Film Review
The most commercially successful of Buster Keaton's films was also the
legendary comedian's personal favourite, and yet it is an atypical
comedy for this comedy giant. Based on a popular operetta,
Battling Butler offers the familiar
story of Buster trying to improve himself. But this time, instead
of a poor man hoping to ascend the social ladder, Keaton is a wealthy
aristocrat who wants to awaken the primitive beast within him.
Battling Butler may not have
the enduring appeal or grandeur of Keaton's subsequent masterpiece
The
General (1927), but it is still a satisfying romp that packs
one or two palpable punches, even if it doesn't quite land that killer
blow. As the hapless Alfred almost garrottes himself in trying to
enter the boxing ring, it is evident from the outset that he is
unlikely to survive one round, even if his opponent is an incapacitated
jellyfish. The jokes that ensue are predictable but
irresistibly funny.
Buster's misadventures in the boxing ring may have been inspired by the
Keystone Kops comedy
The Knockout
(1914), which starred Fatty Arbuckle, the early screen comic
who gave Keaton his first break, back in 1917. The same
premise was later reused, both by Charlie Chaplin in
City
Lights (1931) and Harold Lloyd in
The Milky Way (1936) - an
illustration perhaps that recycling is far from being a modern
phenomenon.
The film is problematic in that Keaton is so convincing as a spindly
invertebrate that it is hard to accept the resolution to the
story. Our hero's sudden transformation from a shrinking violet
into a boxing wunderkind seems about as plausible as Belgium winning
every single gold metal at the Olympics, not that it matters
greatly. As implausible as the plot is, the comedy wins through
and keeps us laughing. Alfred's failure to shoot a duck at
point-blank range stands as one the funniest gags of any Buster Keaton
film.
© James Travers 2010
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Buster Keaton film:
The General (1927)
Film Synopsis
Alfred Butler is an effeminate aristocrat who, at his father's
prompting, goes off on a hunting trip in the mountains, in the hope
that this will make a man of him. Leaving behind his comfortable
home, accompanied only by his faithful valet and several lorryloads of
creature comforts, Alfred embarks on his great adventure with
enthusiasm. Alas, Alfred is not the most adept of hunters.
Birds, rabbits, fish - they all seem to be able to out-smart him.
But then he makes a real catch - in an attractive mountain girl whom he
instantly resolves to marry. Unfortunately, the girl's father and
brother are
real men who
have no intention of admitting such a weakling into their family.
Alfred's valet wins them around by spinning a lie that Alfred is in
fact Battling Butler, a boxer who is about to take on the lightweight
champion. The ruse works at first but later backfires when the
real Battling Butler wins the championship and is challenged by another
boxer, the Alabama Murderer. To keep up the deception, Alfred
must go off to a training camp, ostensibly to prepare for the coming
match. Here, he gets on the wrong side of Battling Butler and
ends up having to take his place in the fight against the Alabama
Murderer...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.