Clackjack with Rivel and David, Clackjack with Rivel. Okay, and then I held up an intro title that said podcast. All right, that was pretty good. So you were out of stuff.
We finally did that joke. That's the joke everyone's been waiting for me to make. We finally did it. For six weeks, I was out of it.
I was saving that. You're out of stuff. I'm not out of stuff. You're out of juice.
Watch me, I could fucking do it right now. You're like, remember that tech company that was like, we made like a great juice press, a juice arrow, a juice arrow. And people were like, just squeeze it with my hand, bro. I just get the packets and I squeeze it with my hand.
This is not, I am no mere juice arrow machine. No, of course not. How dare I imply that? I never watch me.
I could do this. You must always podcast forward, never backward. But I didn't want to do that. No, you wanted to hold up a little inter-title that said podcast.
Yeah, and it was funny and everyone loved it and they cheered. It was the thing that we weren't waiting for. I can't hear anything you're saying right now because people are cheering too. Thank you.
And like, Joaquin Phoenix is sort of, he's holding his thumb like this. You know, he's like, yeah, yeah, they're all like, yeah. Thumbs up. Fred Heshinger, the new Joaquin Phoenix.
Is that who? Yeah, Barry dropped out. Barry dropped out. Can I say something?
What? I'm gonna pro that. I like Barry Kegan. It's maybe, he's like signing on to every project.
I maybe am worried about like Jude Law syndrome with this guy. You know what I mean? Where it's just like, how about you do one to two movies a year rather than be like the weirdo in three movies or four movies every year. Fred Heshinger also a blankie.
Is he? Yeah. A listener. But in favor of that, but yeah, yes.
I mean, Ben is a scowling. Like why does he listen? Yep, great question. Yeah, I don't know if something wrong with it.
Did he hit his head? Very hard. Yes, unfortunately. Oh, so he's resting in bed.
Yeah. It's like the idea that hitting your head makes you stupid. Yeah. Oh, no, always funny.
Right. You forget your name. Barry Kegan is also a very, very specific performer. Like there's no one like that.
Yeah, it's the thing. Yeah, that's the thing. Right. You're putting a whole dollar for like anchovies into the dish.
And there's a lot of range. He can play himself in very different ways. Yes. But he's not like Jude Law where it was such an obvious giving of like just slot him into everything.
Let's have him do everything. Sure. Sure. Right.
Yeah. And with all respect to Kegan, I think we all agree with a bit of a bus. There are things he should maybe not do. I can't be mad at him for that because he didn't have the time or the necessary runway to do something like to, you know, to like where I'm like, oh, this is what he came up with.
Correct. But also like that's what he came up with. Yes. Anyway.
Hi Fred. Hi Fred. Come on, Blank Check. This has been the key.
Feel better. Feel better. Sorry about your head. Sleep well.
Please text me Craven. Yeah, he's playing. He's in Craven. He's in the middle.
Listen, this has been an episode of the Kegan cast. Kegan cast. And now welcome to Blank Check with Griffin and David. I'm Griffith.
I did. So fast it almost was, you could almost could hear it. Exactly. So, finally, this is a podcast about themographies, directors who have massive success early on in their careers and are given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion projects they want.
And sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce. Baby. And this is a mini series on the films of Buster Keaton. It is called Podcast Junior.
And today we've gotten to our last episode. This series has been focused on the 10 features that Buster Keaton made under Buster Keaton productions, his independent run, financed by Mr. Skank. Joe Skank.
That took him from total independence to sort of supervised independence under Metro as part of Skank's position there. Yeah. And the final two episodes are going to track his move to MGM. Yes, the two films he directed for MGM before he was then just pushed into being a star.
We slot you in where we like you. Right. And his final two silent films. Correct.
Like after this he is in talkies. Yes. Right. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. These are his two violins, a final silence. These are his violent cyanide comedies. And although Spike marriages him dipping a little bit of a toe into sound.
Now, right off the bat, Ben has said he thinks that both of these movies stink producer Ben. He didn't like them. I walked in here Griffin. It's a really fun time of course to name great job by me.
I want you to say this for the record. Okay. Okay. All right.
All right. All right. Go ahead and say it. I had a track record.
I think I think he was a baby three or four. Six. Wow. He had the number he was gonna.
He was trying to think. I can confirm it was six. It was six. Yeah.
And I happened to fall back asleep. Oh, oh, so no, so the running total is what like 412 to say. Correct. But I'm saying it's like you're the fucking Washington Generals.
