September 20th, 1920 – the day The Saphead was released. Buster’s first feature film isn’t so much a Buster Keaton movie as it is a movie starring Buster Keaton. He didn’t write it or direct it, and the film, which is based on a play, features little of Buster’s trademark slapstick panache – I’m pretty sure it contains more dialogue in the first 20 minutes than the average Buster film has in its entire runtime. Basically, it was a way to get Buster’s face out there as a comic leading man as he transitioned away from working with Fatty Arbuckle to doing his own thing, priming the public to come out to see shorts (and later, features) with his name on the poster. As such, there aren’t nearly as many gags here as we’re used to, but Buster (playing his first quasi-helpless dandy, Bertie Van Alstyne) still puts his own spin on the proceedings at key moments (spoilers.)
The Police Raid
Having read that women prefer ne’er-do-wells, Bertie has been uncharacteristically “living a fast life” in hopes of wooing Agnes. When police raid the gambling den he’s hanging out at, he thinks this is his chance to gain notoriety, but as the scion of a powerful millionaire, the police keep letting him off the hook no matter how hard he tries to get arrested. The puzzled but determined posture Bertie adopts as he repeatedly tries to climb into the police van is pure Buster.
Unboxing the Ring
An easy but amusing gag. After Bertie and Agnes get engaged, he tries to show her her ring but finds that its packaging is practically a Russian nesting doll, each unwrapping revealing another smaller box within. The kicker of course is when he finally gets down to the ring box, only to find it empty and be reminded that he gave it to his valet for safekeeping.
The Wedding Rings
More fun with rings. On their wedding day, Agnes asks to see the ring, and Bertie systematically pulls out five ring boxes, one from each pocket (to prevent him from losing it, you see.) Naturally, he then leaves all five boxes on the table, a fact he realizes with alarm once he and Agnes are in front of the reverend. I laugh at Buster’s expression as Bertie realizes his mistake and bolts from the room, returning carrying all five boxes in a jumble; I’m sure I’ve said this at different points before, but for all that he’s the Great Stone Face, Buster does a terrific job at always making his characters’ emotions clear to the audience.
Arranging the Bride and Groom
A little moment, but a cute one. Agnes has been brought before the minister by Bertie’s father, and Bertie is led by his brother-in-law. They reach the reverend with the two escorts in the middle and the lovebirds on either end, and Bertie and Agnes pull a classic “no, I’ll go this way and you go this way” move trying maneuver their way back to each other.
“I Take It”
The most Bustery scene in the movie, even if it all hinges on a convenient plot contrivance that involves way too much talking for a silent film. When Bertie hears the men on the Stock Exchange floor trying to dump their shares in the Henrietta mine, he gets agitated because he thinks they’re mocking him about a woman, also named Henrietta, that he’s been falsely accused of messing around with. The family’s broker tells Bertie he can get the men to stop if he simply goes up to each one and says, “I take it” (buying back the stock and, unwittingly by Bertie, saving his father’s fortune.) What follows is a great scene of Buster running around tackling and leaping on traders to silence their “Henrietta!” shouts – my favorite is when he slides between a man’s legs and hooks him by the ankles, ending with both of them sitting on their bottoms facing each other, their legs tangled together.
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