The Electric House (1922)

Powerful

Overrated and overhyped

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The Electric House (1922) is often not considered one of Buster Keaton's better short format efforts, and the most you'll ever hear about it is how he broke his ankle during shooting. It's a shame, because I think there's a lot more to it. We may not see much in the way of Buster's physicality and grace, but we do get to see his imagination at play with the multiple contraption his character concocts for the wealthy man who hires him to modernize his mansion.The escalator stairs, dining room train set, and book shelf of doom are all charming, and its fun to see Buster's creative methods go so fabulously wrong. I'm sure you could write a paper on potential social commentary on man's over-reliance on technology, but even without all that, this is great fun and worth more praise than it receives.

Graduation day at P.U. finds Buster Keaton's character graduating with a degree in botany. He is seated next to a girl graduating with a degree in cosmetology and a man with a degree in electrical engineering. The dean (Big Joe Roberts) asks for someone to take on the job of wiring his house for electricity while he is away on vacation. Just prior to this the diplomas get scrambled and Keaton winds up with the engineering one. Thus, the job winds up going to him. The dean drives away from his home with Keaton sitting at the curb diligently reading "Electricity Made Easy". When the dean returns Keaton has wired the house in only a way that Buster could devise making heavy use of automated trains - Keaton's favorite prop. The plot is complicated when the guy with the actual engineering degree shows up at the dean's house in search of revenge.Buster always said that if he hadn't been a comedian he would have liked to have been an engineer, and shorts like this one show he had a real talent for both. Highly recommended.

What makes The Electric House such a must-see Keaton short is curiously not the showcasing of the great man himself but that of the technical prowess of his technical director Fred Gabourie. Gabourie had built The Boat and worked with Keaton since 1920's One Week, which was the one with the ingenious portable house, and he would progress with Keaton from the shorts to the features. But never were the technical gadgets Keaton used and Gabourie had to make work practically better displayed than in The Electric House. Keaton really lets Gabourie's gadgets take centre stage here and it is a chance to marvel at a master at work.In a strange way it's almost too brilliant because the laughs don't really play as well. Whereas in One Week or The Boat the gadgets and physical comedy worked in perfect harmony in The Electric House Keaton lets the film get a bit bogged down in watching the gadgets at work.Nevertheless in these days of CGI and visual cheats it is stunning to see these practical effects in full flow. Gabourie was clearly a genius, one whose name deserves to be held in the same light as practical effects masters like Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen and Stan Winston.

A BUSTER KEATON Silent Short.THE ELECTRIC HOUSE Buster has just retrofitted with modern appliances is about to have a chaotic debut when some wires get crossed...One sight gag after another keeps this wonderful little film humming along. All of Buster's gadgets are funny when they operate correctly - they slip over the line into hilarity when things go wrong. Highlight: Buster trying to beat an obstinate escalator.Born into a family of Vaudevillian acrobats, Buster Keaton (1895-1966) mastered physical comedy at a very early age. An association with Fatty Arbuckle led to a series of highly imaginative short subjects and classic, silent feature-length films - all from 1920 to 1928. Writer, director, star & stuntman - Buster could do it all and his intuitive genius gave him almost miraculous knowledge as to the intricacies of film making and of what it took to please an audience. More akin to Fairbanks than Chaplin, Buster's films were full of splendid adventure, exciting derring-do and the most dangerous physical stunts imaginable. His theme of a little man against the world, who triumphs through bravery & ingenuity, dominates his films. Through every calamity & disaster, Buster remained the Great Stone Face, a stoic survivor in a universe gone mad.In the late 1920's Buster was betrayed by his manager/brother-in-law and his contract was sold to MGM, which proceeded to nearly destroy his career. Teamed initially with Jimmy Durante and eventually allowed small roles in mediocre comedies, Buster was for 35 years consistently given work far beneath his talent. Finally, before lung cancer took him at age 70, he had the satisfaction of knowing that his classic films were being rediscovered. Now, well past his centenary, Buster Keaton is routinely recognized & appreciated as one of cinema's true authentic geniuses. And he knew how to make people laugh...