You get a couple baskets and you're like to a friend. The general's on a streak. I moved I'm walking this I'm saying we might start evening out we just have to do the show for another eight years You've moved closer to every years it might even out yeah, you actually moved closer although you usually live closer to our studio But not since we do this is the closest I have ever you look very close now. I look very close so close that we really can't be disclosing With his studio is no Ben cuts some references out previous Yep, yeah, but I walk in yeah, then finishing up spite marriage, okay, and he's just like blah and I was with him I was like yeah, you know, it's my marriage not really like my no yeah But but then you revealed you like either of these no I think it's a little masterpiece loves camera I was really just oh there's fun stuff in it Yeah, and I understand that in buster movies, right?
He's kind of hitting very similar stories. Yes sure You mean types character types. You don't like his character type in this I had I just was not in the mood to deal with smug So Ben bullies then can we talk about it on Mike? Yeah, we'll talk about it is also he's he's steamed okay grouchy mad Because he got basically upsold on a fancy steak by a waiter at a hip New York restaurant.
I'm sorry corner bar So I'm sorry off I think about like all smug sort of you know There above you because he basically rube was at this cool ass place and the waiter was like well The cut of beef you really want is the special and he didn't disclose how much it goes in a row way too much Was this last night yeah, so I watched this movie cameraman first this morning And it's it's like this bully Jerkin around buster and I just got so pissed I just want to I want to break this down for a second Please do every one of these movies had some smug bully. Yeah, there's a rich guy or you know alpha right guy Yeah, his problem wasn't you know if you said I hate a cameraman But in my defense yesterday some fucking but will dirt cameraman fucked with me on my walk home I go I could understand this movie hitting a really specific right you're supposed to relate to buster in this movie The point is you're supposed to hate this smug bully I know and you're going I'm too triggered by the smug bully because a waiter Coming up by a more expensive state last night. Yes if they're enough it makes sense. Okay.
Look out I'll say this yeah, I sympathize. I think Benny is the wrong party I sure this steak that he got and yes, it was for the whole table It's not like he was personally given this take but still I check the price on it It's a lot of money. Yeah, if you're a waiter even if you've been told like oh, you know don't say that's ghost to say the numbers out loud You might just want to say but it's it's an expensive item or you know But this is a this is a high-end you know just so that you can get the opportunity for the person How much for what I paid for it should have been the fucking opening of Flintstones You wanted them to destabilize the For what I paid yeah, I mean Funny funny funny look I know this podcast has already become a 25 percent syndication of old doe boys bits Sure, we just rerun old doe boys bits by us describing them and saying they were good And now I'm doing one from the episode you and I were on David yes Well, we which we eat a little episode which episode is easily what was the bit? But it's not even a bit this is just here's here's a fucking credible waiter who got a great ass tip that night, okay, we're really we're trying to order a lot of stuff I'm with Mitch and why you're for the doughways podcast in LA at the Italy David at the New York one and Mitch was like it's truffles We should try something with truffles on it Right and we were trying to like balance out dishes and there was like we were gonna get a pasta And then there was a steak You could add truffles on to and we tried to order that and our waiter said You know the searchers on the truffles is itself more expensive than This pasta that has truffles on it.
So if you get the truffle pasta instead of that pasta and get the steak minus the truffles You're saving money, right? So here's the thing that's how a fucking server Here's the thing I'm Ben's gonna tell you yeah, but I think his waiter kind of tried to pull that trick of like look This this extra it pays for itself in sides. Yeah, you know what's trying to kind of do the like besides He's like a close up rise in a salad. He's like I mean it's a good deal right said it was a good deal It sounds to say how much the steak was yeah, we could say how much it was Yeah, but not gonna be so everyone will unsubscribe listen And he didn't want the fancy steak he got the fancy steak and now so if there's any fancy man sure who are running MGM be a gatekeeper You don't like that part of it either You don't like the you don't like the actual behind the scenes narrative and where it's also It's the story set in a city so I really can relate I can really put myself sure but you're the buster in this story correct Just trying to have a damn steak.
I just fine. It's fine Listen buster Keaton said signing up with MGM was the greatest mistake of his entire career It was the thing that kind of killed him. Absolutely. He is convinced as it's not like he was completely Swindled here like his you know his business was in decline like he was he kind of needed a raft to jump to this is my question What other options did he really have this money look at now say here?
But yeah, okay look I asked this rhetorically buster is of course making future films independently. Yes, they're gonna distribute it by whoever But like you know by Metro MGM or whatever, you know, but and you a eventually but but the key basically He makes them himself. Yes his own company. He has his regular crew.
