Runtime: 18 minutes
Directed by: Buster Keaton/Edward F. Cline
Starring: Keaton, Joe Roberts, Sybil Seely, Bonnie Hill, Freeman Wood
From: First National Pictures
Buster Keaton once did a short as an FU to someone who insulted his friend! I’ll explain later but this friend in question was… Fatty Arbuckle, and yes in reference to the whole Virginia Rappe thing. It’s upsetting if you don’t know what happened to her and how Arbuckle’s career was ruined despite never being convicted of a crime against her. This was portrayed by fictional characters in Babylon.
Alaska is the setting, presumably in the last years of the 1800’s; it’s the Klondike Gold Rush, as also presented by Chaplin in The Gold Rush. Keaton arrives in a snowy landscape and comes across a gambling hall in town. He attempts a daring robbery but suffers a defenestration. His character is known as The Bad Man and is a coward robber who shoots people from behind, attempts to hook up w/ married women, and other shameful behavior.
The Frozen North was meant as a parody of William S. Hart, often said to be the first cowboy star in cinema. I’ve only seen one of his films & perhaps I’d find this even funnier if I was more familiar. As is, this was still amusing even w/o the added context. The reason why Buster wanted to give Hart the proverbial middle finger: the cowboy star repeatedly bashed Fatty Arbuckle to the press, presuming he was guilty. Apparently, Fatty presented this outline of a story to Buster. I’ve heard differing accounts of how long Hart avoided taking to Keaton after this released, but it was for at least one year and possibly many years.
This is not the best Keaton by any regards; that is more a testament to his legendary career than the quality of this short on its own. I laughed & was entertained; Buster in a snowy landscape was different from the norm. I was also amused that a few gags from The Frozen North were lifted for the 1940 Three Stooges short Rockin’ thru the Rockies. Such things happened back then-and who knows if those gags made their debut on celluloid here or if there were earlier examples-so I am not stating that as a negative.
Buster Keaton fans that are captivated by the thought of him depicting a character exhibiting villainous behavior will be well-served to check this out on YouTube.
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