Life with Buster Keaton: Unknown Episode Title 1 (1951)

As it happens, the next Buster TV episode I watched is also sports/fight-related, drawing a little on both Battling Butler and, to a greater extent, Palooka from Paducah (since this is wrestling instead of boxing.)  For what it’s worth, this episode was labeled part of Life with Buster Keaton, not The Buster Keaton Show, and it isn’t the same story as was used in the previous Buster Keaton Show episode, but the similarities do make it feel a bit repetitive.

Buster’s working at the same sporting goods store from The Buster Keaton Show, although he now has a similarly-bumbling coworker who’s obsessed with boxing and “switches” on and off into a fighting machine at the sound of the bell (I have yet to rewatch any of the other Life with Buster Keaton episodes available online, but I’m assuming this guy either only appears in this episode or is only obsessed with fighting here.)  Anyway, a disastrous incident at work – ‘cause this is Buster we’re talking about, there’s always a disastrous incident at work – leads two professional wrestlers to challenge Buster and his coworker buddy to a fight.  Lured by the promise of a $100 payout, win or lose, Buster plans to accept and then go down quickly in the first round, but the wrestlers have something else in mind.

I don’t mind Buster reusing ideas from his older films in his later stuff, but there’s not as much to interest me here (although, that’s at least in part because of how recently I watched the Buster Keaton Show episode that climaxed with a fight in the ring, which isn’t this episode’s fault.)  While there are some funny bits here – Buster and his pal showing up to the fight in Roman centurion costumes is silly, and Buster’s confusion with wrestling’s more staged aspects is funny – the humor feels less inspired, more slapped together.

The best part for me is probably the opening sequence at the sporting goods store.  That really was an excellent choice for a major locale on a Buster TV comedy, because it offers an endless supply of props that Buster can use for comedic purposes.  Here, we get some fun gags from Buster trying to wrap up a fishing pole, utterly failing to put up a “cinch-to-erect” tent, and being attacked by a canoe suspended on ropes from the ceiling.  The humor still gets a bit sloppy in places, but for the most part, the scenes in the store feel the most Buster-ish to me.  With the comedy in Buster’s later projects, it seems like it works best when Buster has a lot of room/resources to play around with and an ostensible reason to be messing with them, and Buster haplessly trying to pitch outdoorsy equipment to customers provides a good excuse for that.