Parlor Bedroom And Bath

375. PARLOR, BEDROOM AND BATH (1931-usa). With buster keaton, charlotte GREENWOOD, REGINALD DENNY, CLIFF EDWARDS. Produced by KEATON. Directed by EDWARD SEDGWICK. ItÕs Often said that Buster Keaton could not adjust to sound. Not true! In this lively bedroom farce, he was as brilliant as ever. Keaton plays Reginald Irving, a sign-tacker who is hit by a car outside a posh mansion, and brought inside to recuperate (besides suffering a concussion, he’s swallowed some tacks). The man who hit him has a vested interest in marrying Off Angie, the family’s oldest daughter; and since the woman in question is attracted to playboys, he passes Reggie Off as a notorious ladies man. Actually, the poor fellow is completely innocent about women and almost every, thing else-and the comedy comes largely from the difference between what he is and what people think he is. When Reggie proves to be less than a Casanova, Angie is outraged. His mentor decides that Angie must discover Reggie having an affair with another woman, and he hires a screwball type (the absolutely zany Charlotte Greenwood) to rendezvous with Reggie at a seaside hotel. Incredible complications ensue as more than one lady shows up and as Reggie tries out (and overdoes) various lovemaking techniques he’s just learned. The finale is a four-ring circus Of mistaken identities, foul-ups and blunders. Keaton has plenty Of chances to show Off his amazing agility-running, climbing, slipping and falling-and he matches his deadpan expression with a wonderfully deadpan voice. He also recreates, almost shot for shot, the classic car-on-the-railroad-tracks gag from his 1920 short “One Week.” A rare glimpse Of one Of comedy’s most extraordinary talents, still very much in his prime. 73 minutes. Keaton