jcT H 310

30th Nov 2017

A Short Review of The Best Feature That Buster Keaton acted in MGM

On the last Thursday in November 2017, Instructor Tim Halloran, holding the representative of Buster Keaton Features, announced: "The movie that playing tonight is Buster Keaton's personal favorite feature in MGM company." What made Buster Keaton like this feature? What is the story? Will it be another feature that disappoints me as his previous film, Parlor, Bedroom, and Bath? With these questions in my head, I watched the black and white talking feature, Speak Easily. From what I have seen, it's true that Speak Easily is the best Keaton's work in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Company. The film was directed by Edward Sedgwick in 1932. It is a good film work with a much better script and characterization than Parlor, Bedroom, and Bath. In the technology level, Speak Easily also applied better, advanced editing skills than most of Keaton’s- MGM - features.

The characterization in Speak Easily is better than Parlor, Bedroom, Bath, a film is overloaded and has terrible characterizations. In some instances, Keaton in Speak Easily is a college “geek” professor. The protagonist has his own silly moments, but he knows what he wants. That makes the role real. For example, Keaton’s role is a pushover. He always follows other people’s tricks. Especial, Keaton was fooling around with the play director and the actress that he met in New York City. He always pays for other people’s demands. However, Keaton in Speak Easily knows what he wants. He knows how to behave to face his girl, and he knows history… He is not a fool such as his previous role in Parlor, Bedroom, Bath. Keaton’s role in Parlor, Bedroom, Bath is a complete fool. For example, at the end of the movie, Keaton had to kiss five or six women in ridiculous, embarrassed, and awkward ways.

Besides the better characterization, Speak Easily has better, advanced editing skills than most of Keaton’s- MGM - features. For instance, When the scene that the play director knows he is going to New York, he sings with big silly smiles. The editor used the song as the transition to combine the New York scene smoothly. The design of the continuity is just perfect.

Moreover, unlike Parlor, Bedroom, Bath, I found the editor who worked in Speak Easily, seldom used jump cut. Besides the good combination of hard cuts, the editor also used dissolve and fade out editing skills. The editor made Speak Easily standing out from the Keaton’s MGM features.

Over of all, Speak Easily is the best feature that Buster Keaton acted in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Company. No wonder Keaton said Speak Easily is his favorite film in MGM.