In the 1920s, Buster Keaton was one of the funniest comics alive. His short and full-length films from this period are true classics and many of the these movies are the equal to the best of Chaplin or Harold Lloyd. But, by the 1930s, Keaton made a HUGE mistake--leaving a friendly studio that allowed him lots of artistic freedom (Paramount) and moving to a prestige studio that, unfortunately, had no knack for comedy (MGM). After pairing him with the most inappropriate comic imaginable (Jimmy Durante--whose humor was all verbal was no match for the physical comedy of Keaton), his screen career spiraled slowly downward. By the time he made "The Misadventures of Buster Keaton" for British Lion Studios in 1950, Keaton's career was near its lowest point. Fortunately for him, television would bring a resurgence in interest in him, as his old films were suddenly being shown to a whole new generation and Keaton was able to carve out a little niche for himself in films. He'd never be the headliner like he was in the 20s, but he was once again popular. So, understand that this film came out just before Keaton had a career resurgence--and it's still from his best.
So is "The Misadventures of Buster Keaton" a good film? No. While it isn't completely terrible, it's NOT the sort of material that made him famous. Much of the physicality of his routine is missing--probably due to his age, as he could no longer do the insane knockabout things he did in his early films. Now this STILL could have worked had the film been better written and the gags been better timed. But too often, funny LITTLE gags were stretched out way, way too long--destroying the joke and making audiences bored as a result. The taffy gag, his putting up posters and the bit about the jealous husband all had promise but just needed LESS--to be done better, faster and with much better timing. To make things MUCH worse, during so much of the film there is a god-awful laugh track. It's too loud and seems completely unrelated to what Keaton and the rest of the cast are doing. In other words, if they breathe, there are JUST as many laughs as when they do something that is actually funny! The overall result is tedious and sad to watch for Keaton fans like myself. Not 100% terrible...but at times, darn close.
