College (R)
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In this silent comedy from 1927, Buster Keaton plays Robert, an excellent student who's in love with the college-bound Mary (Florence Turner), who in turn is in love with the most popular jock in their high school. (Ain't it always the way?) In order to win Mary over, Robert enrolls at her university, and endeavors to become a star athlete himself. His ill-fated turns at various sports--as well as his stints working in restaurants to support himself--provide ample occasion for Keaton's deadpan physical humor. But, of course, the main attraction is Keaton's wonderfully impassive face. Somehow appearing both world-weary and innocently perplexed at the ludicrous situations he finds himself in, Keaton's imperturbable visage communicates better than any dialogue his character's struggle to maintain dignity through sheer force of will. This isn't to say that the intertitles don't often add an extra layer of droll wit themselves. The sequence in which Keaton puts on blackface to pose as a "colored waiter," however, gets uncomfortable mighty fast, especially when he deploys his physical comedy skills to imitate a nerd imitating a black man's strut. Yikes. Still, the scene is no more racist than that black fraternity sequence in Road Trip--which, if you'll remember, came out last year, not three quarters of a century ago. (Derek Nystrom)
Review by Derek Nystrom
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