Two Houses Of Keaton

1765. TWO HOUSES Of KEATON (1921-1922-USA)
1. THE PLAYHOUSE (1921-USA). With BUSTER KEATON. Directed and scripted by Keaton and EDDIE CLINE. Here is a really special Buster Keaton two-reel comedy classic. Buster enters Keaton’s Opera House and discovers the dream show Of any Keaton fan. The conductor is Buster Keaton. Every member Of the orchestra is Buster Keaton. The stagehand is Busier Keaton. Onstage are Buster Keaton’s Minstrels, an interlocutor and eight end men who are all Buster Keaton. “This fellow Keaton seems to be the whole show,” remarks one Of the audience members (all Of whom are played by-you guessed it-the Great Stone Face himself). What makes this extraordinary sequence even more amazing is the fact that Buster did not rely on laboratory tricks to create this Keaton extravaganza. Instead, he and FRED GABOURII, his special effects designer, taped Off portions Of the camera lens and re-used the film until his multiple image dream was complete. As a topper, he chose identical twin sisters as the low interest for Buster the stagehand, who keeps kissing the wrong sister. In fact, it isn’t until they reach the Justice Of the Peace that he figÂures out the best way to tell the girls apart. One Of the stagehand’s duties is to dress a trained monkey for its upcomÂing vaudeville turn. The monkey escapes and Busier decides to save his job by impersonating the creature. Donning ghastly big ears and painting his face in simian manner. Busier BECOMES the monkey. The famous Keaton acrobatics come into play, as he romps about the stage, leaping onto furniture, eating food as a monkey would who is impersonating a man, and frightening the dowagers in the audience with his pranks. It is one Of the most freakish and yet brilliant moments in “Silent” film comedy. Note: this film also appears as cat. #2909.
2. THE ELECTRIC HOUSE (1922-USA). With BUSTER KEATON. Directed and scripted by Keaton and EDDIE CLINE. Dug to a switch in diplomas on graduation day at the State University, Buster, a doctor Of Botanical and Allied Sciences, is mistaken for an electrical engineer. He’s invited to install electricity in the home Of the Dean. While the Dean and his family are on holiday. Busier follows directions in a textbook on electricity and succeeds in introducing a slick and imaginative system Of automation into the house. The place becomes a modem-day wonÂder, with moving stairs; a lever that drains the pool and refills it in seconds; a bathtub on tracks; an automated roll-away bed; an electrical snooker game; and an automated dining arrangement. The family is thrilled to return to a home that Rube Goldberg would be proud to claim. However, when the genuine electrical engineer arrives to sabotage Buster’s efforts, comedy chaos results. Incidentally, the only serious accident Keaton ever had occurred during the shooting Of this short, when he got his fool caught in the moving stairs, He broke his ankle, and had to rest for weeks after the production was completed. “Silent” films with original music score, correct projection speed. 56 minutes total. Keaton