The Misadventures of Buster Keaton (1950)

Sadly Over-hyped

Powerful

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

In the 1920s, Buster Keaton was one of the funniest comics alive. His short and full-length films from this period are true classics and many of the these movies are the equal to the best of Chaplin or Harold Lloyd. But, by the 1930s, Keaton made a HUGE mistake--leaving a friendly studio that allowed him lots of artistic freedom (Paramount) and moving to a prestige studio that, unfortunately, had no knack for comedy (MGM). After pairing him with the most inappropriate comic imaginable (Jimmy Durante--whose humor was all verbal was no match for the physical comedy of Keaton), his screen career spiraled slowly downward. By the time he made "The Misadventures of Buster Keaton" for British Lion Studios in 1950, Keaton's career was near its lowest point. Fortunately for him, television would bring a resurgence in interest in him, as his old films were suddenly being shown to a whole new generation and Keaton was able to carve out a little niche for himself in films. He'd never be the headliner like he was in the 20s, but he was once again popular. So, understand that this film came out just before Keaton had a career resurgence--and it's still from his best.So is "The Misadventures of Buster Keaton" a good film? No. While it isn't completely terrible, it's NOT the sort of material that made him famous. Much of the physicality of his routine is missing--probably due to his age, as he could no longer do the insane knockabout things he did in his early films. Now this STILL could have worked had the film been better written and the gags been better timed. But too often, funny LITTLE gags were stretched out way, way too long--destroying the joke and making audiences bored as a result. The taffy gag, his putting up posters and the bit about the jealous husband all had promise but just needed LESS--to be done better, faster and with much better timing. To make things MUCH worse, during so much of the film there is a god-awful laugh track. It's too loud and seems completely unrelated to what Keaton and the rest of the cast are doing. In other words, if they breathe, there are JUST as many laughs as when they do something that is actually funny! The overall result is tedious and sad to watch for Keaton fans like myself. Not 100% terrible...but at times, darn close.

Seemingly more of a television production than a theatrical feature, the well-named "The Misadventures of Buster Keaton" is an enjoyable hour-long film with lots of great slapstick gags and jokes. Playing himself, Buster Keaton divides his time between running a sporting goods store and overseeing every facet of a theatrical enterprise. The "Great Stone Face", as Keaton was nicknamed, does a great performance in this film as he gets into all kinds of trouble, but the actor who really steals the show-within-a-show is the burly, hilarious Dick Wessel as an insanely jealous husband named Harry, who mistakenly believes that his actress wife, the unglamorously screechy Imogene La Rue, is carrying on with Buster.Any favorite scenes? Yes, indeed. (Don't read any further if you have not yet seen this film.) Buster tears up a wall in order to retrieve a piggy bank. While Buster and his assistant Hank are pasting up a poster, the signboard tips over, causing their ladders to do the same and the two gents come a-tumbling down. Two crooks (one of them played by Ben Welden) and a cop invade the theatre stage during a performance, and when the two thugs are finally captured and Buster is congratulated, he remarks that he only had one rehearsal. I love how Harry overreacts to Imogene's possible philandering by destroying a golf club, a pillow, a lamp, and a vase. Also, watch his funny reaction when Buster hands him a large blade at the sporting goods store. Harry and Buster engage in a hilarious slapstick chase all over the theatre stage, thus interrupting a scene. The actress playing Juliet is funny as she unromantically calls to Romeo (played by Buster) as he tries unsuccessfully to negotiate a "brick wall". (By the way, Buster could sure handle those falls, couldn't he?) Some of the gags in "The Misadventures of Buster Keaton" run a little too long, such as the taffy-pulling bit, but don't let that prevent you from being entertained by this otherwise very funny film. I imagine that Mr. Keaton's acting career was flagging around the time this picture was made, considering his success with his earlier silent pictures, but I'm sure he did what he had to do to stay afloat as best he could. Anyhow, enjoy the film.

Often overlooked in Buster filmographies and only recently included in the imdb, this is an interesting item in Buster's career. Not quite a film. It's actually one of two pseudo features that British Lion compiled from episodes of Life with Buster, his shot on film TV series, about Buster's misadventures both running a sporting goods shop, and a local theatre company.The "film" is thus a series self contained skits built round one or other premise. Reputedly Buster didn't enjoy this series, missing the live audience of his previous show. Also Buster found it hard to come up with a half hour's worth of original material each week and in future would do only guest spots. You can sence this difficulty in the variable quality of the sequences here, many of which harken back to Buster's vaudeville days eg an onstage sequence with Buster as an idiotic suitor, one of 3, who come a courting..Though some of the material is weak, Buster is as always a pro and he does have a few very funny moments, notably a reprise of the piggy bank gag from Cameraman, a fun poster sticking scene, in which Eleanor Keaton makes a brief appearance, and the climactic scene where he attempts to perform the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet and the set falls forward on him just like in Steamboat Bill Jnr.. Eleanor again appears here as Juliet, a nice touch.5 out of 10