The Paleface

An absent-minded Buster Keaton abruptly shifts from collecting butterflies to dodging tomahawks, as his innocent meanderings lead him straight into a conflict between a shady office full of oil tycoons and a persecuted tribe of Native American landowners. First mistaken for one of the naughty opportunists, he escapes stake, fire, arrow and spear alike before joining the natives and helping to right their wrongs.

Even given the era, this story's pretty loose; a pale shade of color to decorate the silly physical exploits that we've really come to see. In that respect, this film serves as a milestone, as Keaton has obviously employed a number of cinematic tricks and rudimentary special effects to amplify his riskier stunts. Unlike 1921's The Playhouse, where such effects were crafty and well-conceived, shockingly effective a hundred years later, the wilder stunts seen in The Paleface are transparent enough to disrupt the scene. We may not see the wires lifting Buster off the ground, but we know where they are. Rather than enhancing his infamous daredevil act, they've broken the illusion. As such, this film represents something of a growing pain in the heart of Keaton's two-reel prime.

In the early days of silent films Indians were inevitably the all purpose villains. For those who think that it was not until such post World War II films as Devil's Doorway, Broken Arrow, and Fort Apache that the Indian point of view was filmed, The Paleface, a comic short subject by Buster Keaton was the granddaddy of those other classics.

In fact the villains are really modern ones, would you believe oil company executives interested in the almighty profit at the expense of everything else. But oil was shortly to be cast in infamy with the American public in the form of the Teapot Dome Scandal which would break a couple of years later. Even then there was a stench emanating from Wyoming and people were asking questions.

The oil company has discovered oil on Indian land and has summarily ordered them off. The Indians are naturally upset and the chief Joe Roberts promises to kill the next white man who sets foot on the reservation.

Who should it be, but poor innocent butterfly collector Buster Keaton, as innocent here as his comic rivals Harry Langdon or Stan Laurel. The great stone face leads the Indians on quite the merry chase and with a little help from asbestos, survives a burning at the stake. With what we know now, one also shudders at the mesothelioma Buster acquired from that experience.

Knowing this man is something special, The Paleface becomes a leader of the tribe and they successfully battle oil company encroachment. By the way one of the vignettes in the James Stewart film The FBI Story deals with just this question, Indians being cheated out of their land by oil company speculators. Of course it was dealt with a bit more seriously than in The Paleface.

Not too much similarity between this and the Bob Hope-Jane Russell feature film classic, The Paleface. Hope also nearly got burned at the stake, but his escape was different, one classically different method from another great comedian.

The Paleface is a real good introduction to the comic art of Buster Keaton.

I have not seen many Buster Keaton shorts yet, but I think I really like this guy. Where Chaplin makes me smile a lot, Keaton really makes me laugh. With 'The Paleface' I kept laughing from start to finish, a little less in the middle though. In the middle part no one tries to catch Keaton, and that is exactly when he is at his best.

At first he is chased by Indians. They are mad because they are cheated and have to leave their land. They swear to kill the first white man that enters their property and of course Keaton enters, trying to catch a butterfly. When the Indians have caught him the best moments of this short arrive. They tie him to a pole and he lifts the pole from the ground and changes his position from time to time. It's hilarious. Then he befriends the same Indians and he is not chased. I have to admit the short becomes a little less funny here. But soon enough he finds himself into trouble again when they all go to the authorities to claim their land. A new chase, that also includes another Indian tribe, is what follows.

Like I said, the chases and the parts where he is caught are hilarious. Maybe the middle part less funny, that does not make it boring. Overall this short is terrific with a Buster Keaton who makes sure his shorts still work today.

I saw this on KINO Video and I was far from being impressed by the company because the film alternated from running too fast to running too slow---and the soundtrack, as a result, was really annoying. Perhaps it was a defective tape. If you can, you might want to find another brand if it's available.

Now on to the film. It's a silly and fun little film about some irate Indians and how they are about to take out their frustrations on the first White man they see--and it just happens to be Buster. However, after spending a lot of time trying to kill him, he is miraculously saved and the Indians think he's been send by the gods. Buster, being a nice guy, didn't hold any grudges for almost being roasted alive and agrees to help the Indians. It turns out that greedy oil barons are trying to take the land and so Buster leads the Indians on the attack. All in all, not the most important film Keaton ever made, but the sight gags are good and its a brisk little film sure to please anyone willing to watch a silent comedy.

While this is only an average comedy by Keaton's standards, it's still pretty good by most other measures. It does not have the vast wealth of inventive material found in Keaton's best short features, but it has plenty of slapstick and good gags, with some chases thrown in.

The story concerns Buster encountering a tribe of Indians who have been swindled out of their land by an oil company, and who are ready to take it out on the first outsider to enter their village. The Indians are portrayed in an occasionally silly but definitely sympathetic light. The funniest moments probably come in the earliest confrontations between Buster and the Indians.

This one is probably of interest primarily to those who are already Keaton fans, but at that it's pretty good.