He's sort of an autonomous unit But jahans the movies over to skin but the films he makes are not produced efficiently and they are not cheap No, so it's not like he is a the reliable Buster Keaton machine pumping out movies at X price, right? And they're gonna make Y price like some of them are hits some of them are less so yeah some of them are made for an okay Budget some of them cost too much money or take two on the and he's constantly trying to push the medium on technical levels He's trying to constantly come up with things that people haven't seen before he's increasingly looking for a sense of first a mill To that does not come easily or cheaply and on top of that his basic process is like 60% pre-planned 40% improvised Which is a nightmare to the person's writing the checks Yeah, because they go like I have no idea what the fuck is even gonna end up being it's hard to come up with a shooting schedule It's hard to have an actual budget going in so MGM is looking at that and says well, you're gonna make movies for us and they're gonna cost about $250,000 Like we're gonna put you in a budget category there They say to him you will be the third highest paid person right on our payroll at our store star system, right? You'll be the third highest paid person we have but it's kind of classic It feels like Such an echo of how these studios X still talk today where they were like we at MGM can solve the Buster Keaton problem Yes, if Buster comes to us his budgets will be smaller and home like four movies a year They were just so confident that they could get this guy on rails, right? This is easy We can control right we control him and the quality will say good people like the movies We'll just tell him to be cheaper and more structured and work faster So they just like the writers love them.
Yeah, we'll get them to end this right because I'm so tired of not they love being Underpicking money. They love what they like making money. I think it's a lie. They may not You know it's right go should make money.
Oh, yeah, what do you spend it on some fucking shit? He's take yeah exactly I should mention it did come with steak sauce. Oh, right? Okay, so you make your money back.
You're right because you went off and sold that thing on the street Right, you took the same flip right this house. Thanks. Yeah So they're saying you're gonna make movies around quarter million dollars and you're going to make for a year not to a year Which is what you're currently doing. However Buster moves into MGM and then MGM or him or whoever you know someone realizes like four years unrealistic, right?
And so they're like let's keep the same outcome to two a year But if you're gonna do two year your budgets are gonna go down. Yes, so you're gonna have to make these quite cheaply And yeah, you can keep some of your crew but not all of them You know essentially it's just kind of like look the great days for you are over like you Don't get to just do whatever you want with whoever you want for how long you know you think you need they want to Streamline they want to automate a little bit and a big part of it is there's gonna be oversight No, you don't just go off and do whatever the fuck you feel like, you know, which at a certain point one wonders What did MGM even one? I mean, you know, but they probably like you say they're just like what do you mean? We're smart we're smart we can fix this but it's not just the entertainment industry You just read these stories constantly of there's a company that is successful, right?
Right, and then a much larger company buys the company and goes we think we can reduce costs We think we can reduce costs increase profits the amount of in efficiency here, right? You are still buster Keaton so we can still make money off of you Right, they go We can just make this cheaper and more profitable and then within a year they go suddenly this is not making money for us Oh, well This was working before you entered the picture even if it didn't work every single right it wasn't totally working It is out but the other thing of course with buster is even if he hadn't gone to MGM Yes, the talkies are coming totally everything's about to change like who knows what This is my big question is just like he needed to go to a studio at this point. Right? Escape was not real Yeah, unless you could find some other rich guy to you know essentially front him money in exchange for the hopes of profit like right Yeah, obviously unlikely what he should have done was and he was never much of a businessman He should have done what Chaplin had done 10 years earlier.
He needed to form a united artist, right? Or or you know stick with the existing united artists and you know, but I look I don't live in 1920 I don't know what the landscape is or whatever He wasn't a mogul and he also didn't think of himself as an artist. He thought of himself as a worker, right? But then again, he was always trying stuff.
Oh totally But I it's the fascinating dichotomy with him, but I don't know if he would have been in a better position going to any other studio It's hard to say I'm knowledgeable enough. I have no idea Obviously MGM is sort of the king studio. Yes, and really is for the next 30 years Yeah, but I kind of think this a variation of this fate would have befallen him at this point No, there's some other issues. Yes, I'll play well with others really doesn't want to live on the lot Right, so he moves into like a bungalow.
That's kind of off the lot right doesn't go into the studio He doesn't interact with Louis mayor which they put their foot down and said like you're moving into a fucking dressing everything He tried to do was basically like I'm living off campus, right? He's like sort of like I'm not part of this community He just was such an independently minded guy and he liked his own crew and whatever and he said no Then you're not gonna get what you want if you're not you know rubbing the shoulders of the fancy man So I think he just immediately set the wrong tones with them You know and he goes like here's how it works you give me my unit have a payroll of guys I have my cameraman. I have my gag writers I have my prop makers and we're just working on stuff constantly and they're like that's not how this works You work with our guys we have under employ you're sharing resources across the studio So Irving Falberg who is the underkins and head of production of him GM. He's only in his early 20s Yes, you know, he's you can read about him.
