Spite Marriage

source: Spite Marriage

Easily the least good Buster Keaton film I've ever seen, made after he gave up his status as an independent. It is his last sound film and he is working with director Edward Sedgwick, who directed several of his sound films. I've seen three of those, Sidewalks of New York (1931), The Passionate Plumber (1932), and What? No Beer! (1933), which were all huge box office duds, but they're very good and underrated films. I don't know what exactly went wrong with Spite Marriage. It's just very weak. There are a few good moments, but none of them great. The best scene involves Buster trying to get his wife, passed out from too much wine, into bed. The final sequence has a lot of good stunts, but it isn't especially funny. It's only 80 minutes long, so it's worth a watch if you're a Keaton fan. If you aren't, definitely skip it. 6/10.

Buster Keaton (nicknamed Pamplinas and Cara de palo -stone face in Spain) was a silent movie actor, director and screenwriter who made many great films such as the General or Steamboat Bill. But in 1928 he signed with MGM. That was the beginning of the end. Talkies had just begun and the studio simply did not know what to do with him. Trying to change his character into a new different one they decided to stop Keaton having full control on films, leading him to disaster. This picture is an example of this and its Spanish title "El comparsa" (the yes man in one of its connotations) becomes poignantly right: Keaton's character has no longer the charm nor the energy that he had in his previous films; it is poorly defined and this affects the entire movie, leading to a series of more or less fortunate sketches with little link plot between them. And yet, it is still a good Keaton movie with good scenes here and there (i.e. Buster trying to put her spouse in bed where miss Sebastian shines as the totally drunken spouse) but seemingly it has lost the lust of his yesteryear films. The last part is maybe the best and pure Keaton. It could have been a great film if Metro had only left Keaton leeway.

This film is certainly not Buster Keaton's best work, though that's a very high bar. The plot meanders and lacks the charm and spontaneity we love from him. It too often relies on simple pratfalls, and there is not enough time devoted to his playful antics or wild stunts. The middle of the picture in particular is slow, and co-star Dorothy Sebastian acting drunk shows just how hard it is to do physical comedy that is sophisticated and funny, or to create something out of nothing, as Keaton so often does. With all of that said, 'Spite Marriage' has a 34-year-old Buster Keaton still in his prime, and some pretty clever scenes. He gets enlisted into a stage play in the first part, and after botching up his make-up while another actor puts his on professionally, proceeds to foul up the production in various funny ways. As he tries to elude those chasing him afterwards, he does a rapid change into a top hat and tails that is both entertaining and shows off his muscular body. Later in the film, he does some impressive stuntwork on a yacht, at one point getting thrown off, and then as the yacht goes by quickly, catches a small boat trailing behind and hauls himself into it. Throughout the movie, he's lovable and a joy to watch. This was Keaton's last silent picture, and as the 1930's would not be kind to him, it marks a transition for him. If you can avoid comparing it to his masterpieces (which I know is tough!), you'll probably find it's well worth watching.

Entertaining silent comedy (with sound effects & crowd noises) about beautiful stage actress (Sebastian) marrying pathetic dry cleaner (Keaton), only to make her ex jealous. One complaint: the ending drags out ten more minutes than it really should. Keaton's final silent film, remade as I Dood It (1943).

It has the name of his collaborator on the Director's credit, but this film has Buster's signature all over it. Despite being the final silent feature directed by (or "directed" by, if MGM prefers) this film has gotten overlooked. This happened because of rights issues more than anything else; along with The Cameraman and Free and Easy, it is owned by MGM, so it has ended up not being canonised along with the other Keaton films that always get collected together by Kino or Masters of Cinema or such-like. Compared to Parlor Bedroom and Bath, this is The General. It has that same eloquence and poetry as Buster's earlier films, with the main differences being 1) no pork pie hat and 2) facial expressions. It is seriously strange to see Buster pulling faces, even mugging a little bit. Its still quite funny when he does it, and it remains classy, unlike in the talking pictures, but still... So many films without a single expression... The best bit is the sequence near the end when Buster's boat is boarded by pirates, there's a hilarious sequence where the girl distracts the pirates and Buster bonks them on the head with those sugarglass bottles they used in silent films. Had me laughing out loud a few times and won me over by the end. 7/10

