Buster Keaton's College (1927) [DVD5-PAL] - {troma}

Buster Keaton's "College"


John Nesbit from Old School Reviews comments:
College plays much more like a series of short sketches than it does a longer feature with a coherent plot, far more like early Buster Keaton vehicles outside of The General. A common theme emerges—will our hero get the girl in the end? Keaton movies generally follow the standard comedy device, so you already anticipate the basic plot. But no one watches Keaton for suspense--it's the Great Stone Face's physical acting and deadpan slapstick that make the difference, and College delivers enjoyable lightweight fare. We'd all be pleased if modern comedies were as reliably funny as Keaton's work.

Beginning with a rare rainy day in Southern California on high school graduation day, Ronald (Buster Keaton) performs some sight gags with an umbrella and inadvertently shrinks his rented suit to make his valedictory address more ridiculous. Ronald’s speech about the superiority of academics over athletics pleases only the high school staff and his mother, so he immediately regrets alienating the girl he pines for (Anne Cornwall) and longs to go to her college.

She is the most popular girl in class and is heavily pursued by the most popular boy, star athlete Jeff, who took seven years to graduate high school. Interesting to note that this "nerd vs. athletes" scenario was in place in 1927 and remains a constant of high school life over 70 years later, and will be repeated in the Marx brothers Horse Feathers (1932) and in the Revenge of the Nerds series of the 1980's.

Cornwall informs Keaton that she will have nothing to do with him as long as his attitude towards athletics remains as it does--after all, everyone prefers athletes to guys without backbones who are "pets". So this sets up the comic situation.

Keaton sets off to college to become a star athlete and win the girl. Being 1927 (the year Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs), the baseball highlights Keaton's athletic incompetence. In real life, a natural athlete who does nearly all his own stunts, Keaton looks completely out of place at third base and at the plate because he doesn't understand baseball rules and protocol. The opposition, of course, hits it to the "weak guy" and Keaton doesn't even realize that only one batter is allowed at the plate. Even when he reaches base, he finds unique ways to create havoc on the basepaths and frustrate his teammates while bringing derisive laughter from his rival suitor.

But it's the track and field events that make up the primary fodder, mostly because the varied events form a decathlon of comic sketches. The hammer throw scatters the teammates and flings Buster around as much as the weighted ball, the vaulting pole predictably breaks, and the discus predictably lands off course for more laughs. Still Keaton's determination to succeed at athletics shines through his incompetence, and Corwall admires his spirit for trying as she watches him train for the high jump--foreshadowing the sequences that establish the unlikely nerd as hero.

The finale ties earlier elements together in a clever way, but the episodic film doesn't match the best of Keaton's films that establish a more cohesive storyline--The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr. This film doesn't have the spectacular stunts of many other Keaton features, and the most spectacular one--a pole vaulting trick--actually uses a stunt double for one of the rare times in Keaton's career.

Still, College has worthy moments and will be required viewing for Buster Keaton aficionados, and is definitely worth a rental.

Director: James W. Horne & Buster Keaton (uncredited)
Writers: Bryan Foy & Carl Harbaugh
Cast: Buster Keaton (Ronald, the boy), Anne Cornwall (Mary Haynes, the girl), Flora Bramley (Mary's friend), Harold Goodwin (Jeff Brown, a rival), Snitz Edwards (Dean Edwards), Carl Harbaugh (crew coach), Sam Crawford (baseball coach), Florence Turner (Ronald's mother)
Producer: Joseph M. Schenck
Distributor: United Artists
Country: USA
Runtime: 66 mins. (main feature)
Release date: 10 September 1927
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Sport
Tagline: You'll graduate with a perpetual smile!

Format: PAL, DVD5.
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 (4:3).
Audio track: Dolby AC-3 (musical score).
Intertitles: English, español, portugues, français, deutsch, italiano, nederlands, norsk, dansk, svenska, suomi.
Extras: The Paleface (short film, 1922); The Balloonatic (short film, 1923).
Ripped with DVD Decrypter, no compression.
Includes artwork.

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