It is an incredible tale He is put in charge of Keaton set up his first movie. Please his first proposal is Um a sort of Charles Lindbergh ask a story of a pilot Doing a transatlantic flight with a fading burlesque beauty queen. They want to Marie Dressler Um, so, uh, you know buster doesn't like that story kind of likes the idea of working with Marie Dressler uh pitches hit pitches a story back that's like steamboat bill jr. Except she's like the raggedy old aunt rather than the mean uncle character Okay, I mean the not mean uncle the you know grizzled dad.
Yeah, right Um set it during the civil war set it on like a wagon train and again I'm like buster the weakling the trust or the you know sort of silly boy And we're going across the prairie, you know, and stuff happens Falberg thinks about it Keaton kind of knows he's not it's okay. So then they have a new idea. Okay. What if instead of let's go back to that sort of idea But what if he's a cameraman instead of like a pilot?
Um, and it's the original concept was still gonna have a transatlantic flight. Yes, um, wasn't there a whole thing where he got involved with a mob There was sort of a mistake an identity thing. I mean everything I was reading was that they kind of were pitching a lot right plot to him and he was sort of like and this is Gangsters and keep keeps being like no like throwing stuff out of here Right, we have to strip this down right because his whole thing was just like, you know I'm now working with guys who have no experience in comedy who think they can tell me what's gonna be funny They think they know what sounds like a funny set up for a buster Keaton movie And I know in practical reality you want this thing as streamlined as possible You want as little narrative fat as possible you want room to discover gags I'm gonna read this buster quote to you because it is so devastatingly good Falberg was a fine judge of light comedy and farce appreciated good slapstick whenever he saw it on screen No truck driver ever go fought louder at my better site gags than that fragile intellectual boy genius That's not worth. Yeah, nevertheless.
He lacked the true low comedy mind, which is sort of what you're saying Yeah, right like any man who was concerned about production he was seeking a pattern of format slapstick comedy has a format But you know, he's basically like he doesn't understand. It's like that. Yes, you know The simplicity of that you see the the geometry of how the thing is gonna work, which is look it's there are very few Executives, you know high level studio people who are genuinely creative and even fewer who are funny and understand how comedy works They make the most money in every area and so they're obviously indispensable But eventually whatever there's like a tamarind into the cameraman is the idea And so they do start working on draft of the script Um and all these mgm criminal crime writers come in and Keaton is basically like 22 people at one point Like we're weighing on at the script right and they would keep complicating the plot gangsters Salvation Army street bands Tammany Hall politicians longshoremen and kind of like the son of this one lady gem thieves cool Maybe bringing one lady gem thief. Yes, um, but and then the executive look it's the classic tail Too many kids to trust in the soup, you know or whatever I think the difference for me is that cameraman feels like him trying so hard to Sand his ground in the face of all this meddling that what comes out of it is like such a Simple streamline focused movie because he really has to fight for what he wants and like narrow in on his vision Whereas and you know not to jump ahead, but it's a relative success.
It is well received Yeah, the movie actually and I think he goes great So I proven myself they'll give me more leash on the next one and instead they tighten the leash and the second he feels The leash tighten on spite marriage. It's like he's done right. It's just you just feel that he just gives up Um, and you know and then it goes on to his mg. I'm talking career after this where it's just like the light is kind of gone from He's drinking more or he's not creatively involved.
Yes, just skip ahead here but Edward Sedgwick is the director they assigned for these two films his guy who comes from a very similar background to him was also part of a Vlogal act with his family growing up has been on stage since he was a child Transition of being behind the scenes is kind of a Roscoe Arbuckle type physically is much taller and bigger than him They also both loved they were both baseball buffs. Yes, they bonded over that So there's like this people you're like this feels like for all these years where even skank would assign him Some new director who he would always fight with and push out He's finally got a guy to kind of share the chair with who he really is in patico with and who gets it and isn't fighting You know, yeah, I think they didn't lunge they shot it in New York. I think that was complicated There was like a week of New York shooting and then I think the sound stages were in a way, but I think yeah, they enjoyed a five day in New York Yeah, um where there's parades all the time and those days dude, you know how in New York There's if you walk up Broadway sort of from Wall Street There's this like there are these plaques kind of like Hollywood Walk of Fame style of every ticker tape parade there ever was parade walk of fame and like there's there's like an embedded plaque in the sidewalk for every single ticker tape parade Like in a sending order. Okay, and I loved it.
I used to walk out. It's cool. I forget what there's a name for the avenues of the avenue of heroes They used to fucking throw one of those every other week Yeah, because it's like it's like 80s and then it's basically like did a team win a championship They got a ticker tape for sure. That's it.
