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One Week"
*** 1\2 (out of ****)
It's the age old question film buffs will debate throughout eternity. Who was funnier, Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin? For my entire life I was a Chaplin man. Chaplin was not only my favorite silent film comedian but my favorite comedy filmmaker of all-time. Knowing that this year's blog theme would be Life is Short - a year long look at short films, with an emphasis on comedy, I was anticipating reviewing two-reelers with both Chaplin and Keaton. I decided to watch the Chaplin comedies first with a focus on the ones he made for the Mutual Film Corporation. I hadn't seen some of them in 30 years - I hate that I am at an age where I can say that and it's not an exaggeration. A strange thing occurred as I watched them. I didn't sit and marvel at Chaplin's comedy gifts. I wasn't in awe. I found the comedies to be lacking in humanity. They were what I call "kick in the ass" comedies. These are comedies were a character gets kicked in the ass and the audience is supposed to find it uproariously funny. Nearly all twelve of the Chaplin Mutual comedies featured someone getting kicked in the ass - repeatedly! The only reason one of them didn't was because it was a one man showcase for Chaplin. He's the only character in it! Otherwise these were low brow comedies. I was astonished. This wasn't the Chaplin of "Modern Times" (1936), "City Lights" (1931), or "The Kid" (1920). The world no longer made sense to me. Which of Chaplin's comedies would I review? In my confusion I turned to Buster Keaton. What a difference!
Where I found Chaplin crude in comedies such as "The Fireman" (1916) and "The Pawnshop" (1916), Keaton was innovative and sophisticated. There was no kick in the ass comedy here, just beautifully constructed sight gags. Why hadn't I noticed this before? Suddenly I saw real intelligence in Keaton's comedies. True, there were a few years separating these comedies but the difference between "The Pawnshop" and Keaton's "One Week" (1920) is night and day. Had comedy styles changed that much in the course of four years? If they had, I must admit, it may have been thanks to Keaton.
There may be some truth to that. Buster Keaton got his start working alongside another silent comedy legend, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Keaton's first screen appearance was in the Arbuckle's comedy "The Butcher Boy" (1917). That isn't really a "kick in the ass" comedy, despite having an opening scene where a character does do that. Arbuckle had a good sense of plot and gives Buster a moment to shine. But as soon as Keaton ventured out on his own, I hate to admit it, but he makes the two-reelers of Chaplin and Arbuckle seem "creaky", like outdated examples of film comedy. Don't get me wrong, "One Week" shows its age but you could sooner adapt it to the modern age than you could say Chaplin's "The Pawnshop". Keaton's two-reeler comedies have a different sensibility to them that in a way make them timeless.
Keaton's defenders often said his character, which would come to be known as The Great Stone Face, was always thinking. When we watched a Keaton comedy, we saw a mind at work. That sentiment hadn't meant much to me previously. It washed over me as empty words. But as I sat and watched "One Week" it hit me like, well, a kick in the ass. It becomes one of the main pleasures watching a piece like "One Week" as Buster tries to figure out how to overcome one obstacle after another. Naturally he doesn't do it with dialogue and he doesn't do it with exaggerated facial expressions. It's all body language and in his eyes. It truly is a fantastic comedy performance.
"One Week" was Buster's first two-reeler without Arbuckle and was co-directed and written by Buster and Edward Cline. Buster plays one half of a newly married couple. The other half is Sybil Seely. On the day of their wedding Buster receives a letter from his uncle informing him he has bought him a house as a wedding gift. The thrill and excitement of such a generous gift is soon deflated when the couple discovers they must put the home together.
This simple premise - which Buster said was inspired by an educational short film on prefabricated housing - lends itself easily to great comedy serving as a commentary not only on domestic life but a relatable critique on DIY trends that exist even today - you can learn how to do anything watching YouTube videos. Sometimes it is best to leave things to the professionals though and take pride in quality craftsmanship.
Structurally "One Week" is an episodic comedy with a purposely plot-less narrative. You may also notice Buster and Cline tell their story with a limited amount of intertitles. There just isn't any need for them. The story is told completely visually. The only constant cutaway is to a calendar, signifying a new day, which based on the title, will take place over a week's time. These could be seen as "chapters". Each brief day presents a new challenge Buster must overcome while his wife stands by and complains.
