Neighbors

Being one of Keaton's earliest and most recognised short film, Neighbours is full of passion, fast-paced, frantic and at times even romantically touching. It's innocent, light-hearted and airy, and just about sums up Buster's earliest work, going from slapstick nonsense to refreshing (for the time) character-driven gags that deliver just as well. Sure enough the feature is not without its drawbacks which do hinder the overall pacing and breezy feeling present in the short's best moments. Much like The Balloonatic, the greatest parts here lie in acts one and three, with the middle section giving way to fine moments of zany antics, but with plenty of superfluous additions to boot.

The plot here follows a young man and woman madly in love as they attempt to bring themselves together against their begrudging families. What follows is a piece of hilarious and wild twenty minute entertainment full of laughs and great images. Keaton himself is truly captivating as always, and delivers some of his most inspired and tricky stunts here which do well to thrill and bring up a laugh or two out of the sheer spectacle of what is going on. Throw in a beautiful supporting actress, and a whole host of very vivid personalities backing Buster, plus troublesome trousers, quarrelling families and you have a film that is sure to stick with you, despite its obvious inconsistencies and less successful moments.

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"Neighbors" is a very entertaining Buster Keaton short comedy featuring some hilarious slapstick and some good stunts. It takes place in a tenement complex, with Buster and Virginia Fox playing young lovers who live in buildings separated by a wooden fence. Their families don't like each other, and do what they can to undermine the romance, but without success. It's very funny right from the beginning, with Buster and Virginia slipping love notes through a knothole in the fence, and having them intercepted by one parent after another. There are lots of slapstick antics, and one of the funniest wedding scenes you will see. There are also some good stunts and brief chase scenes - in other words, a little bit of everything that Keaton was known for. It would probably be best appreciated by those who are already fans, but if you enjoy Keaton, don't miss this one.

Neighbors (1920)

*** (out of 4)

Buster Keaton does the Romeo and Juliet storyline as he falls in love with his neighbor but it'll be hard to get married since the families hate one another. There are plenty of good gags here including the human fly swatter gag and the stuff dealing with Keaton trying to avoid the police. Keaton also delivers one of his best stunts and three people on one another's shoulders try and walk from house to house with Keaton being three stories up.

Available on Kino's The Art of Buster Keaton Collection, which is one of the greatest box sets out there.

Buster is in love with his next door neighbor, but her father hates Buster and won't allow them to see each other. As a result, again and again, Buster does a lot of crazy stunts in order to see her--as well as eventually kidnap her so they can elope. The stunts are amazing and this is a very good movie. However, if it weren't for all his better brilliant films, I might have scored this a bit higher. But films such as STEAMBOAT BILL, JR., COPS, OUR HOSPITALITY and THE PLAY HOUSE (among others) are simply better than NEIGHBORS. So, I would recommend you try watching these other films and then come back to it. Still, it's enjoyable and fun.

Really do appreciate all kinds of comedy, though admittedly more so than others (i.e. preferring the witty, sophisticated kind of comedy over the crude type). For me, Buster Keaton was and still is one of the greatest of all comedy geniuses. He was a very daring and athletic performer with brilliant comic timing and one of the very few people alive or dead to make deadpan (hence "The Great Stone Face" nickname), a very acquired taste style usually and how well it has been done has widly varied, look good.

Keaton may have done even better than 'Neighbors', both short and feature films. Not all the pacing is quite there, but the light-hearted charm, daringly athletic stunts and funny gags certainly are and in large quantities for all three. Cannot say anything bad about Keaton either and have little to fault 'Neighbors' even overall, almost everything is done right if just lacking the extra something of his best work that were paced a little more evenly and were even more imaginative.

'Neighbors' is let down solely by some lagging pacing in the middle, where the storytelling does slow down and doesn't feel as eventful. The slightness of the story is betrayed here.

The first and especially third acts however are paced beautifully and despite it sounding routine on paper it is in execution anything but. The early portions are zany and incredibly charming, without feeling too much like set up. The chemistry between Keaton and Virginia Fox is light-hearted and sweet without being sugary. The third act has some truly inventive moments of slapstick and gags, not to mention the to-be-expected bold Keaton stunts.

While the washing line escape from the apartment is a masterful set piece where Keaton's athletic ability is something to behold, it also features one of the most inspired endings of any of Keaton's films. It looks good, if not imaginative perhaps, and all the sight gags work, being never less than very amusing and they are not predictable. The slapstick doesn't become too goofy and doesn't get clumsy or repetitive, and the stunts are wonderfully athletic and bold. 'Neighbors' is beautifully directed too.

Virginia Fox is lovely, her character meatier than in other collaborations with Keaton, and one can see what Keaton sees in her, but Keaton is the star. One envies his physicality and how he is able to do all those difficult stunts and make them look easy, and he also has witty comic timing and is still an unparallelled master at making deadpan interesting and expressive.

Overall, not one of Keaton's best but still great. 9/10