So You Won't Squawk (1941)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Del Lord

Writer:

Elwood Ullman (original screenplay)

Release Date:

21 February 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

The handyman is finishing getting the Island Inn Café ready for opening night: it's a speakeasy, and the owner...

Plot Keywords:

Thug | Restaurant | Mob | Island | Mobster

Cast

Buster Keaton	...	Eddie
Matt McHugh	...	Louie the Wolf's Henchman
Eddie Fetherston	...	Louie the Wolf's Henchman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edmund Cobb	...	Policeman, (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	Bartender, (uncredited)
Bud Jamison	...	Tom, (uncredited)
Hank Mann	...	Bit part (uncredited)

Directed by
Del Lord

Writing credits
Elwood Ullman		(original screenplay)

Produced by
Del Lord	....	producer
Hugh McCollum	....	producer

Cinematography by
Benjamin H. Kline		(as Benjamin Kline)

Film Editing by
Art Seid		(as Arthur Seid)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1941) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)

Runtime:

USA:20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Features She Couldn't Take It (1935)

Probably the best film in the set

This is one of 10 films that are included in the two DVD set "The Buster Keaton Collection". It's a sad set of films Keaton did later in his career with Columbia Pictures and the films bore more resemblance to Three Stooges films than Keaton's classic silents. Of the 10, eight were directed by Jules White--a man who had absolutely no understanding or appreciation of Keaton's subtle humor. As a lady said in the documentary included with the set ("Buster Keaton: From Silents to Shorts"), White's idea of funny was dropping anvils on people's heads! His totally unsubtle and dopey humor made all the films he directed with Keaton a chore to watch at times--especially with the silly Stooge sound effects and timing. Fortunately, however Del Lord (another Stooges director) was at the helm in this film and the results were significantly better. Additionally, Elsie Ames (a very untalented and obnoxious lead in many of these Keaton films) was also not in the short--making it my choice for the best film of the 10!

The film actually had quite a few laughs, as Buster tangles with gangsters who again and again try to kill them. Many of the ways they failed were very clever and showed some imagination. Also, late in the film once Keaton realized the score, he does a funny bit where he deliberately attacks many cops on the way to the final showdown and this also works very well. No serious lulls but no huge belly laughs, it's the best of the 10, so if you don't like this one, don't bother with the rest--they are very, very loud and show little, if any, finesse.