Vernon Dent. Johnny Kascier. Dorothea Kent. Al Thompson. Dick Curtis. Director Charles Lamont. Stooge fans, plenty of links here. Green Canaries should be in Heaven.
Again, another one of these films where if you're new to Buster Keaton, I would not show you this one. However, I see no reason not to get at least some level of joy watching Keaton and a bunch of familiar supporting players work their way through a few days worth of shooting a script if you're a long time fan. This film is short, sweet, and there's nothing that drags on forever like the worst of the MGM films, so yeah, a nice way to spend 15 minutes or so on a Saturday morning.
When I say there's nothing that drags on, I mean it, but there's nothing that stands out either. Very episodic in nature, this short involves Keaton being an incompetent sailor who gets under the skin of his superior, played by Vernon Dent, and also eventually compete for the same girl, played by Dorothea Kent, who acts just slightly more mature than her age here than she has in past films we saw her in. It's fun watching her, Buster and Vernon go from one scene to another, and I enjoy the way she tells Buster later on flat out she's flirting with him.
Buster himself again has very few lines and is a silent comedian in a talking film. We see a few dives into the water, Buster about face enough where he does so over 9000 times and digs a hole in the ground, climb the top of a mast the way he does in SPITE MARRIAGE, and get stranded in the back of a line similar to the way he does in THE GOAT. The gags aren't as fleshed out as they are in the silent films, and you know damn well Buster, like in most of these Educational shorts, wishes he had more time and budget to do something elaborate. Still, talent shows through even in less than ideal circumstances, and the joy of this one is just watching all the familiar faces. Another of what I like to call a comfort food short.
