Speak Easily (1932)

Director:

Edward Sedgwick

Writers:

Laurence E. Johnson (dialogue continuity)
Clarence Budington Kelland (story)

Release Date:

13 August 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Naive, bookish Professor Post (of Potts College) inherits a huge amount of money and decides that now he can afford to go out and enjoy life...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Broadway New York City | Inheritance | Beautiful Woman | Title Spoken By Character

Cast

Buster Keaton	...	Professor Timoleon Zanders Post
Jimmy Durante	...	James 'Jimmy' Dodge
Ruth Selwyn	...	Pansy Peets
Thelma Todd	...	Eleanor Espere
Hedda Hopper	...	Mrs. Peets
William Pawley	...	Griffo
Sidney Toler	...	Stage Director
Lawrence Grant	...	Dr. Bolton
Henry Armetta	...	Tony
Edward Brophy	...	Reno

Runtime:

80 min | USA:82 min (2005 DVD release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Is part of the Public Domain.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Night at the Opera (1935)

Soundtrack:

Singin' in the Rain

Admiring fans with open minds will find much to enjoy here.

While it is true that SPEAK EASILY doesn't hold a candle to the genius of Keaton's best films, neither is it worthless as some have suggested. Outside pressures (namely MGM and his deteriorating family life) held Keaton back from performing at the inspired level he might have. SPEAK EASILY's main weakness lies in MGM forcing an uninspired pairing of Keaton with a vaudeville comic like Durante. The tension between Buster's physical comedy (which is never allowed to ignite as it once had) and Durante's verbal punning is something that never really works. Keaton's characters in all of the MGM talkies seem, for lack of a better word, dense. The inherent cleverness that Buster showed in his silent work was totally abandoned. Never again would Buster show the bravado, daring and quickness he was famous for. Instead, he would be shoe-horned by MGM into a series of roles as loser, victim and sap. For all those inherent problems, SPEAK EASILY still contains at least two slapstick sequences that prove Keaton could be just as funny in his talkies as he was in his silent work. The 'drunken seduction' with Thelma Todd's gold-digger is very funny. Miss Todd proves herself not only a fine comedienne, but shows excellent chemistry with Keaton. Also, Buster's utter, and totally inadvertent, destruction of the Broadway play during it's opening night performance is hysterical and features some fine stunt gags. Those looking for the sublime genius of THE GENERAL or SHERLOCK JR. will invariably be disappointed. That 'Buster' was long gone by this point in his career. SPEAK EASILY should be viewed as an enjoyable programmer that kept Buster working, if not at his peak, still as a capable gag man and entertainer. Admiring fans with an open mind will find much to enjoy here