Io... e l'amore

After talking pictures came out, there was a brief experiment with sound, which would logically make sense, but to illogical movie audiences didn't catch on. There are a few movies out there that attempted to ease audiences into talking pictures by creating a silent movie with sound effects, like applause, laughter, crashes, honking horns, etc. The change from silents to talkies was overwhelming, and audiences wanted it all! Why am I giving you this history lesson? Because Spite Marriage, Buster Keaton's last silent film, was a silent picture with sound.

In this one, he plays a hapless Romeo, devoted to stage actress Dorothy Sebastian. He sees her every performance and brings her bouquets of roses. The only trouble is Dorothy's in love with her costar; but when he marries someone else, she gets even by marrying Buster out of spite. The story jumps around quite a bit, so you might think you're seeing three movies in one. The first part of the film takes place in the theater, in the second part, Buster falls in with a crowd of gangsters, and in the final third, Buster and Dorothy are the only survivors on a sinking ship. While it might seem random, you won't have time to question it because you'll be mesmerized by Buster's incredible stunt work. He hangs from a rope on the mast, repeatedly gets thrown overboard only to catch himself on the boom and leap back on deck, and even falls into the sail and has to pull himself back up. Dorothy is a real trouper, participating in many of his stunts and gags, including the famous bedroom skit, recreated later by Buster and his wife onstage and by Donald O'Connor and Ann Blythe in The Buster Keaton Story. This movie feels like a very fond farewell to Buster Keaton's silent pictures, with all the elements of his famous films thrown together: a lovesick hero, dangerous stunts, funny gags, and a ship. Really the only thing missing is a train, but you can find one in almost every other of his movies.

The story isn't much, but Buster packs every scene with so many gags that you don't mind. It's easy to see why he was so successful, until MGM stuck him with stories that were totally unsuitable.

The original score is fantastic, here - it includes a great deal of popular music and makes commentary on the situations, but the meaning will be lost on most modern viewers (I collect records from that period, so I recognize most all of it); even so, it moves the action right along and gives us a rare chance to experience a silent film just as it was presented to contemporary audiences. No cheesy piano accompaniment, here! The sound effects are well done, and used sparingly.

The shipboard scenes could have been trimmed a bit; they seem to drag. Otherwise, time flies during this movie - you won't regret watching it! Just compare it with the average sound 'comedy' which Hollywood produced until 1932 or so, and you'll realize how they lost the art of making good films for a while. It's a crime that Keaton wasn't given the chance to produce his own talkies, because he might have changed the whole concept of what made a good SOUND comedy! It's a wonder that audiences didn't rebel against the boring, static, yawnful talk-fests that early sound comedies became; maybe the novelty of Talkies really WAS enough to bring them into the theaters.

I'd haven given this a 10, except for the draggy ship scenes - but the ending is satisfyingly Keatonesque!

This film is certainly not Buster Keaton's best work, though that's a very high bar. The plot meanders and lacks the charm and spontaneity we love from him. It too often relies on simple pratfalls, and there is not enough time devoted to his playful antics or wild stunts. The middle of the picture in particular is slow, and co-star Dorothy Sebastian acting drunk shows just how hard it is to do physical comedy that is sophisticated and funny, or to create something out of nothing, as Keaton so often does.

With all of that said, 'Spite Marriage' has a 34-year-old Buster Keaton still in his prime, and some pretty clever scenes. He gets enlisted into a stage play in the first part, and after botching up his make-up while another actor puts his on professionally, proceeds to foul up the production in various funny ways. As he tries to elude those chasing him afterwards, he does a rapid change into a top hat and tails that is both entertaining and shows off his muscular body. Later in the film, he does some impressive stuntwork on a yacht, at one point getting thrown off, and then as the yacht goes by quickly, catches a small boat trailing behind and hauls himself into it. Throughout the movie, he's lovable and a joy to watch. This was Keaton's last silent picture, and as the 1930's would not be kind to him, it marks a transition for him. If you can avoid comparing it to his masterpieces (which I know is tough!), you'll probably find it's well worth watching.

Buster Keaton's last silent comedy was a change of pace from his earlier, independent features, lacking many of his distinctive idiosyncrasies but adding a refreshingly modern love interest with determined, temperamental actress Trilby Drew (Dorothy Sebastian), who unlike most silent film heroines gets angry, gets drunk, and throws a few well-timed temper tantrums. Because it's a corporate comedy from the MGM assembly line the film can be a bit plot-heavy at times, but even so allows room for some now classic routines: a Civil War stage melodrama sabotaged by Buster's accident-prone performance; Buster attempting to put his dead-drunk bride to bed; and a heroic chase and rescue aboard an underworld yacht. If Keaton was now performing gags that might have been suited to anyone (many seem Chaplin-inspired), at least he was doing so with his usual grace and deadpan precision, and the film highlighted a more confidant, aggressive side to his personality rarely seen in his earlier films.

This isn't bad at all, as long as you don't hold it up to the standard that Keaton set in the features he made on his own. It has some very good sequences that make up for the more routine stretches, and it shows enough of Buster's comic genius to be worthwhile. Even when the gags are not especially creative, he gets as much mileage out of them as anyone could have.

The premise of the "Spite Marriage" is rather flimsy at best, and in other hands it probably would not have been even this good. It actually starts out pretty well, as the first part moves at a good pace, and includes a very good sequence with Buster's hapless character trying to take part in a play. It begins to peter out in the middle, though, as the premise begins to wear thin. For some reason, the bedroom sequence from this portion seems to be the best-remembered portion of the movie, but it really isn't one of the better parts of the film at all. But things pick up again in the last part, when the story takes a couple of unexpected turns, and the comedy also improves.

To be sure, it is a shame that Keaton was forced into the studio mold in pictures like this. It worked for many, but not for a unique talent like Buster. Still, at least this time the result is a generally entertaining movie with more than enough laughs to make it worth watching for anyone who enjoys silent comedies.