Alfred Butler (Buster Keaton) has known nothing but wealth and privilege throughout his life, always coddled and indulged by his household staff. His parents are frustrated about this, and his father suggests a hunting trip in the mountains might toughen Alfred up a bit. Alfred agrees, but bringing along a fully furnished tent with every conceivable comfort most likely wasn't what his folks had in mind. During his expedition, he meets a lovely (and unnamed) young lady (Sally O'Neil) who lives a rustic life in the mountains with her father and brother. Alfred is instantly smitten, to the point of wanting to marry her. Unfortunately, her family is disdainful of Alfred's foppish ways and forbids her marriage to a "weakling."
A pampered millionaire must pose as a boxer to win the hand of the girl he loves in this often-overlooked Buster Keaton comedy. The last time I reviewed one of Keaton's films (The Cameraman), I went into his vaudeville origins and mostly focused on his short films during my standard info dump. After years of working on shorts, working up the ranks from supporting role to star and director, Keaton starred in and wrote The Saphead (1920) for Metro Pictures, his first feature-length film. (He's listed as one of The Saphead's writers in some sources, while others say he only acted in it.) Critics were impressed by his performance, his iconic stone-face imperturbability standing out. However, Keaton stuck with making shorts until 1923, finally transitioning to full-length movies with Three Ages, a parody of D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) which Keaton also directed. Over the next five years, Keaton starred in and directed (or co-directed) nine more features for Metro before his ill-fated move to MGM. The box office success of these movies was inconsistent, but many are deservedly regarded as classics of the Silent Era - Our Hospitality (1923), Sherlock Jr. (1924), Seven Chances (1925), and Go West (1925). Battling Butler, based on a stage musical by Walter L. Rosemont and Ballard MacDonald, is among the more overlooked Keaton films, although it was one of his biggest box office hits. WARNING: here be MAJOR spoilers! Read further at your own risk! Alfred Butler (Buster Keaton) has known nothing but wealth and privilege throughout his life, always coddled and indulged by his household staff. His parents are frustrated about this, and his father suggests a hunting trip in the mountains might toughen Alfred up a bit. Alfred agrees, but bringing along a fully furnished tent with every conceivable comfort most likely wasn't what his folks had in mind. During his expedition, he meets a lovely (and unnamed) young lady (Sally O'Neil) who lives a rustic life in the mountains with her father and brother. Alfred is instantly smitten, to the point of wanting to marry her. Unfortunately, her family is disdainful of Alfred's foppish ways and forbids her marriage to a "weakling." However, while Alfred tries to win the family over, his ever-present valet (Snitz Edwards) sees an article about Alfred "Battling" Butler (Francis McDonald), an obscure boxer, and tells the girl's family that the two Butlers are one and the same. The family falls for it, and Alfred thinks that'll be the end of it. But when "Battling" Butler scores a surprise win in the ring and becomes famous, our hero has to keep up the pretense. Various mistaken identity shenanigans occur, including "Battling" Butler thinking his girlfriend is romancing Alfred. To get even, after the valet explains the situation to the champ, Butler pretends to help Alfred to train for a real-life bout. But when Butler takes his grudge too far, Alfred gets a chance to show just how much about boxing he's learned. I definitely enjoyed this one, in no small part thanks to Keaton's performance. I've previously talked about the difficult balance comedy protagonists have to strike - their characters need to be someone you want to root for and still emphasize with, and yet still laugh at without feeling bad about it. As Alfred Butler, Keaton pulls this off masterfully. The way he pampers himself is certainly worthy of ridicule, but his chemistry with his unnamed love interest and the predicament his valet gets him into makes him sympathetic. Also, Alfred several times throughout the film, wants to tell her the truth, preferring honesty to deception, and various circumstances simply get in his way. Keaton's backed by a solid supporting cast here. Sally O'Neil had a solid career throughout the Silent Era, which unfortunately couldn't survive the shift to talkies, and she acquits herself well here, thanks to her easy chemistry with Buster Keaton. Another standout is Snitz Edwards, one of many popular Broadway actors who transitioned to the big screen, Edwards was a familiar face throughout the Silent Era, including in such classics as The Thief of Bagdad [sic] (1924) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Prior to Battling Butler, Keaton had personally selected Edwards for a juicy supporting role in Seven Chances (1925), and would do so again in College (1927). Edwards's last on-screen role was a small part in The Public Enemy (1931), the film that made Cagney a star. We also have plenty of veteran tough guy types as both the girl's family as well as Butler and his entourage. Unlike Keaton's more stunt-laden movies, Battling Butler tends to focus more on character and story, which is not at all a bad thing. Clocking in at 77 minutes, the film fills the time capably, not feeling rushed or padded out. Cinematographers Bert Haines and J.D. Dennings sometimes get creative with the camera angles and shots, giving it some additional flair. (While Haines exclusively worked on Keaton's feature films, Battling Butler being his second, Dennings was much more experienced behind the camera, his career going all the way back to 1915.) However, I don't want to undersell the humor in this film, as there's certainly plenty of it. The opening scenes earn some laughs out of how ridiculously pampered Alfred is, and a scene of him trying to duck hunt from his boat is good for some chuckles. And as Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Snub Pollard, and many more silent comedians had previously demonstrated, a boxing match has lots of opportunities for physical comedy. Given what good shape Keaton was in (he had to have been to pull off all the amazing stunts he performed), he's remarkably convincing as an utter fop with no athletic ability - another example of how good an actor he was. Battling Butler was released the same year as Keaton's The General, widely considered to be among his best works. However, The General was a disastrous flop, while Battling Butler pulled in a nice-sized profit in spite of mediocre reviews. It was among Keaton's favorites of his own films, and while it isn't considered among his best work, those who have given it a chance have enjoyed it. Martin Scorsese in particular was impressed with this one, particularly the ending where Keaton fights the real Battling Butler, and it partially inspired how he staged the fights for Raging Bull. (Sharing this litte tidbit is the only reason I was willing to reveal as much of the ending as I did.) As for me, like I said, I like this one a lot, and it's a shame it's not as well regarded as some of his other films. If you want to get a hold of it, Kino Classics (a reliable name in quality silent film releases) has issued it a couple of times on DVD and Blu-Ray, usually bundled up with some of Keaton's other works. I'm not in a frantic rush to add it to my collection, but I'll definitely want to see this one again. This is a great silent comedy that really deserves more attention than it's gotten over the years, and it's a nice change of pace for veteran Keaton fans. I'm really glad I saw Battling Butler, and hopefully you will be too if you give it a try.
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