Pest from the West (1939)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Del Lord

Writer:

Clyde Bruckman (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

16 June 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

A millionaire vacationing in Mexico falls for a local girl and sets out to win her.

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Millionaire | Yacht | Remake | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Buster Keaton	...	Sir
Lorna Gray	...	Senorita
Gino Corrado	...	Martino
Richard Fiske	...	Ferdinand the Bullfighter
Bud Jamison	...	Neighbor taking siesta
Eddie Laughton	...	Deckhand
Ned Glass	...	Deckhand
Forbes Murray	...	Butler

Directed by
Del Lord

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Clyde Bruckman		writer
Buster Keaton		uncredited

Produced by
Jules White	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Henry Freulich

Film Editing by
Charles Nelson

Sound Department
Edward Bernds	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Music Department
Charley Chase	....	singing voice
Howard Jackson	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Arthur Morton	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Alfred Newman	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
William Grant Still	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Curly Howard	....	voice-over: Martino's fall into cellar

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (USA)

Runtime:

USA:20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

This was Buster Keaton's first two-reeler for Columbia Pictures.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the opening sequence with Keaton on his yacht, the reflection of the boom mic is visible on the glass window on the cabin door.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987) (TV)

One of Keaton's Worst

Pest from the West (1940)

* (out of 4)

Buster Keaton's first short for Columbia is one of his worst. He plays a millionaire who sails to Mexico where he falls in love with a woman but what he doesn't know is that she has a psychotic boyfriend who will kill anyone. It goes without saying but this is an incredibly horrid short that doesn't feature a single laugh in it. This is a reworked version of Keaton's also horrible The Invader so neither version is really worth viewing. This is an incredibly lazy short as the same gags are used over and over throughout the film. The jokes weren't funny the first time around and they're even worse on the fifth time. These jokes include Keaton falling into the water as well as putting on the wrong outfit for Mexico.