Hard Luck

Buster Keaton often cited Hard Luck (1921) as his favorite among his independent short film work, the reason being that the twist ending gave him the biggest laugh of his career, with people still laughing over it on their way out of the movie house. In hindsight, the film is not that wonderful, including the ending, but it is not without merits. The first part is a classic example of "suicide comedy," a controversial subject for us nowadays, but back then, an inept fellow trying to rub himself out in humorous ways was rather common in short subjects. Harold Lloyd and even Mickey Mouse indulged in this sort of gallows humor too. The rest of the film is funny, but not as imaginative or clever as Keaton's best short film work.

It's a pleasure to report that Buster Keaton's short comedy Hard Luck is now fully restored, complete with the famous "Chinese family" gag ending. According to Buster, who wrote about it in his later years, when the film premiered this finale was greeted with the biggest laugh he ever received. It was all the more frustrating that Hard Luck was believed to be lost for many years. In the late 1980s a battered print was discovered in some remote corner of the world, but -- more frustration! -- it lacked the closing gag, so the finale was replaced by an explanatory title and a photographic still. Now, however, the ending has been located, and the complete short is available on DVD.

While it's great that we can finally see Hard Luck in its entirety, I don't believe it's in the same league with Buster's best short comedies. It's certainly funny, and offers some of Keaton's characteristically clever, off-beat gags, and it's also pleasant to see Buster in his youthful prime, but the story is so disjointed and weird the whole movie feels like an obscure in-joke of some sort. In a way, the sheer silliness of it all makes for an amusing ride, but for me Keaton's humor works best in the context of a tightly-plotted story, however absurd it might be, as in The Goat or Cops. Here however, Buster just kinda meanders from one bizarre situation to the next without ever really settling into any of them. It's reminiscent of his earliest films with Roscoe Arbuckle.

Hard Luck plays like one of those crazy dreams that switches from one locale (and mood) to the next without warning: one minute our hero is so depressed he's attempting suicide, the next he's volunteering to hunt down a specimen of that rare creature, the armadillo (!?!?) for the local zoo. But this is just an excuse for Buster to go fishing (for armadillos?) which somehow leads him to the local country club, where he is promptly invited to join a fox hunt. Along the way, Buster winds up riding a bull and is then briefly tethered to a bear. Back at the country club, a bandit named Lizard Lip Luke breaks in and holds everyone hostage. When Buster rescues the girl she reveals that she's married to Bull Montana, so naturally it's time for our hero to jump off the high dive, only he misses the swimming pool and plummets to China.

. . . all of which brings us back to that closing gag, supposedly set many years later, when Buster brings his Chinese wife & children back through the very deep hole to see the country club. It's a clever idea, but nonetheless I find it strange that this is the gag which Keaton said produced the biggest laugh of his entire career. But hey, the man was there. Perhaps because the taboo against "inter-marrying" was so much stronger in those days the gag had a degree of shock value which has faded with time. In any event, it's nice to see the movie restored to wholeness at long last. When I saw the semi-complete version of Hard Luck at a Keaton festival at NYC's Film Forum in 1992 I thought the plot was disjointed because of the poor condition of the print. Now I realize that "disjointed" was precisely what Keaton had in mind all along. Even so, I'm still puzzled about that armadillo.

Slight correction for the previous review (though admittedly it came before the actual discovery). The long-lost missing scenes (Keaton walloping the cement in the pool-dive sequence, his return with Chinese wife and child, both cute BTW) WERE found in a French archive (will have to check which one), albeit in terrible-but-watchable shape, and were restored on a special compilation DVD of Keaton rarities (home movies, TV appearances, cameos, and some restored films, including the missing scenes from "Daydreams").

The title is "Keaton Plus"...I found it circulating in the Buffalo Public Library. Not sure of the date, but would probably be between 2001 to 2004. And yes, it's released by Kino Video (in association with the Rohauer and Keaton estates, etc.) It's gratifying to know that the cherry on the top of Keaton's fantastic cinema career in the 20s has survived (barely, but serviceable), and it's a short, sweet coda for such a majestic American comedy talent.

Far from it in my view. Buster Keaton did many short films, while not all of them entirely worked (yet still with recommendable aspects) the best of them are up there, or at least close to being, with the best of his feature films. Keaton himself was a genius, often hilarious, extremely bold (back then and even now) and his deadpan delivery is near-unrivalled. As others have said, he considered the for a long time lost 'Hard Luck' his favourite of his short films.

Personally do not agree with him there. While preferring it over 'The Balloonatic', 'The Frozen North' and 'The Love Nest', there is a vast preference for 'The Scarecrow', 'The Goat', 'The Playhouse' and 'The Boat' ('Neighbors' and 'Cops' too if not quite as much). 'Hard Luck' is good fun and above average, and Keaton himself does not disappoint, but it is not one of Keaton's overall funniest, most imaginative or boldest and the story is severely flawed.

Due to it feeling very disjointed, muddled and almost incomplete-feeling, some of it coming over as quite cobbled together as well. Humour-wise, it's all executed very well and there is nothing unfunny here actually.

Just not much that is peak Keaton, hilarious or daring (well other than the subject by today's standards regarding the latter). When one thinks of iconic moments from Keaton's short and feature films, there is not much here in 'Hard Luck' that would be on that list for me. Though the ending comes close.

'Hard Luck' looks good though with nice photography and the physical comedy never looks haphazard captured on film. The supporting cast do well, with a charming Virginia Fox (though her role is underwritten and plot-device-like) and menacing Joe Roberts, regular Keaton co-stars, supporting Keaton typically solidly. Keaton's performance is both full of life and moving and what there is of his physical comedy amazes.

While not as hilarious or inventive as other Keaton works, 'Hard Luck' still amuses and the lauded final gag is great. The now quite controversial subject of suicide and doing it through comedy is handled tastefully and the pacing didn't feel dull (though inevitably there was some jumpiness).

In conclusion, above average but not one of Keaton's best. 7/10

This was an odd Buster Keaton in that the story totally changed directions multiple times, out of nowhere. The strange 22-minute movie begins with Buster trying to kill himself in various forms. Obviously, he doesn't succeed and the reasons why are funny. It may morbid to some but I found this part very clever and the best part of the film.

All of sudden, he's obtained the job of hunting for an armadillo for a local zoo and while he's doing that, he winds up in a country club where they are having a fox hunt. There are numerous sight gags involving Buster trying to mount the horse, many times while the horse is moving.

Later, some gigantic outlaw, "Lizard Lip Luke," and his gang appear and are robbing this place where Keaton and a girl he likes are located, and our hero, thanks to some inventive thinking, gets rid of the gang. He thinks that entitles him to marry the girl but she tells him, "I'm already married." Huh?

Then the movie ends on a really bizarre note as Buster ambles over to a nearby swimming pool and climbs the ladder to perform a high dive. Unfortunately we don't see much of this scene because most of the footage has been lost forever. However, Kino Video, which put this long-lost film on DVD, is nice to explain in advance - and during that last scene - what we missed.

I can see where some people might label this an "unven" Keaton short, since the story is so disjointed, but that's part of the charm: you never know what's coming next. There are some really unique sight gags in here - strange even for silent comedies. This film is pure insanity!