The initial catalyst for Buster's building problems was caused by a jealous rival (who to this day remains uncredited) who was upset Sybil didn't accept his marriage proposal. Unknown to the couple he changes the numbers on two boxes which indicate the order in which they should be assembled. The final result makes their home look like something out of
"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920).
Comedies dealing with construction or simply having anything to do with using your hands, often provided good fodder for comedians. It easily allows for a commentary on masculinity. Real men are good at building things and using their hands. That's what makes them construction workers and mechanics. Men take pride in what they build whether it is professionally or as a hobby. What greater defeat to a man's ego than not being able to assemble something? "One Week" doesn't lean into this message and hit us over the head with it but it is there nonetheless. In a strange way it is part of the appeal of watching it. It's often called the "superiority theory" of humor. We feel better about ourselves - and thus superior - when we see someone else fail. That's why you see comedy teams like the Three Stooges or Laurel & Hardy in these type of professions. Watching "One Week" reminded me of a Laurel & Hardy silent comedy called "The Finishing Touch" (1928) where they are also trying to build a house.
In some ways "One Week" is a kind of forerunner to one of Keaton's feature-length comedies, "Steamboat Bill, Jr." (1928). Both comedies feature a violent storm causing man to fight the elements. In "One Week" the storm causes their home to spin in a circle. In "Steamboat" of course there is the famous cyclone sequence which at one point causes the front structure of a building to fall forward as Buster stands precisely in the spot where a window would have been. That gag is done here but at a much smaller scale. It also doesn't build the same level of suspense as it does in "Steamboat". We can anticipate the gag coming from the camera set-up as it is positioned directly in front of Buster in an extreme long shot. In "One Week" it all happens rather quickly. However this clearly shows this was a gag Buster liked and was figuring out a way to perfect it. And boy did he ever!

If there is a criticism for "One Week" it is that it's heavily dependent upon plot based humor, meaning the film is a collection of comedy set-pieces but there is no real emotional involvement. We know nothing about Buster's character - not even his name! This is as opposed to character base humor, where we would have a sense of who this is and the humor derives from their personality traits. Think Laurel & Hardy, Jack Benny, or W.C. Fields. So when we watch "One Week" the purpose of it is to go from joke to joke, expecting nothing more.
While Keaton deserves much of the credit for the success of "One Week", I would like to briefly mention the co-director and co-writer, Edward Cline. Cline was an old gag man that worked for Mack Sennett. He would go on to work for "Fatty" Arbuckle, W.C. Fields and the comedy teams of Wheeler and Woolsey and Olsen & Johnson. His association with Keaton did end here either. He and Keaton worked on several of Keaton's early post-Arbuckle shorts - "The Scarecrow" (1920) and "The Paleface" (1922) among them as well as Keaton's first feature-length film, "The Three Ages" (1923). Individuals like Cline, Clyde Bruckman, Felix Adler, and Sam Taylor aren't names audiences may recognize but if you pay attention to the credits of Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Three Stooges comedies you will repeatedly see their names. They were all great gag men that worked with the giants.
"One Week" is a terribly fast moving comedy built around some terrific visual gags. Keaton wanted to prove he could be a big laugh getter in his first outing without Arbuckle and I'd say he succeeds. This is a classic two-reeler comedy featuring gags Keaton would come back to in later comedies such as "Steamboat Bill, Jr." and his talkie "Parlor, Bedroom and Bath" (1931).
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The Goat"Comedies like "The Goat" (1921) were once referred to as "chase comedies". These type of comedies are best remembered today for starring Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. They were comedies built around spectacular chase sequences. "The Goat" may be the best of Keaton's two-reeler chase comedies with only "Cops" (1922) as another contender.
Co-directed and co-written by Keaton and Malcolm St. Clair - another comedy veteran - we notice a distinct difference between this and "One Week". We are getting a greater sense of the Keaton character in dress and mannerism. This is still a plot based comedy but character traits are being developed. And of course there are some smartly written set-pieces. There are a lot of plot holes here but "The Goat" has always been one of my favorite Keaton two-reelers.
