1928 romantic comedy with a monkeyRating: 18/20 (Jen: 16/20 [stayed awake!]; Dylan 13/20 [3-point bonus for the monkey who he claims is the best actor he's ever seen in a movie, human or animal); Emma: 19/20; Abbey: 20/20)
Plot: Buster's a street portrait tintype photographer who falls for a gal working in an MGM news office he spots and photographs during a ticker tape parade. He unloads his camera for a barely-working, used motion picture camera in order to impress the girl, but his attempts to win a job only prove how inept he is. So, he gets a monkey!
It's entirely possible that this is Keaton's best acting performance and definitely his most charming. He wasn't fond of close-ups, but it seems the new studio (his father-in-law convinced him to sell everything to MGM in what would turn out to be the sad beginning of the end of his career) demanded them. Ironically, the close-ups allow you to see how expressive Buster's inexpressive face really is. Also ironically, Buster Keaton is upstaged for perhaps the only time in his career. By a monkey! Seriously, Josephine the Monkey (same monkey, by the way, who molests Charlie Chaplin's face in The Circus) can act! I love the interaction between the star and the monkey; it reminds me of the rapport he has with the cow in Go West actually. The stunt work in The Cameraman is toned down a bit--just a couple pratfalls here and there, some vehicle hijinks, a falling scaffold--ostensibly an MGM decision made to protect their new star. But the physical comedy is still very good, favorites being a scene in a dressing room and a rainy ride home. All of Keaton's comedies are romantic ones, but the romance in this one seems less like a device to build the comedy around than in some of his other films. This is a great movie.
I've got to wonder though--do my children just pretend to love these movies to spare my feelings or do they really like them? I guess I should just be thrilled that Jen stayed awake for a Buster Keaton Saturday.
stayed awake just for you. love.
ReplyDeleteI love this movie. The favorite Keaton moment I spoke of is when he jumps on the fire engine, all excited and ready, later only to see the engine pull into the station. His expression is so perfect and hilarious. This movie made me a Keaton fan (along with "The General"). Also an 18.
ReplyDeleteAnd aren't you glad you did, Jennifer?
ReplyDeleteThat fire engine scene is close enough to that little trick that Keaton pulls off so often, a gag where he ends up moving complexly from point A to point A. There's a scene in one of the shorts where he manages to escape the police station only, through a series of random mishaps, wind up right back at the police station. I love that, and you see it in a lot of his movies.