The Saphead (1920)

Although this was Buster Keaton’s first starring role in a feature film and it’s the first feature in Kino’s massive Buster DVD collection, it’s not technically what you’d call Buster’s first feature.  What I mean is, he wasn’t involved in the directing or writing, and you don’t see his fingerprints all over it the way you can in his other independent features.  Rather than being a Buster Keaton film, it’s a film that stars Buster Keaton.  As such, it’s stylistically and creatively different than a lot of his classic stuff, and it isn’t one of my favorites, but it’s still fun to see him in this early film role.

The plot has a few shades of farce, in that much of the story depends on misunderstandings and numerous people and places all named Henrietta.  At its center is Buster’s Bertie Van Alstyne, his first dandy.  Bertie is a well-meaning but hapless rich boy desperately in love with his father’s ward Agnes.  Though eager to marry her, he’s forever beset by complications and hitches, many of his own naïve doing.  A caddish brother-in-law and a few stock market hijinks are thrown in for good measure, and the film is ultimately about Bertie growing up and proving to his girl, his family, and himself that he can make good.

For starters, you can tell Buster’s not at the helm of this film because there’s shockingly little physical comedy.  Sure, Bertie does a bit of fumbling here and there, but there’s only one real memorable athletic sequence, in which Bertie takes a hands-on approach to trading on Wall Street (it’s no surprise that this is the best part of the film.)  It doesn’t compare to the type of stuff he was pulling off in his shorts after this movie, or in the Fatty Arbuckle shorts he was making before this, but after two relatively staid acts, it just feels right to see him racing around in the more acrobatic climax.

There’s some other nice stuff for Buster to work with, though – again, not on par with much of his independent pieces, but enjoyable.  Bertie’s misguided attempts to win Agnes’s heart by ineptly posing as a boozing, gambling bad-boy-about-town are fun, and he shines in various amusing bits of stage business.  Also, there’s a near-smile here, slighter than his more overt expressions in the Arbuckle shorts and maybe a transition to the decisive stone face of his independent work.  It’s not as weird to see now that I’ve watched the Arbuckle stuff, but it still seems odd on Buster’s face.

As for the rest of the film, it’s fine but nothing particularly special.  The plot is a bit needlessly tangled, but the romance is good and Beulah Booker gives an endearing performance as Agnes.  The most surprising thing is that it seems there isn’t a ton of comedy in it.  Buster gets the bulk of the funny stuff, and even then, there aren’t many gags or comic set-pieces.  I must be spoiled by films like Our Hospitality or The Navigator, which are packed with laughs, so I’m not used to one like this.  I wonder how this film stacks up next to more “typical” comedies of the day (i.e., not made by one of the legendary silent comics.)  Is it par for the course, or a bit middling?

Warnings

A little slapstick violence and some very vague references to sexual content.