Often overlooked in Buster filmographies and only recently included in the imdb, this is an interesting item in Buster's career. Not quite a film. It's actually one of two pseudo features that British Lion compiled from episodes of Life with Buster, his shot on film TV series, about Buster's misadventures both running a sporting goods shop, and a local theatre company.
The "film" is thus a series self contained skits built round one or other premise. Reputedly Buster didn't enjoy this series, missing the live audience of his previous show. Also Buster found it hard to come up with a half hour's worth of original material each week and in future would do only guest spots. You can sence this difficulty in the variable quality of the sequences here, many of which harken back to Buster's vaudeville days eg an onstage sequence with Buster as an idiotic suitor, one of 3, who come a courting..
Though some of the material is weak, Buster is as always a pro and he does have a few very funny moments, notably a reprise of the piggy bank gag from Cameraman, a fun poster sticking scene, in which Eleanor Keaton makes a brief appearance, and the climactic scene where he attempts to perform the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet and the set falls forward on him just like in Steamboat Bill Jnr.. Eleanor again appears here as Juliet, a nice touch.
5 out of 10
