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The Bickering Critics – Anita and George

The Alice Howell Collection # ? “Under New Management” (1915)

The Boss (Gene Rogers) is away, and two male clerks are vying for control of the office, when Gertie the Stenographer (Gertrude Selby) arrives.
The clerks stop fighting and one (Ray Griffith) says, “Say, Gertie, let’s get married.”
Well, Gertie is shocked and offended and quickly rebuffs him.
And at his home the Boss says goodbye to his wife (Alice Howell) and leaves. However, she is suspicious and follows him. He does go to work, but when she walks in on him she finds him (having gotten the 2 clerks out of the way) in a serious moment with Gertie.
Well, offense hardly describes her reaction. She fires her husband and takes over the office – which is now under new management.
Funny and Recommended.

Crazy Ex Girlfriend S-4, E-16 “I Have a Date Tonight” (2019)

Rebecca’s friends meet to decide who she should be with, and Paula (Donna Lynne Champlin) says Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III), Heather (Vella Lovell) says No, it’s got to be Nathaniel (Scott Michael Foster), and Valencia votes for Greg (Skylar Astin).
But they are outmaneuvered by guys who want to turn it into a betting game – winner take all. And they are all taken to task by the weatherman (Danny Jolles). Remember him?
And it all becomes a big production number “Love’s Not a Game”.
Really cute and fun and raises the episode to a Recommendation.
Written by Eric Ehrlich, Directed by Dan Gregor.

Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts # 32 “Love Nest”

Even the very best sunset isn’t much good when your girl chooses that moment to tell you goodbye.
The result? No more interest in women – or anything else.
But he writes her a letter. “Dearest, As you have ended our engagement, I have decided not to marry you. I am leaving to sail around the world so that I will forget you. Yours for the last time, Buster. P.S. If you do not receive this letter write to me.”
Then he uses his tears to seal the envelope. And he sails away on the boat “Cupid”.
And he crosses the path of the whaler “Love Nest” where every sailor’s life hangs by a thread. Because the Captain rewards even minor offenses with execution. He just throws the offender overboard and sails on. And after a demonstration he tells Buster that “You are now my steward.”
The film is imaginative, but not funny as it promised at the beginning. Too much death, so not Recommended.
Written and Directed by Buster Keaton.

Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts # 31 “The Balloonatic”(2015)

Summer – and an afternoon at the amusement park.
Begins with Buster in The House of Trouble – Double Trouble,
a kind of House of Horror where people pay to get frightened out of their wits. Ans Buster is certainly getting the full treatment.
We don’t get to see the inside of the ride, but Buster’s exit from it says worlds and after that The Mill, a ride through a dark cavern (we don’t see the inside) which he takes to be with a lovely girl (Phyllis Haver). And when they exit Bister ha a black eye.
Next up: The Balloon Ride.Buster asks questions and gets good answers, so on up in the ballon, but when it rises out of the park Buster is not in the basket – he is on top of the balloon.
Once Buster is in the air (alone) the basket begins to fall apart.
And he is joined by the lovely young woman from before. None of this will be described by me. Just that they now begin Life in the Air, and it doesn’t last as the adventure continues.
Not a barrel of laughs, but the dangers are sometimes funny and the film is Recommended. It certainly holds your interest!
Written and Directed by Buster and Eddie Cline.

Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts # 30 “The Electric House” (1922)

Graduation Day finds a lovely girl sitting between a nice-looking fellow and Buster, and a sign tells us “The students will finally be able to get out and show the world what they have learned”.
And a rather burly gentleman stands up and announces that he needs a technician to install electricity in his house, and since Buster’s degree is in Electrical Engineering he gets the job.
The home owner drops Buster off at his house and says he and his family are going on vacation. And Buster, whose degree is actually in Botany, decides to give it a whirl. And soon the man and his family return. And surprise! Some of Buster’s ideas are ahead of their time, but most have a big laugh-out-loud element.
Still, everything is going pretty darn well until the real engineer shows up with revenge on his mind, and the laughs come even faster.
This is to me the funniest of Buster’s shorts so far, so of course it’s Recommended.

Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts #29, “Daydreams” (restored and recopy righted 2015).

Buster arrives at his girlfriend’s house and approaches her father, who obviously frightens him. Despite nerves he says, “I’ve come to ask for your daughter’s hand. I love her.”
Father: “Just one question. Will you be able to provide for her?”
“Yes, I think so. And to prove it I’ll work very hard. If I fail I’ll kill myself.”
“Fine, I’ll lend you my revolver.”
He leaves blowing his girl kisses.
A few weeks later his first letter arrives.
“My Dear, I’m in charge of a large sanitorium. I must care for 200 patients and perform operations. Yours truly, Buster.”
She moons a bit over the letter, and then we see a sign:
I expected it and I’m pretty sure you did too.
It’s an animal hospital, and at least the cats and dogs all seem happy. But of course there are problems and some will make you smile.
And his next letter says he has stopped operating and is working at the Stock Exchange.
Then he tries playing Hamlet at a local theatre, but that’s only in his letter. He has a different role in the play (a soldier, no lines).
From there he sweeps streets, among other jobs, and each job has amusing moments.
The film is a little self-conscious, but is still amusing and is Recommended.

Buster Keaton’s Short Subjects # 28, “The Frozen North” (2015)

At the end of the subway line we’re in a small station house surrounded by snow and Buster exits the small building and starts walking around a huge area of snow.
He arrives at what looks like a gambling den, but is actually a dance hall with lots of happy people living it up.
And Buster spots an ad in a window, I guess to keep the snow out. It shows a man with a pistol and Buster uses it to get everyone’s attention by taking it back out side and holding it in the window and yelling “Hands UP!” and firing his own pistol.
And having started out with a bang – literally, the film continues with Buster getting into scrape after scrape and a lot of this is very funny. So Recommended.

Crazy Ex Girlfriend, S-4, E-15 – “I Need to Find My Frenemy,” (2019)

Fun, but confusing. Briefly, Rebecca is again involved with all three men in her life: Josh, Nathaniel, and Greg, except that Josh has declared an intention to never date her again.
And a friend (I think this one is the “frenemy”) has deserted her husband and children and the husband has asked Rebecca to follow her to Vagas and talk her into returning to her family.
And she takes three friends with her – the ones played by Donna Lynne Champlin, Vella Lovell, and Gabrielle Ruiz.
Recommended.
Written by Alden Derck and Aline Brosh McKenna. Directed by Stuart McDonald.

The Alice Howell Collection # 11 “A Convict’s Happy Bride” (1920) – reviewed by George

The burly iceman and his midget helper are delivering ice to Alice, her husband, and their little boy.
All manner of small disasters occur, and finally the midget tells Alice to “Tell that big jellyfish I’m going back to my regular job!”
And her husband is somehow connected to the prison nearby.
Funny, goofy, and Recommended.
The family is played by Alice, Phil Dunham, and Jackie Condon. the iceman by Frank J. Coleman who also turns out to have something to do with that nearby prison.
Directed by Dick Smith (Alice’s husband).

Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts #27 “The Blacksmith” (1922) – reviewed by George

The DVD contains two versions of this short film.
Version A: “Under a spreading chestnut tree The village smithy stands.”
The tree is a couple hundred feet tall and Buster is leaning on it at the bottom. And as the camera pans up we see it’s some kind of palm tree with what just might be coconuts at the top where all the leafy fronds are.
“And the muscles of his brawny arms are strong as iron bands.,”
These words share the screen with a photo of a brawny arm.
“And the children coming home from school look in at the open door.”
The actual blacksmith (Joe Roberts) is truly brawny and good at the job, while the apprentice (Buster) is incompetent and creates a series of disasters, but in the end he actually gets the girl (Virginia Fox). And only because of the ending it gets Recommended.
And now: Version B: Not very interesting except for a long chase where the blacksmith (Joe) is after the apprentice (Buster) with murder in mind after one (or twelve) too many “accidents”. Virginia is in this version too.
Written and Directed by Buster Keaton and Mal. St. Clair.