You know, it used to be like, I don't know some guy like did a great job cleaning a building And they'd be like ah come on but also so much ticker tape we got to get rid of no, I'm gonna Roku What else are you gonna do? You can't just fucking stay home and binge never have I ever it's the way we got another parade great That gives me something. It's just so funny like they were they were like 70 years now It's like basically just like the New York Giants fit. Yeah.
Oh, okay, so ticker tape is the printout Yeah from the stock from the stock ticker. They had all this fucking paper. They had to get rid of it somehow So, you know they rip it up the president of Tunisia confetti. Yeah, if the president of Tunisia came this year Yeah, we just kind of be like yeah sure bathrooms are over there buddy 1961 it was like clear the streets.
We should set a stand there. No cars We should set a standard we should start throwing a ticker tape parade every time we release a new episode We gave the New York Mets a ticker tape parade for entering the national league in 1962. They didn't even play the game yet We're not sent them all in good fashion because we're good have a good season They used to like if someone like took a shit without needing to life they would throw them a ticker tape Anyway, look I support all ticker tape rates would be clear. I support the president of Tunisia unless he was bad Let me check click on him interesting anecdote This is a long Wikipedia page.
I don't know if I can weigh in um Yes, there was still so fucking famous and iconic at this moment of course He's sort of like right at the bell curve or his famous about his death. He's a National man. Yes Chaplin and harreloid as I point out in the past both have characters who involved a sort of disguise Their persona on screen did not look like them in daily life. Yes, harreloid when he took the glasses off and changed It was a Clark Kent Superman say with chaplain.
You're of course He has a fucking monster That's here and all this shit right with a bowler hat on his feet, you know, completely different vibe Two bowler hats or one both feet in one hat. He'd hop around. Yep. He'd hop around or he'd slide Uh, they they go to film a couple days in New York and Cedric was like it was impossible.
Yes. Hey gee Yeah, people were yelling it from the windows and you're like again like you said there's no roku Yeah, people are bored and there's also look there's no Pluto TV. There's no sound right? They're not fucking up that takes with the sound But they're reacting so they're like swarming him.
They're fucking up the shots And they were like there was no way for him to disguise him. He's busting keeping all the time Uh, that's exactly what he looks like Lanky's quick question and be honest. When was the last time you actually thought about how much fiber you were eating? Not protein not calories fiber In the US fewer than one in ten adults hit their daily recommended intake and fiber isn't a bonus nutrient It's foundational.
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Oh quince He's showing I'm really wearing quince right now. Listen if he's showing tag on me Um, it's been my go to because very clean fits very nice fabrics. Yeah, they don't feel like cheap fabrics I hate dirty fits. I hate cheap fabrics.
I am it. We're in you know It's the weather's getting warmer. I really rely on my quince polo shirts for the kind of like exactly like a formal enough piece of clothing I can go to the office, but it's comfy. Yes, because we do have a dress code here head-blink So they got those hundred percent pima cotton tees with a softness They gotta feel oh enjoy and for those who don't David is touching the fabric and sit that same balance relaxing comfortable I gotta tell you I recently had a birthday and my in-laws sent me a quince gift card because they know I like quince so much and I am itching to spend this That's a really strong endorsement.
Yes, right. Yes Everything at quince is priced 58% less than what you find is similar brands because they work with those ethical factories They cut out the middleman getting premium materials without the markup. Mm-hmm. I've got this cashmere zip.
Hey David is showing me. Oh nice I like that color. Yeah, I wear it all the time. It's got pockets So professor every day with luxury you actually use head to quince.com Check for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada to that's qu INC e.com slash check for free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash check Can I tell you something yes yesterday I got out of the subway all your troubles for so far Again on a bike and I'm biking through park slope home Okay, Brooklyn neighborhood and I'm going up the street and then I see oh, there's a film crew on this street, okay?
But the lane's not closed mm-hmm. I keep going Pete Davidson Merrick's funniest man of course of course where cuz most beloved comedian is shooting something in front of an ice cream truck Is it an ad is you know who knows what it is? It's be Davidson's him okay guy with a camera, okay, and I will admit someone embarrassingly yeah that as I biked by I went Hey Pete just cuz I thought it was funny to do that Wow usually I don't care yeah about celebrities at all But I was just kind of like this is funny and I also knew I was moving so I would really just whizz by yeah So I said hey Pete you know look who I don't know he looked like Pete Davidson regular yeah exactly like Pete Davidson Yeah, um, you know hot he's kind of hot, but also you're kind of like you sick. Yeah, that's right Davidson.
