Blue Blazes (1936)

Another surprisingly fun Educational short.  This one is funny, put together well, and has quite a few nice Bustery elements.  It seems to me that Buster started this period appearing in shorts for Educational and gradually transitioned more to making shorts for them.  Like Grand Slam Opera, you can really feel Buster’s hand in the comedy here, in the actual construction of the gags.  Did Buster need some time before he was ready to get back in the saddle, or did Educational need some time before it was ready to hand over the reins?

Buster plays an eager but disaster-prone fireman who’s been carted off to a smaller fire house with the understanding that he’s on his final chance.  Naturally, he starts out making a mess of things – after losing track of the fire truck, he starts knocking on doors to ask strangers if they know “where the fire is,” and since he’s new in town, he can’t even find his way back to the station.  However, a bit of ill-advised strategy on the part of the fire chief’s two daughters just might give Buster the chance he needs to become a hero.

First of all, there are some good humorous touches seasoned throughout the short.  The dialogue feels a little bit snappier than in a lot of the Educational shorts, and I like the sight gag of all the firemen gardening (to show how little action they see at Buster’s new station.)  Also, the different elements of the story come together really nicely.  The short establishes a clear conflict right off the bat, throws in solid complications, and lays the groundwork for the beats that lead up to the comedic climax.  Much of the humor is woven organically into the plot instead of meandering away from it, and overall, it just feels fairly tight and well-thought-out.

Although there are some slight “chump” elements to Buster’s character here – more than one character delicately questions his sanity, what with him being a fireman who can find neither the fire he’s looking for nor the fire station where he works – but they really don’t bother me.  I think that’s probably because they don’t seem to matter to Buster.  He’s so focused on doing his job and (attempting) to do it well that he doesn’t notice any sidelong glances thrown his way, so the short doesn’t have that “poor Buster” air about it.  He simply continues his business, indifferent to how crazy he seems.

And of course, he gets to come through in a big way.  The “one-man fire department” climax, complete with Buster’s awesomely-hilarious DIY fire truck, is terrific.  He shows mad ingenuity, is fantastically clumsy but tenaciously plows ahead to win the day, and gets a really fun opportunity to shine.  Everything about it is fab, from Buster’s tumbles to his reaction shots, and who doesn’t love Buster frantically trying to prop a picket fence against the side of a house because he’s mistaken it for his ladder?  Great stuff.

Warnings

Slapstick violence and some “don’t try this at home.”