Racconto rustico

When it comes to the top comedy shorts made in the Thirties the high water mark has always belonged to the works of Laurel & Hardy. Their finely tuned films were the perfect mixture of visual humor in a world of sound. By the time Keaton created the fifth short in his Educational series, HAYSEED ROMANCE – (1935), he had become just as comfortable at mixing his silent style with the needs of sound. The results are an overlooked minor classic. It plays like a prime Laurel & Hardy short with two strong sequences that naturally flow into each other.

Buster answers an ad to work a farm as a potential husband. When he meets the comely blonde miss of the house his interest peaks but of course, she didn't place the ad – that would be her behemoth of an aunt. He immediately settles in to a bucolic existence down on the farm. While Keaton always made comedies in varied surroundings he always seemed at home in rural settings among the cows and chickens. After breaking more dishes than he washed Buster settles in for a quiet evening's peace and contemplation only to be shattered by the Aunt's thunderous recital on the organ that shakes the house like the San Andreas quaking. This is followed by a splendid slapstick episode as Buster attempts to sleep in the attic with a leaky roof on a rainy night. Keaton builds this sequence through incidental gags and mounting mishaps. Needless to say both he and the aunt take quite a few headers through a two story hole and out into a mud puddle.

This short was a revelation for me as it showed that even with the time and money restrictions Keaton was able to turn out quality work that stood out with the best that was being done in the shorts comedy field at that time. It just drives home all the more how MGM squandered his talent.

Hayseed Romance (1935)

** (out of 4)

Here's yet another Educational Picture made by Buster Keaton, which features weak material way below the talents of its star. This time out Keaton plays a timid man who answers an ad in the paper asking for someone willing to marry and work on a farm. When he gets to the location he's happy the see a young, beautiful blonde (Dorothea Kent) but this joy quickly turns to terror when he finds out it was her obese aunt (Jane Jones) who really placed the ad. HAYSEED ROMANCE will remind some of Keaton's silent picture MY WIFE'S RELATIONS but this here isn't nearly as memorable, although I do have to tip my hat to the cast for at least giving it their all. Once again Keaton and company are let down by a rather bland and unoriginal screenplay that goes for cheap laughs that rarely work out. One example is a sequence where Keaton is about to go to sleep when the roof starts leaking. He goes on top of the house to fix it but sure enough he makes the problem worse. This does lead to one of the best scenes in the movie where the aunt is getting ready for bed only to have gallons of water come pouring in on her. I found Jones to be quite good in the role of the aunt as she was very funny in the way she pushes Keaton around. The film's low-budget is rather obvious in a couple scenes where the large woman needs a stunt double and it's obvious the person doubling her is at least three times smaller. Keaton is also good in the movie as his comic pacing is quite nice and we even get a double dose of him as in a couple scenes he plays his character as well as his "ghostly" conscience. Kent had a rather high-pitched voice for a sound flick but I thought her chemistry with Keaton was very charming.