Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931)

A man tries passing off a socially awkward fellow as a Casanova in the hopes of marrying off his would be sister-in-law.

Director:

Edward Sedgwick

Writers:

C.W. Bell (play), Mark Swan (play),

Stars:

Buster Keaton, Charlotte Greenwood, Reginald Denny

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Buster Keaton	...	Reginald Irving
Charlotte Greenwood	...	Polly Hathaway
Reginald Denny	...	Jeffrey Haywood
Cliff Edwards	...	Bell Hop
Dorothy Christy	...	Angelica Embrey
Joan Peers	...	Nita Leslie
Sally Eilers	...	Virginia Embrey
Natalie Moorhead	...	Leila Crofton
Edward Brophy	...	Detective
Walter Merrill	...	Frederick Leslie
Sidney Bracey	...	Butler (as Sidney Bracy)

Storyline

Jeff wants to get married to Virginia, but Virginia won't marry until her older, hard-to-please sister Angelica gets married off first. Jeff pretends that a shy, never-married nobody he has just met is really a great lover, in order to get Angelica interested in him.

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Plot Keywords:

sister | romantic rivalry | gunfire | gardener | marriage proposal | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

Don Juan i pyjamas

Filming Locations:

Buster Keaton Villa - 1018 Pamela Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A modern source lists Eugene Pallette in the cast. Although he was in the 1920 version, he was not in this film.

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Quotes

Leila Crofton: Well, I should think she'd be able to take one look at you and realize that if you were left alone with a woman... why...
Reginald Irving: We'd both be safe.
[pause]
Reginald Irving: I-I was in a house one time, aaall alone with the most beautiful French maid... and she tried to kiss me. She was baking a pie...
Leila Crofton: And what did you do?
Reginald Irving: ...I ate the pie.

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Connections

Alternate-language version of Buster se marie (1931)

User Reviews

slow to catch on, but worth it

Buster talks! Seeing this 1931 talkie was somewhat of a shock. Sure, Buster stuck around long enough to make plenty of great sound films, but this one is early enough to still have the ambiance of a silent comedy, which it occasionally lapses into. Hearing Buster talk here was almost an unexpected surprise. The film does start off slow with too much time devoted to setting up the plot. However, once the characters arrive in the hotel, the comic action is non-stop. Buster is great, as always, but Charlotte Greenwood almost steals the show as Polly. A great early comedienne, unjustly forgotten and underrated. This film is actually a re-make of an earlier silent, which I would love to track down for comparison.