Our Hospitality
“Our Hospitality” is one of Buster Keaton’s great, inspired movies. As with all of his best films– “Sherlock Jr.,” “The General,” “The Cameraman” –Keaton followed his own brand of logic to natural and very funny conclusions, and this 1923 film is arguably the best example of that. It tells the story of a young man who is returning to his family home, only to find himself in the house of the family with whom his own family has had a long-standing feud. Along the way he has met a wonderful woman with whom he has fallen deeply in love with, but little does he know that she is the daughter of the patriarch of the family his has long feuded with. However, Southern hospitality dictates that as long as he is a guest of the house, no harm can come to him, so he manages to get himself invited to stay.
This is all there is to the story; wouldn’t it be wonderful is comedy filmmakers would take a lesson from that? When did comedies become so convoluted? The great thing that allows the films of Keaton and Chaplin, the icons of silent comedy along with Harold Lloyd, to remain fresh and enjoyable all these years later is that their makers didn’t feel the need to burden their films with too much story: they had an idea, they worked it out, and they made the movie– later comedy masters such as Billy Wilder and Blake Edwards were similarly effective in this approach.
Part of what makes Keaton’s films so special is the Keaton persona. Known as “The Great Stone Face” for his solemn demeanor in the face of outrageous situations, Keaton doesn’t mug to sell the jokes; he observes situations as they unfold with unyielding compromise, which makes the comedy all the funnier. Despite his seeming detachment, however, Keaton’s characters are unfailingly kind and sweet; even when his Willie McKay in this film understands the dilemma he’s found himself in, he doesn’t judge the Canfield men for their bloodlust, but instead tries to figure out the best way to get himself out of this almost unpredictable scenario. Keaton expressed himself best with actions, not words, which is a big reason why his silent films are among the greatest; without sound, why rely on title cards to get your point across? Nobody wants to read a movie when the pictures are supposed to tell the story.
“Our Hospitality” has some of Keaton’s most ingenious sequences, especially when his character realizes he is in the house of his sworn enemies. Even if it doesn’t have you in stitches with laughter, I dare you to not have a smile on your face when, after dinner, Keaton’s McKay prolongs his stay by any means necessary– not only does Keaton sell it, but the actors playing the Canfield men aid in the enjoyment as we watch them anxiously await their guest’s departure. The ways in which McKay outsmarts the father and his two sons who have their pistols at the constant ready are silly and inspired, like when McKay goes to get a piece of sheet music that has blown onto the porch for the young woman with whom he has fallen for.
For all the narrative sophistication Keaton brought to his movies, what he did best in his body of work was tell a good, old fashioned love story. The films of his that I love best go for the heart while tickling the funny bone, and peg Keaton as a genuine hopeless romantic– something that is rare in modern Hollywood. True, it took audiences and the industry he helped pioneer decades to see his genius as a filmmaker, but once his work grabs you, there’s no going back. He didn’t go for the sentiment of Chaplin, but rather pointed the way for the rigorous experimentation that recalls Jim Carrey’s best work (“The Mask,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) and the appeal of John Cusack, with whom he shares an innate “everyman” vibe that makes him impossible to dislike. All that being said, Buster Keaton was one of a kind, and “Our Hospitality” was one of his best films. I haven’t mentioned the daring physical stunts Keaton performs in the film, partially because I want the film to hold some surprise if you ever get the chance to watch, but also because, those aren’t really the parts of a Keaton movie I enjoy most. I much rather enjoy seeing Keaton find his way through struggles the world puts in his path to get the girl of his dreams; there’s something about that type of story that gets me everytime.