Yeah, no That's like him or do you have Lyme disease First first season of yeah the first season of the take yeah, we filmed a lot in the streets of New York Yeah filming in New York is expensive and difficult, but we thought like we thought good production value whatever right it's a cool Yeah, season two folks might notice there is almost there's very little exterior work and where there is exterior work is in very Kind of desolate far out areas in season two mostly are in the base You know the headquarters right and when we were like outdoors We were like under a bridge or in like an alley or something It was because we would film so much in the streets of Harlem in the first season and takes would get fucked up by people walking by and going Hey, tech I do it. Yeah, it was that though It's exactly what you said like people would just buy by and they go like hey tech looking good and it does show it not ergot It was just people knew the iconography the past versions the cartoon But it was like we're filming episode two where no one should know that he exists Right and the amount of takes that were blown by that it was insane how often it would happen and you can't even be like hey Don't do that you guys already go yeah, I go immediately just bunch of fucking David Sims going okay They're filming long order on my street recently and I was so tempted It was like an early morning shoot was so tempted before leaving the house for the day Yeah to just have the long order theme blasting out the window on on a lube right on repeat and just ruin their shoot Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, there was one time I saw when Jerry back was still on the show He was filming a scene and a bunch of kids rode their bikes in front of the camera and then stopped and went Yo, you're the guy from law and order. Hey, man.
And he went ha ha yes I yeah, it was the most charming thing I've ever he responded with like sort of loom year esque as he should he's the greatest I am the greatest New Yorker. Yeah, there's a block named after him. Yes, I think is deserve a back way Yeah, probably usually away. Yeah, it's often hell's kitchen I don't let out my fucking brothers dirty or buck.
Yes, we can't talk about this we have to talk about this archives All right, um as you say yes, when Harold Boyd removed his glasses He melted into a crowd buster Keaton that old stone face everyone wanted a piece of it. Yeah, then they go to LA They shoot for 33 days MGM is hopeful that that will be chill But you know busters not used to their kind of thing as he says he had to requisition a toothpick and triplet Yes, everyone's hassling me You know and it seems like it's just a little stressful a lot of clashes with the studio Yeah, but I think this one's a little bit of a like pressure-creating diamonds thing where it's like he had it in him one Time to fight against this to get what he wanted But Way over schedule, but maybe the most iconic sequence in this movie I would say is the changing room sequence, right? He's stuck it's simple sequence He's stuck in a changing room with a big fella. Couldn't get more fella right they keep opening to each other He reuses this and what no beer I referenced in what no beer?
I'm sorry in what no beer He read does this exact sequence in a voting booth Pulling booth, and I even feel like it later in his career when he's doing a lot of TV segments and things like this became one of his routines I'm trapped in a tiny space with another guy, but this one Yes, it's incredible and it's like an absolute Why wouldn't we just do this it was invented on the spot by Keaton and Cedric? Yes a couple of writers Clyde Ruckman and Lou Linton yeah classic Keaton writers so like some of this stuff They're coming up with on the day. It's this is what I love about this movie is it feels like it does not have the big sequences It does not have the big movements of his other films in the same kind of way by and large It's just sort of ingenuity of in every very basic low-stakes situation What's the funniest thing I come up with right now? They were hoping the film would cost 250 it ends up costing 362 So you know not perfect it makes that's seven hundred and fifty it made eight hundred thousand dollars worldwide I guess more money in foreign markets.
So he's turning into a bit of a slice to low Yes, but you're getting less of that money back probably wasn't a bomb But the profits were not huge for MGM right? Falberg did think it was hilarious Falberg in the years after would screen this to his comedy writers to say he was a perfectly structured comedy study this So he used it as a teaching tool so much they wore out the print they have And this is this was a big one that was considered lost for a while yes This was an actual lost film especially because MGM had this huge fire that destroyed a lot of their films 50 years and this was one of the films presumed to be lost then and then there was a combination of the France damaged print in France and then another higher quality print somewhere else and Fine-prance they put them together. It was incomplete for a while now I think we pretty much have all of it But the other one thing is there was a Real seven the best print I think they found in France was missing one segment and it was because they had repurposed it for some like MGM Package film and when they did that they literally took that section out Sure, why not yeah? What about you?
Who's gonna watch this whole fucking thing again? Yeah, so the cameraman. Yes, uh Buster Is the gang of a foam a teen type photographer and he has a cross-on secretary who works for MGM The setup is so simple you start with really exciting new real photographers Yeah On on the front lines of the war right and you're showing this is the kind of photography we're used to seeing play before our pictures All right pictures, right You go then there's another type of cameraman and here He has this lowly guy in the middle of the city street asking for a dime to take someone's portrait right on essentially a ten-ass Trey right he catches the eyes of a pretty woman I think it's another thing I like about this movie and I will admit a lot of my fondness This was though as I think I said in our first episode. This was the activator movie for me Right this was the one I caught on TC on the turn me on to Buster So it holds a soft spot in my heart because it's the one that made him click for me I said it's fine.
