Ditto

During the mid-1930s, Buster Keaton left MGM and went to Educational Pictures where he starred in 17 decent but not particularly distinguished short films. Most were a bit better than the stuff he'd done at MGM but the films lack to crazy originality of Keaton's silent work. For fans, they are worth watching but for those not familiar with his films I suggest you first try his silents--they are Keaton at his best.

"Ditto" begins with Buster as an iceman. He meets and falls in love with one of his customers--unaware that her identical twin sister lives next door. In a very unusual move, the studio actually hired twins for this (Gloria and Barbara Brewster)--as most of the time, twins were usually played by one actor doing both roles. While this is all rather funny, I was surprised how quickly all this was resolved--the gag sure could have been carried a bit further. It's funny but you can't help but think it could have been a bit better--especially since the final portion of the film just seemed to come from left field--like they had no idea how to end the movie. All in all, a very weird movie.

While this is not as funny as some of Keaton's Educational shorts (gets a bit awkward in the middle), it does have some great moments. Mainly though, I see the entire first 16 minutes (of a 17-minute running time) as the build-up to a big punch-line at the end. But you must know a little about the Dionne quintets born in 1934 to get the joke!

Ditto (1937)

** (out of 4)

Leonard Maltin called this the worst Buster Keaton-Educational short but I wouldn't go that far. The film starts off pretty good as Keaton is playing an ice seller who goes into a woman's home and quickly falls in love with her. He returns later to ask her for a date but ends up in the next house not knowing that it's the woman's twin sister and soon havoc follows. This isn't the worst Keaton short I've seen but it may very well be the most bizarre as nothing ever adds up. The first portion of the film has Keaton going back and forth between the sisters not knowing that they're twins and we get some funny gags here especially when he finally figures out what's going on. The bizarre thing is that the entire gag of him not knowing is pretty much wasted because the first sister invites him back to the house but why on Earth would she do this since she is married? Both sisters being married is what gets Keaton in trouble and while the first sister does owe him money I found it a little strange that the marriage thing didn't come up. The last minutes of the film features Buster running away to become a hermit and we flash forward fifteen-years when he has another dangerous encounter. THis final joke has somewhat become legendary among Keaton fans for being a complete letdown and I will certainly agree with that. It's been said that the lack of money caused the effect to play out the way it does but if they didn't have the money for the shot they wanted then they might as well cut the entire idea and tried something different. Keaton isn't at his best here but his manageable and at least makes you believe he's dumb enough to fall into the trap of what's going on.

This has got to be one of the weirdest movies made by a traditional filmmaker. The first third is quite funny. The middle third, where Buster is confused by the two girls, is too embarrassing for me to enjoy. BUT THEN, the last third is amazing. Keaton must have written this. I cannot imagine anyone else coming up with anything so surreal, so entertainingly bizarre. You really have got to see it to believe it. And yes, it certainly does whet the imagination to wonder what Keaton might have done with the final shot if Educational had given him the money to do whatever he wanted. It would have to have been something well beyond what I would cook up, since nothing I can think of would work as well as the way they shot it. We REALLY need these Keaton movies restored.