Basic plot here. Buster sees an ad in the paper asking to double as a farm hand and husband. Buster answers ad, gets led to the house by pretty young girl who tells her the address in ad is her's leading Buster to believe said pretty young girl made the ad. He goes to the house only to find out it's the pretty young girl's older and much bigger aunt who places the ad. Buster falls for pretty young girl anyway and slapstick ensues.
That pretty young girl is awfully familiar. The magic of screen credits tell me her name is Dorothea Kent. My memory isn't quite magical enough to know where I heard that name before, though it is familiar. More magic comes back through something called a search engine, and lo and behold, I find out, around the same time that she appeared in HORSES' COLLARS....it's Nell. Yup, one time Stooge actress shows up a few times with Keaton too. One of the joys of watching these old movies is finding all these links.
The film itself is perfectly serviceable for a lower budget Keaton mid 30's short. The great joy is simply watching Keaton act. Check out his body language when he finds out it's the Aunt who wants to marry him and not the niece. A simple thing like this a lesser comedian would overreact, but Keaton being able to convey so much doing so little is a slapstick highlight in and of itself. Again, this is a short not too bogged in dialogue, unlike MGM and Columbia, so one gets the feeling this is closest to how Keaton would make talkies.
The only thing Keaton doesn't have here, of course, is a budget. This is common throughout all the Educational films, but the gags themselves are pretty stock. Dropping dishes and falling through a roof are the order of the day. Not bad at all, but you know Keaton would want the big gag, which is not really here. The falling through the roof stuff tends to be edited shot by shot. I can't help but think a Keaton with more time at his disposal would be able to stage this in a way we can see the action in less shots and more jaw dropping stunt work...think the end where all those gags fall into one shot in the booby trapped house of 'THE HIGH SIGN.' It's for reasons like this I would never use a short like this to introduce anyone to Keaton, and knowing this is a Three Stooges board, I feel the need to mention this. Still, if you're a fan like me who has seen the silents a zillion times and likes low budget 30's comedy shorts, no reason not to enjoy this. The ghost gag towards the end is a pleasant ending to another pleasant short.
