This
short, I’d say, has some fun ideas with a fair amount of lackluster
execution. Unlike many of the
Educational shorts, it doesn’t have a ton of physical comedy, which is always
going to be a wasteful decision when Buster’s in your movie. Still, it has its moments, enough that I come
away mostly liking it.
When
the police respond to a late-night robbery at a drug store, their car is
unwittingly stolen by Buster and his girlfriend as they elope. Hearing the BOLO put out for them but not
knowing why (Buster assumes the girl’s father is angrier than anticipated about
the elopement,) the pair do everything they can to evade the law.
The one
really nice bit of physical/situational comedy here comes near the start, when
Buster and the girl are making their getaway.
Buster is outside her house with a ladder, but she repeatedly disappears
and moves to a different window every time he starts his ascent. When they do get in sync, there’s some good
slapstick with the girl tossing her luggage down the ladder as Buster’s
climbing up it, and I really love the slick way he flips around to the back
side of the ladder when he sees the girl starting to climb down above him.
Some
other funny gags to be had. One of my
favorites doesn’t even involve Buster but the gangsters who winding up breaking
into the drug store – I get a kick out of the medicine cabinet in their hideout
being crammed with bullets, grenades, and ether. I also like various bits involving Buster and
the girl on the run. Accidentally
stowing away in a refrigerated train car is fun, especially with the sight gag
of them sitting around a bonfire they’ve started inside, and Buster’s
unconventional means of giving the girl a boost into the car in the first place
is great. After their night in a hay mound,
there’s a fine sight gag of four or five hitherto-unseen drifters emerging from
the hay at the exact same time as our duo.
Buster realizing they’ll have better luck hitchhiking if the girl does
it is an obvious gag, but it’s still cute, and there’s an enjoyable
mini-callback to The Scarecrow.
As you
can see, many of these jokes are more situational and sight gags than tumbling
or slapstick. Nothing’s wrong with that
type of humor, of course, and I like all of these moments, but knowing all that
Buster can do, you can’t help but wish the film played more to his considerable
talents. I’m not sure what the deal is
with this one since, like I said, a lot of the Educational shorts don’t skimp
on the physical comedy. However, it is a
little disappointing to have so few opportunities here for Buster to let loose.
Warnings
A bit
of “don’t try this at home.”
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