El gran espectáculo

Drawing from his experience in vaudeville during his youth, The Playhouse is one of Keaton's most autobiographical shorts. Keaton displays his inventive genius for visual effects in a dream sequence by playing the role of all performers in a minstrel show and its audience as well. Each Buster, from drum player to a Grandma Buster, has its own distinctive personality and character. This is truly one of the great sequences of Keaton's career.

Buster is awakened from his dream of grandiose, caught sleeping on the job. In the second part of the short, he plays a stagehand who gets into trouble both on and off the stage. From this point forward the short relies less on technical marvel, but remains equally entertaining. Keaton's facial impressions when dressed up as a monkey are priceless.

As with most Keaton shorts, there are many unique details which enhance the overall film, but are not essential to the plot. Some of the funniest shots in the film don't even involve Buster, specifically two hilarious Civil War veterans in the theater's audience, each with only one arm.

Buster's co-star in The Playhouse is Virginia Fox. She does a charming job in a dual role playing twins. It has been written that in his youth Buster had a fondness for twin performers and was known to pursue both sisters.

I just watched The Play House which was the first film that was presented in the "Industrial Strength Keaton" DVD collection of various Buster Keaton films from the silents to the end of his life. The first half where he appears in various incarnations of himself was quite impressive especially when 9 of him appear together in the same frame. Some amusing, if not hilarious, gags occur there. The rest of the short has Buster being an actual stagehand/performer who goes through more hilarious mishaps that has to be seen to be believed. I especially loved the way he put out a man's fiery beard or got a woman out of a water tank. Not to mention how he impersonates a monkey. Or how he tells one twin sister from another. So on that note, I highly recommend The Play House.

For some reason, I find the Buster Keaton features such as "the General" and "Steamboat Bill Jr." to be well-made, yet lacking in the explosive laughter I would expect. His short films however, pack a punch with comedy. "The Playhouse" is his best work ever - a showcase of his versatility and unparalleled comedic techniques. Any musician watching his clarinet technique (gnawing on the mouthpiece) can't help but hit the floor when they watch the opening orchestra scene. Likewise, the variety of audience members he plays, this is amazing. I can't help but wonder... how long (given makeup and costumes) did this one scene take to film? There are also more Warner Brothers cartoon foreshadowing in this than most other films I've seen. For a true short film masterpiece, see this film.

To be honest, the only video of this movie I've seen has been rather washed out. But the wonderful special effects of the first half still show through. This isn't a Melies' fantasy with avant garde stylings and effects, but rather a simple and almost elegant movie with one simple effect: Buster Keaton plays ALL the parts in a theatre presenting a minstrel show. This may not seem much in the CGI-world of the nineties...but back in the 1920's it was a tour de force. The ease with which Keaton brings together at least ten separate performances at one time is amazing...one can only imagine the planning that went into this movie.

The second half is a tad low-key...though it of course features more of Keaton's acrobatic slapstick, and a particularly striking bit with him dressed up as a monkey.

This is definitely not The General or Steamboat Bill, Jr., but it is very enjoyable and, I believe, very deserving of a high place in the canons of early film for the artistry that Keaton applied to the special effects.

... and there is stiff competition.

This two reeler is set in a vaudeville house, the kind of place Keaton grew up in and where he grew into a comic as part of The Three Keatons, along with his parents, so he is familiar with this environment.

Keaton mainly plays a stagehand. Many descriptions say he is a goof up employee, but I'd say he is pretty innovative considering the strange messes into which he is thrown by the plot. He does some things here that you don't see much of in his other shorts - he pantomimes other types of people than he is or has had much contact with entirely. In the audience he plays an upper crust couple commenting on the low brow humor, he plays a grandma and her grandson, and he play s a middle class couple. He is also "the whole show" towards the beginning as there are all Busters in the orchestra, in a minstrel show, and he manages to dance with himself onstage, showing his knowledge of the camera and what it can do.

He also falls in love with one of two identical twins, played by Virginia Fox. Since he can't tell them apart without drawing an X on the one he wants, you have to wonder how he knows he really wants that one in the first place. Virginia Fox was the future wife of Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox for decades.

If you are not familiar with Buster Keaton's work, this is a great place to start. But then when it comes to Buster I can't think of a bad place to start save for his sound films at MGM, and even they have their charms.