Doughboys (1930)

Buster Keaton proves handily that given the right material he was adapt at sound comedy as he was at silent. While the fact that Keaton survived in film until his death in the late 1960's says that he could earn a living, seeing a film like Doughboys, where he handles both the physical and verbal humor, shows how badly chosen scripts derailed his later career. Honestly had Keaton been able to get better material, he might have remained a huge comedy name until he died.

Doughboys is the story of rich lay about Elmer. He desperately tries to woo the working girl Mary but she'll have none of it. When the president calls for volunteers his chauffeur runs off. Looking to hire another one, Elmer goes in the wrong door and finds he's signed up with the army. Struggling to get along, Elmer finds that Mary has signed up as part of the USO and is proud of what Elmer has done. Complications arise when Elmer's Sargent, who doesn't like Elmer much, takes a shine to Mary.

I laughed a great deal at this bit of nonsense.

I really think this film works. Actually to me it works better than many other comedies from the period. Take for example some of the Wheeler and Woolsey films. Sure the word play is funny with W&W, but the films themselves feel creaky and stilted because of how they were filmed. There isn't much motion. People stand around and talk as if they are in a play. They are static to the point that they don't hold up as well as Doughboys does.

Doughboys has a sense of place, of motion. We are not on a set but in a place. You have characters beyond Keaton.

It also has some really good sequences. I love the musical interlude on the ship to France; Keaton leading his men between the tent ropes; the Sargent describing in grizzly detail how to kill a man; the sequence of Keaton trudging through the mud, and the dance number with Keaton in drag... and on and on. Sure we've seen variations on many of the jokes, but damn if they don't work well here.

I had always been curious as to what Keaton might have done ala Chaplin's Soldier Arms, and here was my opportunity.

To me the only real flaw of the film is how the film winds down to a conclusion. I don't think it really works. To me it's more the result of having to end it rather than having an ending.

Recently released by the Warner Archive Collection, I think its worth tracking down.