The Invader

Old Spanish Custom, An (1935)

BOMB (out of 4)

Extremely cheap British film about a stupid American (Buster Keaton) who flirts with another man's wife and then must do a Spanish custom by challenging him to a duel. This is an extremely bad film on all levels from the cheap production to the horrid direction to the screenplay, which really only allows Keaton to have water thrown on him. There's not a single laugh to be found but there's plenty of tears having to see Keaton doing stuff like this.

You can find this film on the Buster Keaton Laughsmith set.

The Invader is practically a silent movie, and most of the dialogue could have been taken care of with a few well-placed title cards like in the olden days. For the first twenty minutes of the movie, the leading man doesn't even talk. Finally, when Buster Keaton opens his mouth, he stammers over the word "Senorita" when trying to speak Spanish to Lupita Tovar. It turns out she speaks English, so he doesn't have to worry for the rest of the movie. He does try to woo Lupita by singing, but his rival throws things at him until he stops, pouts, and stalks off the screen with his guitar under his arm.

Let's face it, there's no reason you'd rent this movie unless you're a die-hard Buster Keaton fan and want to watch all his movies. If you've accidentally stumbled upon this movie and haven't seen much or any of him, don't bother with this one. It's not very good, and even if you love Buster-which I absolutely do-you're better off watching something better.

The only reason why I'm giving this practically forgotten low-budget film 6 out of 10 stars is that it is historically very interesting and important for Keaton completists. It's a fairly artful example of BK and his drunk mid-30s worst work BUT he also clearly managed to get a lot of input into gags, and the basic premise - a version of Spite Marriage (wrong guy gets married to girl to make bad guy jealous) - reminds us of previous and better fleshed-out MGM era films.

Note that Keaton re-made (or had it remade) this film as a short at Columbia years later, a 16-minute distillation that services the admittedly thin plot better. Seeing the same gags in different context is often illustrative of how they were thought up. Here producer Sam Spiegel tries to cash in on Keaton's fame, and actually hired German DP Eugen Schüfftan, who had worked with Pabst, Wilder, Carne, and other very expressionistic directors earlier in his career. This low-budget film actually tries to look much better than it can ever hope to.

I recommend seeing this film on the recent Laughsmith's INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH KEATON DVD, which has a knowing commentary telling us the behind-the-scenes stories of the film.

Keaton had a nervous breakdown about two months before this British made movie had a release in a few theaters in the U. S. as "As Old Spanish Custom." Nobody even bothered to review it.

Keaton sparkles in the film's many gags, but the film, at least the 50 minute version on the Internet Archive and Youtube, does not have enough time to develop thematically.

Lupitar Tovar (Dracula - Spanish Version - 1931) gives a nice performance as the object of Buster's affection/desire.

Even at this low point in his life, Keaton still had all his acrobatic skills and continued to be a master of slap-stick gag construction. Definitely worth seeing for Keaton fans.

Very poor effort from Buster Keaton, who looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. The premise does offer some comic possibilities (Buster used as a patsy by a pair of lovers in a plan to get rid of the woman's husband), but there is more music than comedy (barely any comedy, really), and the production values / sound / image are atrocious. The only redeeming element is that Lupita Tovar (who lived to be 106!) is pretty hot, especially in some shots with wet hair and her bare back exposed. *1/2 out of 4.