Top Five Gags: The Haunted House

February 21, 1921 – the day The Haunted House was released. Probably middle-of-the-pack as far as Buster Keaton independent shorts go, but while it’s a little uneven on the whole, the funny parts are really fantastically funny. Here are my favorite bits from this “spooky” short (spoilers.)

 

Hand in the Glue

By far my favorite part of The Haunted House. This epic gag sequence kicks off when Buster the bank teller accidentally sticks his hand in a pot of glue while handling the money. From there, we’re off to the races as the glue gets all over the bills, the customers, the floor, and most other available surfaces. There are so many great moments from this sequence, but the crowning joke comes when the armed counterfeiters show up just after Buster has gotten his gluey hands stuck inside his pockets. His vehement effort to put his hands up knocks him off his feet, and he rolls around on the floor, bills stuck to his shoes, the seat of his pants, and his jacket. Once he staggeringly rights himself, he finally manages to extract his hands, tearing out his pockets with them.

 

The Getaway

Thanks to a case of mistaken identity, Buster is blamed for the counterfeiting. When the authorities come to arrest him, he’s just uncooperative enough that two of his captors handcuff themselves to each other instead of him, at which point he darts between someone’s legs and then slides out through the teller window. Classic Buster escape!

 

The Collapsing Stairs

This is a great recurring gag that gets a lot of use throughout the short. The counterfeiters have rigged up their hideout like a haunted house to keep people out, and Buster naturally blunders in. There’s a switch on the staircase that causes the steps to fold in on one another, turning it into an instant slide, and it repeatedly gets Buster. My favorite of these bits comes when he tries to just slide down on his bottom instead, only the stairs won’t collapse – not until he gets back up and stomps on them to see how solid they are, that is. Love it!

 

Unknown Assailants

Nice little string of gags here. Buster is beset upon by a number of spooky foes, some intentional (the counterfeiters dressed as ghosts,) others inadvertent (an actor in a devil costume who skipped out on a disastrous performance of Faust.) The timing is excellent, with each figure popping in and out at just the right time to keep Buster frightened and bewildered. I especially love Buster climbing up the banister to escape a ghost, wrestling on the floor with the devil’s cape (until he realizes there’s no one inside it,) and taking a twisting leap to literally play dead when he nearly walks into another ghost. (He flops down and is a corpse – hilarious visual!)

 

Taking Out the Ghost

Simple but hilarious. Having realized that the “ghosts” are really the counterfeiters, Buster stalks one with the aim of smashing a vase over his head. But when Buster can’t find an ideal smashing angle, he instead tosses the vase in the air and then grabs the ghost’s head and positions it to be under the vase when it comes down. Knockout!