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.

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.

Neither the prospect of eighty minutes of biting headwind nor snow showers has been able to keep me from the National Film Theatre over the three weeks so far of its Buster Keaton season, and every time the films have yet to disappoint: "Battling Butler" is no exception! I'd instantly give this a 9 if only I could justify it relative to the early scenes; despite the pitch of enthusiasm I'd reached by the end of the film, I'm still not quite sure in all fairness that I can.

It definitely takes a while to get up to speed (at the start, I took the father to be a doctor giving his sickly son only three months to live!) and for the initial reel or so it depends largely on a single extended gag -- the elegant fop's complete unsuitability for an outdoor environment. Alfred's elaborate al-fresco living arrangements echo Keaton's trademark fascination with complicated contrivances, and there's one very typical bit of misdirection where we wait for the shotgun's recoil to knock Alfred backwards into the water, only for a somewhat different turn of events to prove his downfall; but this film doesn't come properly to life until its hero engages our sympathy as well as being a walking joke. In "The General", we engage with Johnnie Gray almost immediately -- in "Battling Butler", Alfred remained a cipher for me until the moment when he nervously rehearses "Beatrice Faircatch"'s newspaper advice on making a proposal, with such an earnest air: it's funny, but it's also touching, and it's no coincidence that it is with his subsequent first steps towards standing on his own two feet -- tearing up and throwing aside the useless newspaper column -- that Alfred Butler may finally be said to have progressed beyond a simple one-dimensional character, and the film can really begin.

From here on the picture becomes a Keaton classic, sweeping the hapless hero further and further from the cushioned normality of his life with a series of escalating and plausible coincidences. Ultimately the worm will turn, of course -- but not in the time and manner that we are expecting. And Keaton acts here not just with that famous face but with every line of his whole body: triumph, exhaustion, despair, apprehension, indignation, timidity, pugnacity... and finally, in the last scene, sublime confidence in his own skin, modelling a costume so incongruous that only Buster Keaton could carry it off with such genuine elegance!

The scenes of Alfred's ordeal are hilarious and moving by degrees -- it's almost impossible to analyse Keaton's appeal. 'Sweet' is quite definitely the wrong word, as is 'lovable': Buster is no Little Tramp. 'Bittersweet' might be closer to the mark... or 'poignant'; the metaphor of the man who gets knocked down but keeps on trying has never been more apt. There is a brief vivid moment when Alfred, bewildered and worn out, turns his face aside into the arms of his second with such a hopeless little air that instead of a laugh, it raised a murmur of pity from the auditorium. But Keaton never allows himself to milk the audience for sympathy -- the best of his films may mingle laughter through tears, but he never falls into the trap of sentimentality.

I'm not sure if this is among the best of Keaton's films... but it's certainly one of those I've ultimately enjoyed the most so far. I've changed my mind: I'll give it a 9 after all, and say I'm dropping a mark down instead from a 10! :-)

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.