Wow, did this Buster Keaton short for Educational Pictures start off strangely. It had Buster singing--yes, singing! It appeared as if it would be a musical comedy, though after his train left, the singing stopped and it became more of a typical 1930 Keaton comedy. Once in the city, Keaton does what is also typical of one of his 1930s films--he meets a girl. What follows is a nice parody of the Fred Astaire movie "Top Hat"--complete with a scene involving sand and dancing that awakens the lady--just like Astaire did with Ginger Rogers in this other film.
So why is Buster working on tap dancing as well as juggling? Well, he hopes to win a talent contest and become a performer. While a lot of this isn't all that funny, it is nice to see how versatile and physical Keaton still was at this point in his career. In particular, the Russian dance was pretty impressive. But as for him juggling and dancing, the show is a RADIO show! Of course the audience can't see any of this and he makes a mess of things...but it is pretty funny.
Not surprisingly he is a washout and returns home to Arizona. Only on his way does he hear that he actually somehow won the contest...but how, I have no idea.
While I think the current score of 8.1 is way too high, I think it is better than the average film he made from this time period--mostly because the plot was not too important and it just gave him a chance to show off his many skills.
By the way, note the song "Old Kentucky Home", as the lady sings the seldom-heard words--and they are NOT the least bit politically correct! No, they are pretty sure to offend.
So why is Buster working on tap dancing as well as juggling? Well, he hopes to win a talent contest and become a performer. While a lot of this isn't all that funny, it is nice to see how versatile and physical Keaton still was at this point in his career. In particular, the Russian dance was pretty impressive. But as for him juggling and dancing, the show is a RADIO show! Of course the audience can't see any of this and he makes a mess of things...but it is pretty funny.
Not surprisingly he is a washout and returns home to Arizona. Only on his way does he hear that he actually somehow won the contest...but how, I have no idea.
While I think the current score of 8.1 is way too high, I think it is better than the average film he made from this time period--mostly because the plot was not too important and it just gave him a chance to show off his many skills.
By the way, note the song "Old Kentucky Home", as the lady sings the seldom-heard words--and they are NOT the least bit politically correct! No, they are pretty sure to offend.