In this short comedy, Al St. John makes pretty good use of a rare chance to play the lead role. It's also good to see the train from Keaton's "Our Hospitality" get a chance to be used in another 'role'. It was a wonderful prop, and though "The Iron Mule" is not quite up to the standard of Keaton's own features, it's good entertainment in its own right.
The story is simple, with "The Iron Mule" encountering a series of obstacles and disruptions along the way, but some of the gags and gadgets are pretty creative (such as the river crossing segment). It moves at a good pace, and although they could have gotten more mileage out of some of the material, it's entertaining and certainly worth watching.
The story is simple, with "The Iron Mule" encountering a series of obstacles and disruptions along the way, but some of the gags and gadgets are pretty creative (such as the river crossing segment). It moves at a good pace, and although they could have gotten more mileage out of some of the material, it's entertaining and certainly worth watching.