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) (as Charles W. Bell), 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:

slapstick | wife | train crashes into car | sister | train | 

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Taglines:

A dozen maidens waiting for his cave-man wooing- and Buster hadn't ever kissed a girl! (Print Ad- Nassau Daily Review, ((Freeport NY)) 12 June 1931)

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Buster Keaton's third talking picture at MGM.

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Goofs

After Reggie throws the gun through the closed hotel window, he opens it and looks straight down to see the policeman on the sidewalk who picked up the gun. The view of the sidewalk is unobstructed. A moment later, Reggie climbs out the same window onto a fire escape that was not there in the previous view.

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Quotes

Angelica Embrey: I'm sorry, Bertie, but I've decided that I can't marry you.
Bertie: Oh, but why? Uh, why the sudden change? I mean to say, dash it.
Angelica Embrey: You don't come up to specifications.
Bertie: Specifications? Uuh, what am I, a horse or a silly ass?
Angelica Embrey: Oh, well I wouldn't say that you were silly.
Bertie: But my dear, you know, you can't judge a husband in a bathing suit.
Angelica Embrey: No, but you can get a rough idea.
Bertie: Ooh.

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Connections

Featured in So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM (2004)

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Soundtracks

Step On It
(uncredited)
Music by Mel Kaufman

User Reviews

Better than expected

Reading the other reviews and the lack of comments, I wasn't looking forward to watching this, but it was the only film I hadn't watched on a 3-DVD set of Keaton films that I've owned for some time. The set has 3 of Buster's talkies and I was more familiar with his silent classics. I really did enjoy this, although, as other reviewers said, this starts out kind of slow. It's a decent precode farce about 2 sisters, one engaged to a man who wants to get married ASAP (she won't marry before her older sister so she won't be known as an 'old maid'), and her older sister who is attracted to bad boys.

Buster Keaton starts out nailing up signs on 'telegraph' poles and fences and while distracted watching the older sister on the diving board of the pool at Keaton's actual home, walks in front of a moving car and is hit. Keaton plays a timid, girl shy character (the kind of role that MGM often put him in, which was nothing like him in real life, judging from the number of affairs he was supposedly having around that time) who is supposed to play the part of a ladies' man.

The second half that takes place in a hotel is much better than the slower first half. This is where Buster goes from being almost scared of women to being sexually aggressive within a few hours. It's during this part of the movie where Buster gets to show off some of his physical comedy that he's probably best known for, although I think Buster was better off at showing absurd situations - and this movie is pretty much just that.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

Parlor Bedroom and Bath

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, 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:

1.20 : 1