Pardon My Berth Marks (1940)

Director:

Jules White

Writers:

Clyde Bruckman (story)
Clyde Bruckman (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

Buster, a reporter, takes a train trip and winds up innocently involved with a gangster's wife.

Plot Keywords:

Husband Wife Relationship | 1930s | Pun In Title | Nevada | Escape

Cast

Buster Keaton	...	Elmer - Newspaper Copyboy
Dorothy Appleby	...	Mary Crissman
Vernon Dent	...	Newspaper City Editor
Richard Fiske	...	Ted Crissman - Racketeer
Ned Glass	...	Man in Train Station
Lynton Brent	...	Henchman
Stanley Brown	...	Reporter
Bud Jamison	...	Train Conductor
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson	...	Angry Man in Pullman Berth
Eva McKenzie	...	Ma
Cy Schindell	...	Al Spumoni, mobster
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones	...	Train Porter
John Tyrrell	...	Henchman

Directed by
Jules White

Writing credits
Clyde Bruckman		(story)
Clyde Bruckman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jules White	....	producer

Cinematography by
Benjamin H. Kline

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (1940) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Argentina (1940) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Christiaan van der Ree (1940) (Venezuela) (theatrical)
• Medal Fim Exchange (1940) (Puerto Rico) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Proprietary (1940) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Proprietary (1940) (New Zealand) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films of Malaya (1940) (Malaysia) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures de Cuba (1940) (Cuba) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)

Runtime:

USA:20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Remade as Rolling Down to Reno (1947)

Unpardonable Waste

This being a comedy directed by Jules White, the first thing we establish is that Buster Keaton's character is a half-wit. This is a basic problem with his sound studio pictures. The real Keaton character is not an idiot triumphing over fate by luck, but a dreamer, out of step with the chaotic world, who triumphs -- or sometimes sinks --by stoic perseverance. He learns his lesson in the school of hard knocks.

But this is 1940, not 1927, and Buster is toiling in the Columbia short subjects department, not building features with his hand-picked crew. And he's got Jules White, who thinks that sheer pain frequently applied is the only source of comedy. So there is a constant struggle between Keaton, backed by his co-director from THE GENERAL, Clyde Bruckman, as writer, and Jules White as producer-director.

Unhappily, Jules White wins. People get sat on, people get hit on the forehead by shoes with loud sound effects. But Keaton wins a few battles. He still takes a fall beautifully and he has a nice little sequence trying to undress in an upper berth. So don't expect a classic, but do expect some wonderful little bits.

Just ignore the parrot.