Les Rivaux de la pompe

One Run Elmer (1935)

** (out of 4)

There's not too many things more American than Buster Keaton and baseball and this two-reeler from Educational gives us both. In the film Keaton plays Elmer, a gas station owner out in the middle of nowhere who soon has a rival (Harold Goodwin) put up a similar station right across the road. The two end up fighting over every customer but especially a beautiful girl (Lona Andre) who pulls up one day. She tells the boys that she'll go out with whichever one wins the baseball game later that day. ONE RUN ELMER is a rather strange short because it sadly shows you how far Keaton had fallen but at the same time there are a few good gags here that make the film worth viewing. The bad stuff is pretty obvious and one thing that hampers the movie is its low budget. I've read that each of these Educational-Keaton shorts had a $20,000 budget with Keaton getting a fourth of that for his salary but by looking at this movie you'd think he pocketed the entire thing. Many of the scenes are shot silent with noises later edited in and this just gives the thing an ultra cheap feel. It also doesn't help that many of the early gags are rather lazy and obvious including one where the girl pulls up with dust all over her car. Buster goes to be nice and tries to wipe it off but he just ends up blowing it back onto her. The highlight of the film is clearly the baseball game where we get to see some rather funny gags including one where Keaton tries to use a large part and nearly kills the catcher and the umpire. There's another good bit where he gets into it with the umpire who is still upset because Buster broke his windshield earlier. Keaton is in pretty good form as are the supporting players of Goodwin and Dewey Robinson as the umpire.

If there was any question as to whether Buster Keaton had regained his creative control after the debacle that was MGM, one needs to look no further than ONE RUN ELMER. It encompasses his two biggest passions in life – baseball and film-making. The opening shot is uniquely Keaton - a vast desert, a ramshackle shack and a lone figure. Buster operates a small gas station. The deep hole that his rocking chair sits in is indicative of his thriving business. He spends his time giving directions to travelers and what business there is gets scared away from Buster leaping out of bushes brandishing his shotgun. Buster's prospects brighten with the arrival of a construction crew. He figures it's a sign of a growing boom town. Fade in to a dour looking Buster staring at the boom - a brand new modern gas station directly across from him. The rivals begin a not so friendly competition involving price wars and fights over customers and the only lone female in the area. Eventually the competition moves to the baseball field.

Keaton continually finds variations for Buster to come out on the short end. He slashes the price of his gas so low that no one wants to buy his 'cheap brand'. His gas hose is either to short to reach the vehicles or so long that it trips him up. When the girl arrives Buster is so intent at cleaning her car (and creating a small dust storm in the process) that he forgets to fill up her tank. Even his poor little shack comes out on the wrong end when the two rivals play a game of warm up and baseballs start to dismantle it's foundation. The baseball game itself quickly degenerates into a series of blackout gags worthy of a Tex Avery cartoon. The rules of fair play are tossed out with the kitchen sink as umps are beaned, bases are moved and bats and balls explode. For years Keaton created the gags for the annual Hollywood charity baseball games and now he had an opportunity to commit those outlandish gags to film. It's nice to be in control.

Although, the film suffers slightly from a lack of production values, this film with Buster running a gas station in the middle of the desert is pretty good.

There are elements of the old Keaton in this one. When competition arrives from Harold Goodwin, who opens up a more modern gas station across from Buster's the problems just elevate until the baseball game conclusion.

In the 1930s, Joe E. Brown must have made a zillion baseball comedies as well as other films about sports. So, when I saw Buster Keaton in a baseball comedy, it actually felt a bit weird. Where is Brown?!

The first portion of the film is very slow in developing--and the plot drags a bit. Buster has opened a gas station in the desert and a rival, Jim, opens one right across from him. However, the film really is NOT about this but baseball. The baseball angle begins when a cute lady comes to the station. Each want to impress her with their prowess on the field and so their game on opposing teams takes on a special significance. As for the lady, she seems to like playing them off each other and makes the most of it. And, as for the game, it's a silly mess--filled with a bazillion rule violations.

So is it worth seeing? Well, if you are looking for brilliance like you'll see in Keaton's films of the 1920s, keep looking. However, the film is agreeable and clever--and so much better than the god-awful stuff MGM had him doing in the years before he moved to Educational Films.

By the way, Dewey Robinson makes his second appearance in a row in a Buster Keaton film for this small studio. While his name is probably not familiar, he appeared in well over 200 films and is an easily recognized face for old film buffs.

This is one of the Educational Pictures Buster made in the thirties and is one of the best of the series. Buster is running a petrol station in the middle of nowhere and has various mishaps and competes in a baseball game. The first part of the film is fairly amusing in itself, but the baseball segment of the film is what people will remember. Buster used to run a comedy team himself who would come out before the proper game and entertain the crowd and a lot of the gags here are based on what he did, with exploding baseballs, huge bats, bullets embedded in the bats etc and so this becomes a valuable record of the gags he used perform way back then. If you're a Buster fan (and how can you not be?) this is definitely worth watching.