The title derives from the word scapegoat as Keaton is mistaken for an escaped criminal. You see Keaton was innocently walking past a prison when he saw Dead Shot Dan (St. Clair himself) getting his picture taken for the rogues gallery. Apparently Keaton is fascinated by this and continues to watch, looking through the bar window. When the photographer conveniently turns his head for a moment, Dan takes a picture of Keaton and then covers the camera lens. After the photographer thinks he has taken Dan's picture, Dan makes his move for his escape. Next thing you know it's Keaton's picture plastered on the front page of a newspaper with a reward for his capture!
How could this have happened? It implies the police didn't know what Dead Shot Dan looked like despite being face-to-face with him. The photographer knows Dan wasn't behind bars when he took the photo. And how on earth did the photo get developed so fast and into the hands of a newspaper to be published on the front page all in the amount of time it took Keaton to ride a train from one town to the next! But why on earth allow logic to interfere with a good comedic premise? Some things just aren't done!
This would normally be enough plot for a two-reeler. It could possibly revolve around the police looking for the real Dan, who is hiding, and Keaton either just hiding himself or trying to find Dan, being able to put two and two together. But that's not what "The Goat" is about. Somehow or other it goes from this inventive situation to some kind of romance with Keaton interested in a woman that he defended from a rude man.

Keaton has said much in his films were improvised. He and his gag writers had a beginning and an end. The middle would be made up as they went along. It shows in "The Goat". The love interest feels like an add on instead of something that was truly developed. I'd find it hard to believe if Keaton and St. Clair originally went into "The Goat" focusing on this sub-plot and not exclusively on the criminal escape portion. But without any attempt to find the real criminal, either on Keaton's part or the police, "The Goat" has nowhere to go and so we get this rushed, tacked on resolution.
And yet despite these flaws there is no denying "The Goat" is a very funny comedy. The film starts off with a great gag. Keaton is some kind of destitute man standing in a breadline. He tries to cut ahead of the line and is immediately sent back to the end. What Keaton doesn't realize is he has gotten behind two mannequins and becomes impatient when the line doesn't start moving. This is a wonderful premise perfectly executed by Keaton's timing and the camera. At first only Keaton and the mannequins are in the shot. Then it goes to an extreme long shot so we see how far away Keaton is from the real line. And back it goes to the tight shot of Keaton and the mannequins. This demonstrates how Keaton and St. Clair knew how to tell a joke with the camera. Compare this to "One Week". That short is basically comprised of nothing but extreme long shots. There is no real storytelling with the camera.
This sequence also showcases Keaton's timing. He makes the situation believable and makes us consider, well, I guess this mistake
could happen to someone. We buy it because of the way Keaton sells it.
I don't want to reveal any more comedy sequences but "The Goat" also highlights the mind at work aspect of Keaton's comedies as he is quick on his feet thinking up ways to avoid the police which also demonstrates his great athletic ability and capable to do his own stunts. The stunts though aren't meant to be viewed as stunts but merely a continuation of his actions. Keaton doesn't want us to stop and consider what went into these stunts. Instead he finds the humor in his actions. Many times in "The Goat" and his other two-reelers, Keaton's actions lead to a vicious circle. When he outruns the police in "The Goat" he is never able to really escape them because somehow fate brings him back to where he started, face-to-face with the same cops he momentarily lost.
Another brief word about Keaton's collaborator here, Malcolm St. Clair ( I hate for these names to be completely ignored). Like Edward Cline, St. Clair also got his start as a gag man working for comedy producer Mack Sennett, which would allow him to work alongside Mabel Normand, Edgar Kennedy and Ben Turpin. In the "talkie" era he worked for 20th Century Fox as a director for some lesser Laurel & Hardy comedies such as "The Dancing Masters" (1943) and "The Big Noise" (1944). The one bright spot may have been
"The Bullfighters" (1945). He and Keaton would also work on another two-reeler, "The Blacksmith" (1922).
Rewatching these comedy shorts has made my appreciation for Buster Keaton's comedies grow. In many ways his two-reelers were far ahead of what other comedians from the era were doing. "One Week" and "The Goat" are two excellent examples of the kind of fast moving, smart comedies Keaton was making. His talent and ingenuity would only expand when he began making feature-length comedies.