I don't think it's the best one But I think it's obviously his last great movie. Yes, and I do think it's in the top tier now I have and I'm sure you have not seen like his educational shorts that he made later I've been some I know I haven't seen everything he's done But I've watched that's really all and then he did a few like weird European he did a run a Columbia Yeah, he did a run the educational picture shorts I mean what there's like the Columbia ones. He's never a director and rarely a writer. Yes The yeah the educational shorts those are shorts Obviously the railroad is his final thing which he did for Canada It was a campaign to promote their own railroads right he always reminds and that one's actually really fun It's it's him.
He's very old, but he's still got his ingenuity Yeah, and it's called the railroad or it's like 30 minutes or whatever Then there's an amazing one-hour documentary called like Buster Keaton rides again That is watching the process of him generating bits That's and I highly recommend watching that it was it was just re-released on Blu-ray. Yeah, but I think it's out there on the internet But yeah, okay, wait wait, wait the cameraman. Ah, so he wants to impress this lady So he buys a phone camera for all his money. He will he sees her in the crowd who is she follows after she finds out She's the secretary at a newsroom company mmm.
It's MGM It's MGM. There's this mug asshole the type of guy who'd up charge you on a state I guess I was a big ribeye on a platter. Yes, which we with fries and sticks off yeah, and burpees Basically making a profit at that point and the ice in this watering free, but we're giving it to you for free I mean, I guess I got some bread and they were willing they were willing to to lift the chair tax, right? Because usually they charge for those chairs, Ben.
Yeah, the chair tax. The magic of those chairs that exist. Yeah, right. I mean, yes, right.
Did they include air conditioning on your check at the end of the day? The AC was not on. It was kind of a cool, man. It was a cool, man.
Sure. They charged her as a courtesy fee and that they were sort of nice. That's how much they were that nice. They weren't at all.
All right, so there's a meanie. Yeah, but here's a thing I love about this movie. She's immediately pretty charmed by him, right? Yes.
She's encouraging. She likes him. She's giving him tips the whole movie. There's this feeling of unlike a lot of the Buster movies where there's sort of an ultimatum thrown at him.
The other guy really wedges himself in the center. There's some authority figure, a father, a boss, you know, the girl's father, whatever it is that demands that he do a thing to prove himself. Or in the worst Buster movies, I think it is the woman demands the thing and makes the female character less likable when she's that much of a status obsessed sort of, you know, what have you. Right.
I like in this that she's kind of immediately charmed by him and he just feels like, at first, I should do this to impress her. And then I think he really kind of likes it. He's doing this out of the joy of doing this, the discovery of doing this. I think this movie is in so many ways, Buster making a film about his relationship to filmmaking, the discovery of it, you know, and his experimentation with what you can do as a medium.
And every time he fucks up, she kind of pulls him over and goes like, do this. Right. I'm giving you the inside. I'm helping you out.
I think she's really sweet. She's very sweet. Yes. Buster is not good.
No, his job. He fucks everything up. He's always double exposed. I mean, look, also, it's hard.
The 20s film camera shit like this is very technical. But we've been doing this many series now for six weeks, right? Sure. Yes.
And then we pull off these insane shots. How do you do it? Right. You have this sequence where he comes back with his first role he shot and they screen it in the screen room for the head of the MGM news rail company and they all laugh at how bad it is.
Right. And everything you're showing is basically one of the tricks that Buster has used to create one of his most famous sequences. It's a lot of double exposure stuff and things like that. It's double exposure.
It's things being cranked backwards, right? Yeah. Right. But of course, I don't know how you shoot a news reel.
No, but this is what I'm saying, the vaguely kind of like autobiographical memory quality to the film is it's sort of like all those special effects in the early days, the pre-digital days of film came about basically by people discovering things by accident. They would mess stuff up and you're right. And go wait a second. That's a weird effect.
Interesting. If you fuck it up on purpose, if you don't let this part of the image get exposed, right? I do think there's something here to like this character is more hapless than the actual Buster, the director, but it's like he's by hook by crook, by mistake and by chance, learning the mechanics of what a camera can do. I also think I'm trying to win Ben over on this movie.
He's very fun toting the camera. Yeah. He, it just, it just lends to like hapless, you know, Harry Buster, right? He's got this big fucking thing.
He's lugging around on his back. You know, you're with him. Like he's, he's a good hardworking boy who doesn't know what he's doing. Yeah.
