La Roulotte d'amour

I'm inclined to agree with rpmathewson's review. No, it's not a good "Keaton" film, but I found it entirely entertaining. Probably it's greatest weakness is its strength: it's very, very short; therefore, Keaton does not have time to invest it with but a hint of his trademark mechanical and stunt gags, but then neither does it go on long enough to become tiresome. A couple of times I had to laugh, and it IS extremely interesting to see practically the whole Keaton family at one time (where was dad?). With Al St. John in the mix, it is incomprehensible that they didn't put in some acrobatics--I wonder why not? Even so, it's an agreeable enough little short subject, like something Keaton might have done on a TV stage.

I disagree with the other comments posted here. I saw Love Nest on Wheels many years ago and thought it was hilarious. I come from a poor working class family and don't usually like to see the likes of us being patronised. May be I need updating on its political correctness. Does anyone know where I can buy a DVD or VHS? I've been searching for ages. I think Buster Keaton has been much neglected and most people think of him as a silent movie star so when I saw this talkie I remembered it with great affection. The man was a genius. I'm just trying to get to 10 lines here as I need to see the film again before I can make further comments!

Love Nest on Wheels (1937)

** (out of 4)

This here served as Buster Keaton's sixteenth and final film for Educational Pictures and it's actually a remake of the 1918 film, which he played a supporting part to Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle. This time out Keaton plays part of a redneck family running a hotel, which is about to get foreclosed on unless they can come up with some funny. A couple stop by on their honeymoon and agree to buy a camper the family has but there's only one problem and that's Uncle Jed's cow is stuck in it. LOVE NEST ON WHEELS is a charming movie even if the laughs are all there. I think the original film was much better but this one here does allow one to see many members of the Keaton family as we not only get Buster but also Myra, Louise and Harry. The supporting player also features vets Bud Jamison as well as Al St. John, another member who was kicking it with Buster over a decade earlier. Most of the gags here can be seen in the original Arbuckle short including one where a rope running from the barber shop to the kitchen pulling a bucket-like device ends up knocking the hat off St. John several times and of course he takes it out on Buster. Another gag involves an elevator being ran by a horse outside pulling a rope and the highlight is a scene where St. John gets his head stuck in the door. None of these gags are overly funny but they are charming in their own right and the cast certainly makes this film worth checking out. This marked an end to Keaton's stay at Educational and having watched all sixteen films in a row I can't help but feel that some fans have overpraised them. I understand Keaton hated his time at MGM but those films were certainly better than the majority of these two-reelers.

During the beginning of his contract with Educational Pictures, Buster Keaton made "Palooka from Paducah"--a film that featured his real-life sister, mother and father as his family in the film. Here in "Love Nest on Wheels", they are all back--along with Keaton's brother (who looks an awful lot like Buster). In addition, the film features Al St. John--a guy famous for acting with his uncle, Fatty Arbuckle, as well as playing sidekicks in B-westerns. St. John also starred in a few comedy shorts for Educational---one of which is one of the funniest shorts I have ever seen ("Bridge Wives").

In this film, despite being a family of hillbillies it is not a sequel to "Palooka from Paducah". Instead, the family runs a hotel in the middle of no where and the bank is about ready for foreclose, as business is terrible. And, when you see how they care for their guests, it's no wonder. The short is jam-packed with silly sight gags that make fun of these country folk and the film comes off a bit like an episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies". But what sets it apart is the insane physicality of the film. Buster AND his family take some wonderful pratfalls--such that you really wish you could have seen them on stage during their Vaudeville days when the Keatons were a family act.

As this is Buster's final film for Educational, it's nice to see he went out on a bang. Not a brilliant film but it's funny and you just have to see the Keatons doing their thing. Too bad most of his subsequent films for Columbia were pretty awful--he should have stuck with Educational.

There are some Buster Keaton fans who are so fascinated with the man's work that they'll watch him in absolutely anything, even the most half-hearted, depressing potboilers he cranked out at the nadir of his career. And I guess I qualify as one of those obsessive Keaton die-hards, because I've seen Love Nest on Wheels twice.

Actually, masochists in search of Buster's Most Pathetic Comedy will find several other candidates more worthy of the title. This movie does offer a few points of interest and even a chuckle or two, that is, if you can get past the seedy production values, lethargic pacing, and pervasive atmosphere of defeat. As it happens lethargy is central to this film's shtick: the basic premise here is that rural folk are profoundly lazy, and can barely rouse themselves to action even in an emergency. That's the whole joke, really, so if you have a taste for pseudo-rustic, Li'l Abner-style white trash humor, then by all means tune in. What keeps this from being offensive is that the tone is so cartoon-y the stereotypes can be shrugged off.

Our setting is a dilapidated hotel run by a family of hillbillies. When the bank threatens to foreclose on the mortgage, Buster must raise the cash to save the hotel -- if, mind you, he can sufficiently rouse himself from his state of narcolepsy in order to do so. The familiar plot serves as an excuse to re-stage some tried-and-true comic routines which Keaton fans will recognize from his silent work. Points of interest: Buster's kin are portrayed by his real-life mother, sister, and brother. Myra Keaton, Buster's mom, was a vaudeville veteran with an unforgettable face and good comic delivery. She could easily have found steady work as a character actress outside of her son's films. Myra's performance might remind some viewers of Irene Ryan from "The Beverly Hillbillies," though she lacks Ms. Ryan's charisma. Buster's siblings register less strongly as personalities, but if you want to see what they looked like, well, here they are.

Also on hand is Al St. John, who so often played The Rival in earlier, happier days with Buster and Roscoe Arbuckle. Watching him interact with Buster in this film, in such sadly reduced circumstances, is like watching ghosts. This is especially the case when they re-enact two routines from The Bell Boy, a silent comedy from 1918 that was one of the very best Arbuckle/Keaton collaborations. The gags played beautifully in the earlier film and still get laughs when The Bell Boy is screened today. Here, with the unnecessary addition of sound, those same routines come off as labored, but nonetheless represent this film's high point.

I can only recommend Love Nest on Wheels to my fellow die-hard Keaton buffs, but I can heartily recommend The Bell Boy to anyone who would prefer to appreciate Keaton's (and Arbuckle's) comic genius in full bloom.