Topic: General Nuisance (1941) - Buster Keaton

[Paul Pain]

Watch GENERAL NUISANCE in the box above.

GENERAL NUISANCE is what we call serviceable.  This one often gets praised and lambasted for it combines Keaton's style of humor with all the insidious behaviors of the Elmer character.  As a short, it stands well in its own right.

The plot is simple: Buster is rich playboy who sees two army nurses and joins the army to woo one of them.  What follows is Buster taking beating after beating.  We see first the army doctor routine later used by the Three Stooges in RHYTHM AND WEEP which was discussed here, and that is followed by a rehash of the loving cup scene from HALF-SHOT SHOOTERS. 

Buster has some moments such as in the scene where he's trying to injure himself, but I can't get past how much I unutterably detest Elsie Ames' voice.  The woman could break glass by talking.  Some of the supporting cast do a fine job in their own right, though.

It's an OK short, but there is nothing memorable and there are lots of frustrating moments.

7/10

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

First things first:  Monte Collins is obviously post-nose job here, noticeably so.  It must have been Jules White who said to him " Monte, the only funny thing about you was your nose, and you went and cut it off!"  An unfair comment, IMHO, but he certainly does look more generic here.
     It's hard to fault this, everybody's working so hard.  I have never been a fan of the stooges' "take your clothes off" bit,  and though this one is more elaborate, it doesn't kill me either.  This one is a couple of years earlier, so I'm assuming that it's Bruckman's work, and that the even lamer stooge ending was due to Curly's weakened health.
     The traction bit is obviously from County Hospital, and it's O K, again more elaborate but not funnier.  I almost feel ungrateful for not loving it, since so much work went into it.  Again, Laurel and Hardy and Billy Gilbert have much more compelling distress calls than Buster, and County Hospital has all three distress calls on full display.  And Billy Gilbert hanging out the window adds a thrill of danger, which this one doesn't have.
     I had never encountered Elsie Ames before we started reviewing these Buster shorts, and I guess I'm lucky that her voice doesn't annoy me like it does Paul Pain ( she just sounds like Martha Raye to me ), but speaking about working hard, she's killing herself for slapstick, and it's obvious that she and Buster are born to play acrobatic comedy together.  I think it was obvious to Buster, too.  It would be more accurate to call her features set-pieces than just bits, and they are certainly highlights of the shorts I've seen.  Too bad Buster chose to talk his way through their song - we know from Pest From The West that he could carry a tune.
     Dorothy Appleby comes off very well in these shorts: she's very attractive, strikes the right attitudes for a woman trying to deal with Buster, and even takes a share of slapstick lumps, not like Elsie, of course, but in there pitching and not positioning herself above the fray at all.  And to me she seems less petite in these than she does in the stooge shorts, even though in the stooge shorts she was surrounded by people even smaller than Buster.  I don't know why that is, I'll just chalk it up to movie magic.
     I can only hope at this point that my perspicacity is equal to my verbosity.

[Paul Pain]

I decided to modify my rating.  As the Big Chief says above, everyone is giving it their all... it's just written poorly.  I'm glad somebody can forgive Elsie Ames' voice as disliking her will get you banned on many Keaton forums.  She could take a fall better than maybe any other Keaton co-star I've seen.  That said, the scene with her dumping Buster into the trash pit is one I rewind and watch 4-10 times while viewing this short.

[Umbrella Sam]

This one’s alright. I have to agree that there is obvious effort in it despite the shoddy writing, though unlike HIS EX MARKS THE SPOT, the plot isn’t totally intolerable. Ames’ voice doesn’t really bother me either; my problem with her in HIS EX MARKS THE SPOT was more with her laugh than the actual voice itself, and she does have some standout bits, like her own variation on Keaton’s “putting the woman to bed” routine from SPITE MARRIAGE or the dance she does with Buster.

Other gags I like are when Keaton attempts to crash into a truck as well as falling out of the car. I have to agree with Big Chief on the reused COUNTY HOSPITAL bit, especially since I think they’re using a stunt double for Keaton here.

Sad that they kind of wasted Bud Jamison here. His one reaction is funny, but I do wish we could have seen more of him as Keaton’s superior. Monte Collins is alright, though he basically disappears after his introduction scene.

Decent effort, though Keaton has done a better army plot before.

7 out of 10

[metaldams]

First off, the undressing scene, later done in RHYTHM AND WEEP, was not first done here, but initially done in Keaton's own MGM feature, DOUGHBOYS.

http://moronika.com/forums/index.php?topic=5923.0

Never one of my favorite routines no matter where it's done, though passable and it's good enough here.  Keaton gets more high mileage in DOUGHBOYS but the most fascinating thing here is Keaton shooing off Collins in the corners, using very Harry Langdon like stomping and slapping gestures in the process.  I wonder if Jules told him to do that, doesn't seem like the kind of thing Keaton would do on his own.

Big Chief pretty much nails it that the players are working their asses off in this short.  The loving cup scene has that musical number with Elsie Ames, there's the aforementioned undressing scene, there's the broken leg scene similar to COUNTY HOSPITAL, there's the excellent scene where Keaton tries to hurt himself so he can land in the hospital to be with Nurse Appleby. 

To keep it simple, this short is very basic plot wise, but instead contains a few stand out scenes that are tied together.  Some dance, some music, some slapstick....almost, if not quite the variety show atmosphere of GENTS WITHOUT CENTS and RHYTHM AND WEEP.  Just 15 minutes of old pros working hard for some laughs....nothing wrong with that.  If anything, I find it endearing.

Yeah, agreed Elsie Ames sounds like Martha Raye, though I never thought about that until now.  Elsie could obviously take intense slapstick better and Martha Raye was more talented in every other area.

[metaldams]

I just watched the commentary on the DVD, Ed Watz makes the same Langdon and Jules White observation.  I swear I haven't watched that commentary in years until now.    Crazy coincidence.

[Dr. Mabuse]

Partial reworking of Keaton's "Doughboys" has its moments, but Elsie Ames really gets on my nerves this time around.  If Buster had seen the "General Nuisance" poster, he would have cringed at the term "Screaming Farce Comedy."

6/10

[Kopfy2013]

Basic short. Liked the commentary.   Not sure there was much humor.  My only laugh was when Buster picked up his leg so he could konk the butcher on the head.... also the wheelbarrow off the cliff was a surprise.

I thought the supporting players did a great job.  Elsie Ames - man did she abuse her body for laughs ...

Dorothy Appleby - looked great and played her part well.  Shout out to Jamison in his brief appearance.  Cy Schindell also did great.

I am a Buster Keaton novice and I think this is only the second short I have seen of him.  I will be watching more in the near future.

I give this a 6 - above average - and will grade other shorts off of this.