The E-Flat Man (1935)

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.”