The Scarecrow

Last night I saw a quick short and unsurprisingly for something starring Buster Keaton, I rate it highly: 

Whenever I don't have the time or inclination to watch anything feature length, I should more often what I did last night and check out some sort of short. In this case it was one from Buster Keaton I hadn't seen and the 18 minute length was perfect.

This is set on a tiny farm (which suspiciously looks to be on the outskirts of Los Angeles...) and the two bros who lives there are Keaton and a portly fellow played by Joe Roberts. After various sight gags in the farmhouse, the two feud over another farmer's daughter; as Sybil Seely is cute, it's understandable. Appearance-wise, think 1920's Milana Vayntrub. From there come many laughs involving a terrier dog-played by the real life dog of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, who was to star in this but those infamous legal troubles had already began-and Sybil's dad, played by Keaton's real life father. The pooch was well-trained; I mean, he could even climb a ladder. And yes, there was a gag involving the titular item, not to mention the Keaton hallmark of "a chase on foot".

Come to think of it I need to see more shorts from the likes of Buster, Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, and acts that are less famous in modern times but probably would provide plenty of chuckles from me. This ending on a solid note means that The Scarecrow was very good overall, and-barring those who don't like silents in general-even those without a brain can probably at least like this...