One Week

One Week and The Scarecrow are the only two silent films that I can watch over and over and over and laugh like a maniac each time I see them. I have seen hundreds of silent films and seen hundreds of performances, but there is no performer, past or present, who was as versatile, good-looking, and out and out funny as Buster Keaton. He is the king to which all comedians should aspire and he leaves Chaplin thousands of miles behind in terms of comedy. Personally, I can't watch Chaplin without being all too aware that I'm supposed to be in a music hall. Keaton, however, isn't hindered by his vaudeville roots and can make a laugh-out-loud domestic comedy using vaudeville tricks without making it seem like a recreation of a vaudeville routine.

The first Keaton 2 reeler to be released (he had already made 'the High Sign' but, considered it to weak to be his debut solo effort). 'One Week' is a gem of a movie. Newly weds, Buster and Sybil are given a house and plot of land by an Aunt and Uncle, however, Handy Hank, who lost out to Buster for Sybil's hand in marriage, sabotages the pre fab house by changing the numbers on the boxes, the result is the oddest looking house, however to the newly weds it's home. Various mishaps occur, especially when they have relations over for a house warming. The film climaxes with one of the best double crosses in movies, I hate to spoil films by telling people the ending, just watch it for yourself and enjoy. Just to clear something up, Keaton did not break both arms doing a stunt in this movie, as written by an earlier reviewer, although he did get injured doing a stunt causing swelling to his back and arms. However he did suffer a broken ankle filming 'The Electric House' and broke his neck, which went undiagnosed for 13 years, this was always blamed on a stunt in 'Sherlock jr' Keaton is the king of the silent comedies, his movies from his golden period of film making stand the test of time, the humour is fresh and innovated, his stunts, which everyone knows he did himself are breathtaking and he shows an aptitude for the art of film making that places him among the greatest ever. His decline after losing his independence is tragic, both for him and movie fans as we are left to wonder what he could have achieved if he's been allowed by MGM to make the movies he was capable of, our only consolation is the treasures he did leave behind.

A house. Not assembled. A young couple. And a week. One of the most seductive films of Buster Keaton. For imagination, for the feel to see an animation, for lovely-dramatic story - the storm has a lead role- for the end and for the trait of genius. Something sad - magic defines this short film. One of the lovely ones for its humor and for the beautiful way for explore the force of details.

Buster Keaton had been making films for three years, minus some time he was in the army, but this was his second film independent of his old friend and partner Roscoe Arbuckle. And it has a touch of something unseen in film up to that point - engineering as comedy. In 1920 comedy is just emerging from the pie throwing and pants kicking phase, and Buster is already on a completely different level from his colleagues.

Buster, still a bachelor himself, is shown emerging from a church with his new bride (Sybil Seely). They don't have credited names, for this is not a personal journey for the main characters. The trouble starts immediately with Handy Hank, resentful that the bride turned him down and then chose Buster. Oddly enough this guy is driving them to their destination from the church, and that turns out to be a lot with a portable house deposited on it, both being a wedding gift from Buster's uncle. There they find the house in boxes which they need to assemble themselves in the order of the numbers on the boxes. Handy Hank sees his chance for revenge by changing the numbers on the boxes so that the house will be assembled out of order.

The result is hilarious. The roof is on sideways, the porch is lopsided, there is a door to nowhere on the second floor that leads to the outside, and the rectangular windows have somehow installed to be a trapezoid, which is something that would be impossible just from incorrect installation. The kitchen sink has been installed on the outside of the house, but no problem, Buster has installed it such that it swivels like a revolving door and can thus double as a door and a sink that can be, in bad weather, moved inside. What about the foundation? Well, that becomes a problem later.

I'd highly recommend this as an introduction to Keaton even before you go back and watch his shorts done with Arbuckle and before his later independent efforts. It is much more carefully constructed than poor Buster's house. P. S. - Such portable homes were commonly sold by catalogue in the United States during the first half of the 20th century.

What a wonderful short feature this is - it's very funny, filled with creative gags and exciting stunts, and also quite charming. The plot follows newlywed Buster and his wife in their first week together, as they attempt to build, furnish, and settle into their new 'do-it-yourself' home. There are lots of very wacky moments, with a great variety of inventive comic material. It's also quite endearing to watch the young couple having to contend with all the difficulties they face in setting out together. Keaton is really good at making his character sympathetic without getting bogged down in pity that would detract from the great humor.

"One Week" deserves its reputation as one of Keaton's finest achievements. It's a must-see for anyone who has even a passing interest in silent comedies.