Directed by Buster Keaton
Starring Buster Keaton, Sally O'Neil and Walter James
Produced by Buster Keaton Productions
Alfred Butler is a well-to-do, but foppish young man. His every need is taken care of thanks to his parents and his loyal servant Martin. Alfred's father decides that his son could stand a toughening up and sends him to live in the wilds for a time. It's up to Martin to "arrange" it.
And arrange it he does. Alfred lives at a campsite that features a full kitchen and a massive tent featuring a brass bed, a bathtub and a bearskin rug. Roughing it indeed.
Alfred tries his hand at hunting. Unfortunately, when he turns right, waterfowl emerge from the bushes behind him. When he turns left, it happens again. The only thing he successfully finds in the woods is love.
A young mountain girl finds Alfred and his valet and takes a liking to the man. She comes over to his cabin for dinner and they are so infatuated with one another, they do not even notice the dinner table sinking into the mud. At the end of the night, the gallant Alfred walks her back to her home, but needs a little help finding his way back.
The next morning, a newspaper is delivered to the camp and Alfred notices a boxer with the name Alfred "Battling" Butler is fighting for the lightweight title. Odd that the man should have the same name as our hero.
Alfred soon dispatches Martin to "arrange" a wedding with the mountain girl. Unfortunately, the father and brother will only marry her off to a real man and they think Alfred is too much of a dandy. The valet then tells them that his employer is really "Battling" Butler the boxer. If our hero Alfred wants the girl, he's going to have to pretend to be a pugilist.
How long can Alfred keep up the charade? And what happens when the real Battling Butler gets wind of our hero's scheme and decides he'd much prefer to let another man take the punches for him?
Here's my quick guide to the Battling Butler: fun set-up, dull payoff, terrible ending.
For the set-up, the movie is ingenious. The site gags and pratfalls come one after the other as Alfred navigates the world of the wilderness. The tent and campsite are one laugh piled on top of another. The fun of his initial hunting attempt, followed by his ill-fated attempt to shoot a duck from a boat go on just long enough. Keaton has this uncanny sense of comic timing and it shines in the early going.
However, once he assumes Battling's identity, the movie falls apart. It's the same joke over and over. There is only so much of Keaton running from a sparring partner in a boxing ring that a man can take. It's tedious and unfunny. Adding to the problems is that a clothed Keaton looks every bit the wimp, but when he's standing in a sleeveless shirt, it's apparent the guy is muscular. One look at him and you know he's not a weakling.
SPOILERS! And the ending? Alfred is preparing to defend Battling's championship when they reveal it was all a ruse to teach Alfred a lesson about assuming another man's identity. Could have ended the film there, but they add a final reason for Battling and Alfred to fight in the dressing room and, after getting pummeled, our milquetoast hero fights back. He knocks Battling to the ground.
I'm with the movie to this point. The last fight is a little contrived, but that's okay. After Alfred knocks the boxer down, he picks him up and hits him again. Down goes Battling. So Alfred picks him up and knocks him down again. There's a brutality and mean streak to these final moments that is both uncharacteristic and makes me hate Alfred. I'm sure that's not what they were going for, but still....
As to the acting, Keaton is Keaton. He plays these well-to-do man-child characters as well as anyone ever did. The only other notable is the always reliable Snitz Edwards as Martin, the servant. He gets some great moments and reaction shots to the insanity that surrounds him.
All in all, Battling Butler is an okay film, ruined for me by its last minute. A good one for Keaton completists, but others can skip it.
**1/2 out of *****
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