Grandeur et décadence

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 Keaton asks a father for the hand of a nice girl. Since Keaton does not know whether he is able to support the girl he goes to the city to prove that he can and promises to her father he will shoot himself when he fails. The girl gets letters from Keaton explaining what he is doing at the moment. First he works in a sanatorium, his letter says. The next shot tells us that he is nothing more than an assistant in a dog clinic. Of course things do not go well. Then he writes he was tired of the sanatorium and is now cleaning up things. What and how he is cleaning up is the best part from this short. Again he messes things up big time and his next job is in the theater, doing 'Hamlet' to be precisely. Of course things are not as they appear to be in the letter. His coming home is another highpoint in this short.

Although 'Daydreams' does not belong to the funniest Keaton shorts I have seen so far, it definitely has some Keaton magic. I like him more than Chaplin because he is able to really make me laugh instead of just smile. Here he does that a couple of times, especially in the two parts I mentioned above. Although there are less chases, parts where I think he is at best, than I am used to, Keaton gives us a nice short. I have come to understand that the surviving prints of this film are incomplete but I can assure you that the story feels complete.

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.

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.