Pardon My Berth Marks (1940)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

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:

Reporter | Train | Racketeer | Parrot | Gangster

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

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:

Remade as Rolling Down to Reno (1947)

Watchable, but just barely...

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the great Buster Keaton was out of work and in desperate need for money so he made a string of forgettable short films for Columbia Pictures. Although he was a comic genius during the silent era, his career in sound movies was mostly horrible due to the industry's unwillingness to simply let him do what he did best and they insisted in trying to force him into uncomfortable molds that just didn't work. Sadly, because Keaton was lousy with money, he was so hard up for cash and unwilling to balk with the studios that he made some dreadful film and TV appearances that probably made him ashamed to look in the mirror. This is a stark contrast to Chaplin and Lloyd who made far fewer sound films but chose them much better. Plus, they knew when to walk away and retain much of their dignity. This is particularly true of Harold Lloyd, who never would have appeared in American-International movies such as BEACH BLANKET BINGO or a particularly wretched episode of "The Twilight Zone" like Keaton did.

As for the Columbia shorts, they were directed and produced by Jules White who was also responsible for the Three Stooges shorts. This is very, very obvious when you watch the Keaton shorts as the plots look indiscernible from the Stooges' films--with the same gags, sound effects and style. In fact, in some cases, Keaton does the same plots the Stooges had first done and this isn't surprising. That's because Columbia OFTEN repeated plots and many of the Stooges' later shorts for the studio are remakes of their earlier films! While Stooges die-hards might excuse this and think ALL of their films are gems, this is definitely NOT true--the remakes are definite duds. As for Keaton fans (and I am definitely one--having seen more of his silent films than practically anyone on the planet), they will also usually admit that his sound films were pretty poor and the Columbia films were at best passable entertainment. Plus, the Stooges' style is a horrible thing to try to fit the great Keaton into. It's akin to putting Greta Garbo in a Marx Brothers film!!!

In this film, Buster plays a guy who has been copy boy at a newspaper for ten years because he's a total idiot. In the scenes at the paper, he breaks things and is generally unfunny. Why they would even keep him on as a copy boy is hard to believe. However, despite being an idiot, he gets his big break because a big story is about to break and none of the reporters are available. So the boss reluctantly sends Buster on assignment. He's to get an interview with Mary Crissman (the name might just be one of the funnier things about the movie, sadly enough). But in the process he breaks things and makes a total nuisance of himself. Eventually, he is able to both get an interview with her AND capture her gangster husband and is a hero. Everyone seems to forget that he's an idiot.

What bothered me most about this film is that Buster plays a moron--not a bumbler, but more like an idiot who somehow gets lucky at the end. There is a fine line between a lovable bumbler and a total moron--sadly, his character definitely crossed the line and was annoying. Nothing like the Keaton of yesteryear and not worth watching.