Three on a Limb (1936)

Director:

Charles Lamont

Writer:

Vernon Smith

Stars:

Buster Keaton, Lona Andre, Harold Goodwin

Cast

Cast overview:
Buster Keaton	...	Elmer Brown
Lona Andre	...	Molly
Harold Goodwin	...	Homer the Cop
Grant Withers	...	Oscar
Barbara Bedford	...	Addie
John Ince	...	Molly's father
Fern Emmett	...	Molly's Mother
Phyllis Crane	...	Molly's Friend the Car-Hop

Storyline

---

Genres:

Comedy | Short

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 January 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tre su un ramo

Company Credits

Production Co:

E.W. Hammons Production, Educational Films Corporation of America

Technical Specs

Runtime:

18 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

A Minute Less than a Classic

I always wondered what would have happened if in the 1930s, someone had given Keaton a 16mm camera with plenty of film and told him to use his imagination and make movies with no particular budget. Turns out, he practically did just this by making films for the "Educational" movie company. Most of these little films are quite enjoyable; they just don't have the budget for any beauty, special Keaton effects, or no-holds-barred creativity. "Three on a Limb" is a good example. The action is a little subdued for a while, but when the pace quickens, it is really very, very funny. And Keaton leaps and falls and climbs and gets cast around like he was a teenager. The only disappointment is that often these movies seem to run out of film before he was able to improvise around enough to find the right final joke to a sequence, and in this case the dénouement appears without giving us the climax, so the expected Big Laugh doesn't arrive.