Favorite Characters: Willie McKay (Our Hospitality)

I’ve come to realize that Our Hospitality is one of my absolute favorite Buster Keaton films, and Willie has a lot to do with that.  He has a strong dose of Buster’s usual “little fellow” in him, but he’s also a bit more of an actual leading man type, which makes for an interesting blend.

The only son of the late John McKay, city boy Willie returns to the South when he comes of age and inherits his father’s house.  Evidently one to get down to business, he manages to 1) fall in love, 2) unknowingly rekindle an age-old feud with his girl’s family, 3) evade numerous murder attempts from her dad and brothers, and 4) be the Bustery version of a licensed badass, all in about 48 hours.  Apparently, though, he doesn’t learn the last name of the new love of his life until he comes to her house for supper and basically finds himself trapped in a pit of gun-wielding vipers.  There’s always something, I guess.

There are plenty of ways in which Willie fits Buster’s standard character.  Naturally, he’s prone to getting into increasingly huge scrapes, and disaster follows him as closely as his faithful dog.  He has that particular Buster energy, with the slight but super obvious facial reactions, the odd mixture of awkwardness and boldness, and the funny little “don’t mind me – just going for a stroll” walk he does when he’s in trouble and is trying to nonchalantly bluff his way out of it.  However, Willie might also be the most atypical character Buster plays in his silent features.  While Willie was raised in New York in ignorance of the feud, he’s not a dandy a la The Navigator or Battling Butler, and of the copious laughs in the film, only a few are derived from Willie not knowing the ways of the South.  And Willie may be disaster-prone, but it’s not so much that he causes disasters; more so, he just tends to attract them.  Buster’s characters often start out well-meaning but clumsy and hapless, and they grow into their more heroic qualities (complete with the graceful athleticism) over the course of the film.  Bad things happen to them, but they usually bungle a lot on their own, too.

Willie really isn’t clumsy, and he’s not all that hapless, either.  He has his moments here and there – I get such a kick out of him trying in vain to put on his top hat in the low-ceilinged train car, and his fishing adventure doesn’t exactly go over as planned – but in general, he has it pretty together.  Once he realizes that he’s blundered into the Canfield home and figures out the loophole that they can’t hurt him inside the house, he comes up with an endless supply of smart ways to keep himself safe.  And later, as he’s trying to get away, he has some major obstacles to deal with and handles himself like a Buster boss.  That waterfall scene is just incredible.

I wonder if it makes a difference that Willie doesn’t have a romantic rival in this movie.  Usually, Buster and a taller/richer/smoother/more square-jawed guy are vying for the affections of the same girl, and although Buster always proves that he won’t go down without a fight, the other guy is stereotypically better on paper, and his function is in part to try and undermine Buster in front of the girl.  Willie doesn’t have to put up with any of that.  Virginia is into him from the start, and the only thing standing in their way is the fact that her dad and brothers are trying to kill him.  Obviously, if we had to choose between which hurdle we’d rather face, it wouldn’t be the latter, but from a character standpoint, it lets Willie to be a little more competent and debonair throughout instead of building up to it.  So, he’s a bit closer to a romantic hero type, but at the same time, he’s also so Buster.  It’s a fun combination, and I really love it.