Some pretty amusing stuff, although these aren’t nearly as solid as his
independent silent shorts. The writing
can be uneven, and mainly, it’s clear that they were made a lot quicker and
more cheaply.
Allez-Oop (1934)
Buster,
a shy watch repairman, takes his gal to the circus for their first date, where
she falls for a hunky trapeze artist. Not
one to take matters lying down, Buster assembles a DIY trapeze in his
background and tries to tumble his way back into her heart. Notable for some sweet meet-cute business and
actual trapeze artistry from Buster – the man was full of surprises.
Tars
and Stripes (1935)
Buster
plays an enthusiastic but bungling seaman who can never get on the good side of
his commanding officer. There’s not a
ton of story to speak of; it’s mainly a bunch of navy gags strung together, but
it’s funny. My favorites include Buster’s
ongoing quest not to be last in line
at the mess hall, his overzealous about-face practice, and his attempt to
conceal a pie inside a cannon.
Mixed
Magic (1936)
A
down-on-his-luck Buster gets a job as a magician’s assistant – naturally, he has
no talent for magic and accidentally wreaks havoc on the entire act, giving away
half the tricks and simply screwing up the other half. I’m betting some of the gags here are rooted
in Buster’s vaudeville days. The onstage
stuff is a lot of fun, especially one bit involving trapdoors and another
involving an uncooperative sandbag.
Jail
Bait (1937)
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