The Scarecrow

Back to the vault of Keaton with the short film: "The Scarecrow" from 1920. As mentioned before, I believe Keaton had no equal. Of course that's my own opinion and there can be arguments til the end of time. But to me Keaton had a simple approach to things that made people awe in wonder and when he has full reign to do what he wants, he can be the most ingenious director out of all them. It's no secret that Buster loved gadgets and he loved to tinker. Almost all his films that he had control over had plenty of gadgets and plenty of tricks to match. Today almost everything with few exceptions is done with CGI. The "how did they do that" feeling that made movies special is missing from the modern acts of cinema. However, back then all they had was a camera and props and it took a creative team to make it work on a short budget. This is no different in the "Scarecrow," which makes it all the more special.

The film starts off with two friends: Buster Keaton and Joe Roberts having breakfast together in a small no bedroom house. What comes next is down right brilliant. Gadgets Galore! It's hard to describe and I don't want to spoil it, but a few things that come into play is that everything is attached to a string and I mean everything! Also they found a way to stick it to the man. The Gas man that is. Now with that masterpiece behind us we discover that they're in love with the same girl played by the beautiful Sybil Seely. But they don't care. As Busters puts it: "How don't care how she votes." They do all they can to impress her but their boss gets annoyed that no work is getting done and forces them back to work and the boss tells the girl who is his daugther to go back home. Later on it seems that Roberts has gained the upper hand as Buster's heart is broken as he sees him and the girl dancing. He walks off and comes across a dog named Luke (who in real life belong to Buster's friend and mentor Roscoe Arbuckle) which leads to a mad dog chase sequence.  At the end the two become allies as his clothes had been ruined which makes him have to wear clothes from a scarecrow. At the end the girl's father (Who's played by Buster's very own father: Joe Keaton) and Roberts team up against Buster as he takes the girl with him on the chase. At the end Buster accidentally asks the girl to marry him and she says yes and they come across a pastor in a way that only Buster can. This film has a certain feel to it. Like a small county fair that's in between seasons of summer and fall. I like that and hope you feel the same way.

Watching this film makes me think that there's nothing wrong with being old fashioned.