Il viso pallido

An Indian tribe is being forced off their land by an oil drilling company. Hearing this, the Indian chief swears revenge, ordering death to the first white man who passes onto their land. It wouldn't be much of a short, if Buster wasn't the one who passed through. After surviving a burning at the stake (thanks to a handy sheet of asbestos), the tribe takes in Buster as one of their own, and through accidental luck, the land is recovered. Not really as funny as some of Buster's other shorts, but there are some nice sight gags and a very dangerous stunt (Buster falling some 60 feet off a cliff, actually filmed in two parts.) Rating, based on shorts- 6.

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.

Buster inadvertently wanders onto Indian land, chasing butterflies. What he doesn't know is that the tribe has vowed to kill the first white man who shows up, since they have just been cheated out of their land. Buster frustrates every attempt at his demise, including fashioning asbestos underwear so he cannot be burned at the stake. The tribe make him an honorary member, and then he fights to get their land back. When Buster threatens to scalp one of the swindlers, the man offers up his toupee instead.

There are plenty of funny and incredible stunts, which leaves me wondering if there was anything Keaton would not attempt.

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.

This Buster Keaton short didn't have a ton of laughs but it had enough to suit me. The gist of the story is an Indian tribe getting their land taken from them by corrupt oil men and Buster getting it back for them.

Along the way, he proves himself to be a superhuman "god" by surviving being burned at the stake. (A fire-proof asbestos suit did the trick!) Later, he's involved in warring tribes. Through a decent portion of the film, he is being chased by either of the tribes. Chase scenes are always funny and these in this movie are no exception. Some of these sight gags elicit hardy laughs. In the end, Buster not only saves the Indians' land but gets a pretty "squab," too!

This is good slapstick and another example of why some people - me included - think Keaton's short movies, generally speaking, were better than his feature films. Some reviewers here label this one "cute and silly" and I would agree with that.