Sogni a occhi aperti

Buster Keaton and Renee Adoree team up in a comedy in which our hero tries to make something of himself for his girl back home. Trouble is, as he's writing her of his successes she dreams of something far different than he's actually doing! Funny in places with the usual emphasis on stuff going wrong and the odd stunt, and some good camera work. Entertaining little movie.

Sky Movies just screened this in UK ; 2001 restoration by Lobster Films, with some great tints and hues. Running time about 23 minutes makes it pretty complete, overall not too much nitrite decomposition on the print either. It did seem to drag in places, today's audiences seem a bit less able to take the pace, although there are some great sequences. The best scene is probably the elongated one on the run from the law, particularly on the riverboat where Buster is caught on the wheel as it sails and apparently walks on water. The gag ending falls kind of flat, but overall a pretty complete print to my knowledge - 6/10 for the film and 10/10 for the folks at Lobster Films !

Buster, to get the approval of the father of the girl he wants to marry, sets off for the big city to show he can get a good job to support her.

He first writes to his girl that he's a big shot in a hospital. She dreams he's this important surgeon. It turns out he's just the go-fer for a veterinarian, bringing cats, dogs.....and a skunk...to the doc.

Then he writes that he's on Wall Street and "cleaning up." She dreams of a big tycoon, but - you guessed it - he's the sanitation worker and a wild scene involving confetti ensues.

After he's done with that - he doesn't last long anywhere - he writes that he's in the stage. She daydreams he's the leading actor, but he's only an extra. He winds up getting chased by the cops, inadvertently taking money that didn't belong to him and....

Finally, he writes that the police "follow his every move." She daydreams he must be the Police Captain, giving the men orders, but really it's just more of that last chase scene, except there are about 100 cops chasing him now, "following his every move."

The two-minute ending is pretty strange, too, a downer for some, but a fitting one!

The most sad short film of Buster Keaton. Not only as unhappy love story but as portrait of a poor man. without any chance to have a reasonable job. Sure, letters, and dreams and gags and a bizarre end. And the scene of Hamlet. But the message of film, bitter and far to be comfortable, is so precise than it is far to be the familiar comedy A young man and his strange, absolutely unluck. Gived in most inspired way by Buster Keaton.

This short comedy has some great scenes, and it's enjoyable even though it apparently survives only in a somewhat fragmented form. The setup allows for some imaginative gags, and Renée Adorée helps out, playing the girlfriend of Keaton's character.

The story has Buster trying his hand at various professions in order to prove himself to his girl's father, getting himself into a series of comic situations each time. There are several routine stretches, but there is also a great chase sequence in the last half, which has many inventive details and that must have required some very meticulous planning. It's similar to some of Keaton's other memorably exaggerated chase setups, and it's a lot of fun to watch.

Fans of Keaton should find this well worth watching, even though you must accept many imperfections in the print in order to see it.