Buster Keaton, der Boxer

Buster Keaton stars as Alfred Butler, spoiled young man from rich family. His father sends him into mountains for hunting and fishing trip to 'make a man' out of him. Unfortunately, Alfred is not quite weakling, but he is very used with comfortable life where everything is done before and after him (in the opening scene we see Alfred smoking, and his valet taking cigarette out between his lips, shaking ashes into the tray and placing cigarette back between his lips), so he decides to take his valet (Snitz Edwards) along. The life in the forest isn't much different for Alfred, as the tent is luxurious like a mansion, and his valet still preparing his clothing and meals. After meeting a girl, Alfred falls in love with her, but the girl's father and brother are against the marriage because they think Alfred is a weakling. Alfred's valet lies him to be a prize fighter who happens to bear the same name, Alfred Butler. One little lie leads to another, until Alfred is forced to take up the part of the boxer he pretended to be for real.

'Battling Butler' is more situation comedy than Keaton's usual physical action packed movies. Besides Keaton's time spent in the ring the film contains very little stunt work. But one shouldn't worry about that thing, as Buster Keaton's subtle performance is enough to compensate that. The high point of the whole movie is definitely the climatic fight between two Butlers (Buster Keaton and Francis McDonald). Not comparable with 'The General' or 'Sherlock Jr.' but sweet movie nonetheless. Like Martin Scorsese himself said - Keaton is the only person who had the right attitude about boxing in the movies. And 'Battling Butler' is one boxing comedy with attitude.

Buster Keaton is as charming as always in the role of a fop who tries to assume the identity of a boxer in order to impress a young woman (Sally O'Neil) he's just met, as well as her father and brother who won't allow her to marry a "weakling". It's the idea of his valet (Snitz Edwards), who handles everything for him, including tapping the ash off his cigarette while he's smoking, and is blithely instructed by his boss to "arrange it" whenever he needs something done. "I'd like to marry that pretty mountain girl," Buster says. "Shall I arrange it?" Snitz answers. The early scenes of Buster camping in the lap of luxury, complete with bearskin rug, are funny and a nice little satire of the wealthy.

Buster is in fine form throughout the film, showing off his athleticism as well as sweet, romantic side. He looks good in a tux, and looks good strutting around in his shorts. Always willing to sacrifice his body for the sake of a scene, he takes quite a bit of abuse and some real punches, some of which look pulled, but others of which do not. The result is a pretty stirring and realistic fight scene. Even getting into the ring for sparring practice involves quite a bit of neck-wrenching agility as he humorously gets tangled up in the ropes. And as an aside, if you look closely when he registers at the hotel you can see his right index finger missing its tip from having been amputated following a childhood accident.

The plot seems pretty straightforward, but I love how it gives us a little twist. It's notable that the fight at the end was devised by Keaton; the stage play ends with the switcharoo, and he thought that would be less than satisfying. He does this sort of thing a lot, knowing what we might expect, and then toying with us before giving us a surprise. An example of this is when he tries to shoot a duck while in his canoe; we know he's going to get wet, but he's masterful at doing so in an unexpected way.

There are several scenes with great composition in the film, the best of which is when the girl is framed perfectly in the small back window of Buster's limo as it drives away. Later we see Buster looking at her again through the crook of his trainer's elbow. Another one is when the valet approaches Buster and the young woman as they sit under an umbrella, and we get a shot from behind the couple. It's a comedy with lots of gags and car stunts/crashes thrown in too which may make this easier to overlook, but Buster Keaton was very talented as a director as well.

The production value is great, and it was interesting to find that it was filmed at the Olympic Auditorium, which still stands in downtown LA (as a church), and which would be used 50 years later in Rocky, and later in Raging Bull. Snitz Edwards is a great comic foil to Keaton, and pretty funny in his own right. Sally O'Neil brings the requisite sweetness to her part, as well as a pretty good arm when she's throwing things at Snitz and Buster early on. I also liked Mary O'Brien, the 'other' Butler's wife too, especially the scene where she flirts with the hotel receptionist. There is a little bit of darkness to the other Butler (Francis McDonald) as he insults his wife and we see he's blackened her eye (off-screen), all of which amplify the emotional response we feel later in Buster's fury.

Alfred (Buster Keaton) is a weakling from a wealthy family. His father is frustrated with his pampering and sends him on a hunting and fishing trip in the mountains. He brings his butler and all the modern conveniences. It doesn't go well but he does fall in love with a mountain girl whom he almost shoots. Her father and brother ridicule him and refuse to let him marry her until his butler tells them that he is the famous boxer, Alfred "Battling" Butler. The lie quickly gets out of hand.

While it doesn't have the big stunts, it does have the comedic boxing. At least, Buster gets to show off his physiques. It has his charms. It's a fun second tier Buster. During the big final fight, the real Butler should really push the girl. The idea of her being pushed around should be the driving force for him to rally against him. It's like Popeye getting his spinach. Overall, it's a fun time.

A nice little comedy about a wealthy young man with nothing to do. He finds himself taking a trip into the mountain country to put some adventure into his life. It is here where he meets a young Mountain girl played by actress Sally O'Neil. Soon, Keaton and O'Neil fall in love and want to marry. The problem is O'Neil's father and brother are giant of men and won't allow her to marry such a small man. It is Keaton's butler / servant who gets the idea to lie to her parents by telling them that Keaton is a professional boxer (who happens to have the same name as Keaton's character (Butler). One lie leads to another as Keaton as to pretend he is a boxer. A nice story with some moments of comedy, Battling Butler is a Keaton comedy with very little stunt work from Buster Keaton. Besides the moments spent in the ring, Keaton hardly does any stunts. Most of the comedy comes from Keaton's silent comedy as oppose to his physical (stunt) comedy.

Battling Butler (1926) : Brief Review -

Buster Keaton hits all the punches right without even entering the boxing ring. This feels like an another influential stuff from Keaton which might not have been remade or adapted as it is but surely has inspired many comedy and rom-com films over the years. A love-struck weakling must pretend to be boxer in order to gain respect from the family of the girl he loves which takes him to fight the real boxing match. Battling Butler, the title refers to two personalities in the film of the same name getting mixed up. So, it creates that certain types of laughing situations which will leave you with enough gags. Although, it isn't completely hilarious, Battling Butler is more about comic situations than comedy scenes. Some of the one liners (intertitles i mean) are too good, see one says this, "Do you think you could learn to love me?" And she says, "I have." And he tores the paper apart. I don't know why those so many rom-coms of talkies era didn't use this line ever? Buster Keaton as the Battling Butler is in top form like always. Not just physical comedy but he performs some difficult stunts also and that too without fumbling. Snitz Edwards as his Valet is typically funny while gorgeous Sally O'Neil as his love interest plays the part fine. Keaton had already made Cult comedies like 'Our Hospitality', "Sherlock Jr.', 'The Genral' and other which had lot of mind-blowing adventurous stuff and Battling Butler doesn't match those films. Nevertheless, it is a great entertainner anyday. The short runtime helps it to remain engaging throughout without leaving any loops and boring moments. The best part is, those boxing sequences are damn funny which highlights some major comedy skills of Keaton. Overall, another fine comedy by King Of Comedy.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.