Das Blassgesicht

I have not seen many Buster Keaton shorts yet, but I think I really like this guy. Where Chaplin makes me smile a lot, Keaton really makes me laugh. With 'The Paleface' I kept laughing from start to finish, a little less in the middle though. In the middle part no one tries to catch Keaton, and that is exactly when he is at his best.

At first he is chased by Indians. They are mad because they are cheated and have to leave their land. They swear to kill the first white man that enters their property and of course Keaton enters, trying to catch a butterfly. When the Indians have caught him the best moments of this short arrive. They tie him to a pole and he lifts the pole from the ground and changes his position from time to time. It's hilarious. Then he befriends the same Indians and he is not chased. I have to admit the short becomes a little less funny here. But soon enough he finds himself into trouble again when they all go to the authorities to claim their land. A new chase, that also includes another Indian tribe, is what follows.

Like I said, the chases and the parts where he is caught are hilarious. Maybe the middle part less funny, that does not make it boring. Overall this short is terrific with a Buster Keaton who makes sure his shorts still work today.

I saw this on KINO Video and I was far from being impressed by the company because the film alternated from running too fast to running too slow---and the soundtrack, as a result, was really annoying. Perhaps it was a defective tape. If you can, you might want to find another brand if it's available.

Now on to the film. It's a silly and fun little film about some irate Indians and how they are about to take out their frustrations on the first White man they see--and it just happens to be Buster. However, after spending a lot of time trying to kill him, he is miraculously saved and the Indians think he's been send by the gods. Buster, being a nice guy, didn't hold any grudges for almost being roasted alive and agrees to help the Indians. It turns out that greedy oil barons are trying to take the land and so Buster leads the Indians on the attack. All in all, not the most important film Keaton ever made, but the sight gags are good and its a brisk little film sure to please anyone willing to watch a silent comedy.

While this is only an average comedy by Keaton's standards, it's still pretty good by most other measures. It does not have the vast wealth of inventive material found in Keaton's best short features, but it has plenty of slapstick and good gags, with some chases thrown in.

The story concerns Buster encountering a tribe of Indians who have been swindled out of their land by an oil company, and who are ready to take it out on the first outsider to enter their village. The Indians are portrayed in an occasionally silly but definitely sympathetic light. The funniest moments probably come in the earliest confrontations between Buster and the Indians.

This one is probably of interest primarily to those who are already Keaton fans, but at that it's pretty good.

Buster inadvertently wanders onto Indian land, chasing butterflies. What he doesn't know is that the tribe has vowed to kill the first white man who shows up, since they have just been cheated out of their land. Buster frustrates every attempt at his demise, including fashioning asbestos underwear so he cannot be burned at the stake. The tribe make him an honorary member, and then he fights to get their land back. When Buster threatens to scalp one of the swindlers, the man offers up his toupee instead.

There are plenty of funny and incredible stunts, which leaves me wondering if there was anything Keaton would not attempt.

After having their land unscrupulously stolen from them by greedy oil sharks, a tribe of Native American Indians vows to kill the next white man who comes into their presence. Said white man turns out to be an unknowing Buster Keaton seeking butterflies for his collection.

This movie is basically a live-action cartoon. It features the type of chase and stunt sequences one more expects from Looney Tunes only here its accomplished in live action via a series of daring stunts and surprisingly well accomplished special effects sequences. These are pulled off much better than I though would be even possible for the time and era.

Overall this short may not be as humorous as many of Keaton's other efforts but it sure doesn't lack in terms of its overall entertainment value due to the above mentioned dangerous stunt sequences that seem more fitting for a cartoon than live action, the best of which involves Buster being thrown over a cliff and creating a makeshift bridge across a gorge.