Top Five Columbia Shorts: Buster Keaton

Buster Keaton didn’t care for the two-reelers he made for Columbia Pictures between 1939 and 1941.  He did them strictly for the “man’s gotta eat” factor, and since they were all shot very quickly and on the cheap, they pale in comparison to his own silent shorts.  Still, there’s some great stuff here; many are written by Clyde Bruckman, one of Buster’s gag men from the ‘20s, and Buster’s physical comedy is in fine form.  My favorites are as follows.

 

 

“Pest from the West” (1939)

 

Buster plays a wealthy world traveler who falls for a beautiful woman in Mexico.  Noteworthy because Buster’s character has one ridiculously stereotypical outfit for every country he visits, and circumstances keep forcing him to change into increasingly ill-suited clothes.  Plus, you can’t not love the scene of Buster trying to dance when he can’t move his feet.

 

 

“Mooching Through Georgia” (1939)

 

My favorite of the bunch.  Buster is one of two Kentucky brothers who join the army after the outbreak of the Civil War.  Unfortunately, they wind up with different-colored uniforms, and their attempts to stick together get them on the bad side of both armies.  The gags build nicely with fantastic payoffs, and Buster hilariously faking his death is a thing of comic beauty.

 

 

“Pardon My Berth Marks” (1940)

 

Buster, a lowly copy boy, finally gets his chance to be a real reporter and follows his scoop, a society dame, onto a train.  There’s some danger, some misunderstandings, and Buster’s imitation of a parrot.  Don’t go in expecting The General or anything, but the train gags are excellent and Buster has some sublime slapstick sequences.  I also love the opening segment of Buster at the newspaper office.  His put-upon but self-assured character is just like the days of the old shorts.

 

 

“The Taming of the Snood” (1940)

 

This short, which finds Buster as a maker/purveyor of creative hats who gets tangled up in the plot of a jewel thief, is admittedly thin on plot.  Although it’s not the best, it earns its place on the list for Buster’s incredible physical comedy.  There’s a long comic set-piece of him trying to help an inadvertently-intoxicated maid that calls to mind the famous scene from Spite Marriage.  No, it’s not as funny as the Spite Marriage routine, but it’s really its own animal, and I have no idea how Buster pulls off some of his moves here.  There was no one like him.

 

 

“So You Won’t Squawk” (1941)

 

Here, Buster is a handyman on the wrong end of a case of mistaken identity, one that makes him the target of a mob boss.  Again, it’s not as good as the first three shorts on the list, but there are some fine moments here.  I like all the ways Buster heedlessly cheats death, and I love his unconventional means of finding a policeman to give him a hand.