025: Spite Marriage (1929) - released 4/6/1929; viewed 9/17/05 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre goes down in Chicago. Herbert Hoover succeeds Calvin Coolidge as President of the United States. BIRTHS: Vic Morrow. KEVIN: In 1929, Buster Keaton churns out another fun studio movie, and his last silent film. One otherwise hilarious scene that kind of made me sick was when he sneaks into the Civil War stage play, especially when he's haplessly gluing on the fake beard and later when he's ruining every inch of the act before a live audience. Although The Cameraman was definitely better, I liked this one a little more because the funniest and most exciting moments are in the final act when Keaton is taking down the mobsters on the ship one by one and saving his girl Indiana Jones-style. We watched the final act more than once, the best stunt being when he's at last thrown from the boat and quickly climbs his way back on before clocking the bad guy. DOUG: Keaton's style is starting to slow down, but Spite is still definitely worth watching with some very good sequences. I have to give props to Dorothy Sebastian, who plays Trilby, the one who marries Keaton's character Elmer out of spite. One memorable scene has her getting drunk and actually upstaging Keaton, something few people have ever managed to do (on the silent screen, anyway). Soon after, Elmer goes to great pains to try to get her limp and drunk body into the bed without waking her (she's out cold). Ms. Sebastian was clearly quite nimble and flexible to have pulled off such a scene. The movie actually starts off a little slow and boring, but picks up near the end, as Elmer must rescue Trilby from a nasty group of men who have taken over their yacht. Elmer and Trilby bring down the invaders one by one, until it all comes down to a thrilling knock-down, drag-out slugfest between Elmer and the evil captain, which rages all across the ship. Keaton shows again the impressive amount of business he can put on screen here, with a 20-second shot where Elmer is thrown from the front of the ship, swims along the side, and gets on the lifeboat being trailed behind; meanwhile, the wicked captain renews his attack on Trilby. One of Keaton's best scenes in one of his more routine films. Last film viewed: The Cameraman (1928). Last film chronologically: The Broadway Melody of 1929 (1929). Next film: The Cocoanuts (1929). The Movie Odyssey is an exhaustive, chronological project where we watch as many milestone films as possible, starting with D.W. Griffith's Intolerance in 1916 and working our way through, year by year, one film at a time. We also write a short review for each and every film. In this project, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the time period, the films of the era, and each film in context, while at the same time just watching a lot of great movies, most of which we never would have watched otherwise.

Buster Keaton's last silent comedy was a change of pace from his earlier, independent features, lacking many of his distinctive idiosyncrasies but adding a refreshingly modern love interest with determined, temperamental actress Trilby Drew (Dorothy Sebastian), who unlike most silent film heroines gets angry, gets drunk, and throws a few well-timed temper tantrums. Because it's a corporate comedy from the MGM assembly line the film can be a bit plot-heavy at times, but even so allows room for some now classic routines: a Civil War stage melodrama sabotaged by Buster's accident-prone performance; Buster attempting to put his dead-drunk bride to bed; and a heroic chase and rescue aboard an underworld yacht. If Keaton was now performing gags that might have been suited to anyone (many seem Chaplin-inspired), at least he was doing so with his usual grace and deadpan precision, and the film highlighted a more confidant, aggressive side to his personality rarely seen in his earlier films.

It's a shame that this film isn't seen more often... equally a shame that it pretty much marked the end of Keaton's career. Keaton trying to wrestle his drunken wife into bed is one of my favorite scenes of any silent film. The fight scene on the boat is one of the greatest examples of Keaton's special brand of acrobatic comedy.

After talking pictures came out, there was a brief experiment with sound, which would logically make sense, but to illogical movie audiences didn't catch on. There are a few movies out there that attempted to ease audiences into talking pictures by creating a silent movie with sound effects, like applause, laughter, crashes, honking horns, etc. The change from silents to talkies was overwhelming, and audiences wanted it all! Why am I giving you this history lesson? Because Spite Marriage, Buster Keaton's last silent film, was a silent picture with sound. In this one, he plays a hapless Romeo, devoted to stage actress Dorothy Sebastian. He sees her every performance and brings her bouquets of roses. The only trouble is Dorothy's in love with her costar; but when he marries someone else, she gets even by marrying Buster out of spite. The story jumps around quite a bit, so you might think you're seeing three movies in one. The first part of the film takes place in the theater, in the second part, Buster falls in with a crowd of gangsters, and in the final third, Buster and Dorothy are the only survivors on a sinking ship. While it might seem random, you won't have time to question it because you'll be mesmerized by Buster's incredible stunt work. He hangs from a rope on the mast, repeatedly gets thrown overboard only to catch himself on the boom and leap back on deck, and even falls into the sail and has to pull himself back up. Dorothy is a real trouper, participating in many of his stunts and gags, including the famous bedroom skit, recreated later by Buster and his wife onstage and by Donald O'Connor and Ann Blythe in The Buster Keaton Story. This movie feels like a very fond farewell to Buster Keaton's silent pictures, with all the elements of his famous films thrown together: a lovesick hero, dangerous stunts, funny gags, and a ship. Really the only thing missing is a train, but you can find one in almost every other of his movies.