The traditional knowledge about Buster Keaton's career is that he threw it away once he signed the contract with MGM. That's possibly true. Maybe his talkies flopped big time back in the 1930s. But the three I watched tonight told a totally different story. Keaton completely retained his comic talent in the early days of the talkies. Not only does he utilize his marvelous physical prowess in these films, but he shows an enormous ear for comic timing with dialogue. As I said, tonight I watched three of them, What, No Beer?, Sidewalks of New York, and The Passionate Plumber. The Passionate Plumber was the best of the three by far, and, in my opinion, Keaton was only better in Sherlock Jr. Add to the mix a hilarious Jimmy Durante, beautiful Irene Purcell, and firey Mona Maris and you've got one of the best comedies of the 1930s. Of all times, really. It's a shame, a real shame that I am only the tenth person on imdb to vote for the film, and that it is not on video. God, I wish I had looked ahead on the TV schedule and taped it! 10/10.
Review of The Passionate Plumber