And it's, it's fire truck, you know, he goes to the baseball game. This is how comedic well, we're not going to breeze through these things that quickly. Oh, I'm so sorry. This is how comedically resourceful he is though.
It's he's just like, if I have to carry this camera with me in every scene, I will find something funny to do with it. Okay. Well, the tripod's got three legs. It's long.
It's heavy. You know, anytime you try and talk to someone, it's tangled in something. Right. That's what I'm saying.
Right. Yeah, exactly. Right. Right.
Well, come on. Let's talk about some of these scenes, right? Yeah. The joke there is that you see rides the fire truck home, right?
Correct. He misses it. Good joke. He fucks it up.
Yeah. Right. The baseball scene is really sweet because it's also like him. He gets there the wrong day.
It's an away game. Yes. He shows up to an empty Yankee stadium. It is.
I was about to say what's the state of the Yankee stadium? The old Yankee stadium. Right. I mean, this is one of the only, oh, yeah, because now, right, well, there's been three, I believe in stadiums.
Yes. I think this is old. This is the house of the roof. This is the guy.
Okay. It is a thing that I think the other Buster Keaton characters don't necessarily ever display, which is this guy has creativity. Right. Right.
This is the story of like an artist being active. Just a chump. Right. He will try to find the sort of hard way around it or whatever.
But there's some combination of he is doing this for his own amusement, right? But then also he's like trying to find something worthwhile to film. Right. And here is this like incredibly well observed paint of mine of every player in a baseball game.
And he's just doing it all. And trying to catch people stealing bases. It's also just clever way to use the location. I just think there's something very kind of sweet and poetic to it.
I will say this. Were you watching the Criterion release of this? How did you watch this film? No, I rented it on iTunes.
Oh, you did. Okay. So then I'll say there's a Criterion disc with this, the has-spite marriage as a special feature. The iTunes version of it.
I don't understand. I don't know why this happened. This is these two films are the only Buster silence that are not in the public domain. Because they're actually owned by MG.
Right. And they're also it's they're not a hundred years old. Twenty eight or twenty nine. Yeah, the twenty eight.
This is twenty eight maybe so I'm married to nine nine. Yeah. So there's a Criterion disc. Correct.
So I think the sweetness of just like this, this guy who lives in his own head, it feels like you're watching Buster Keaton generate material. Yeah. This character without having aspirations to be a performer, you know, it's the same way he talks about how he'd come up with bits when he goes to a space and goes, well, what could we do in this environment? Here he is an empty baseball field.
What's he gonna do? He's gonna pretend to be every ball player. And the ideas that in post it will all come together to look like an actual baseball game. Cut it together.
Here's a guy pitching. Here's a guy running. What he's doing. No, it doesn't make any sense.
There's no audience. It's like, it's like, it's like, he's in the wrong medium in a way, right? It's like, your job is to document what's going on. Right.
He doesn't think of things literally. The next sequence, now if there is a version of this on YouTube that I found, is him showing the footage to the people that I do love the gag of like the street scene with like a bat. Yes. But this one's saying it's like this beautiful photo.
That's kind of a great special effect. Right. And then there's the person jumping from the pool onto the diving ball. Yes.
And then there's like quadruple footage of cars or whatever where he's like, I don't know, done the lenses wrong. But these are all tricks we have seen him employ purposefully, you know, him doing the baseball game is like him doing the playhouse short where he's everyone on stage. And then, you know, he's discouraged. He's everyone in the rooms left.
They're all laughing at him. They're all having a laugh. But she's there. Yeah.
And she's encouraging. You got to crank forward. Yeah, exactly. She's like, look, he tried.
Like a lot of people wouldn't try. Right. And she, you know, she's, he wants to ask around and she's like, got a date basically. But she's, she's still like, call me.
Right. And then you have the whole secrets where he's like smashing open the wall looking for money and stuff like that. Right. He's got a piggy banky can't open.
Right. Right. And then you can go into the roof and then walking up the roof like stairs. That's funny.
I think it's incredibly good. But it's like, it is an expensive gag. You have to build an insane set to make this work because he understands it's only funny if it's continuous. The second you have to cut every time he goes up a new floor, it's not going to work.
It's all just seemed very stressful back then though. Yeah. Having to wait by the phone. Oh, a nightmare.
So much better. It would be like at the store, like three blocks away. Yeah. Yes.
Well, and then he finally picks up the phone and it's her saying her date cancels to hang out. He doesn't even listen to the end of her sentence. Right. He just runs across the place.
And he's done with the sentence. He's behind her and he says, sorry, I'm late. Right. That's funny.
He's really sweet. So they of course have a nice afternoon date at the swimming pool. Yes. Right.
First there's some business with the old ladies. Yes. Because she's at like a rooming house or whatever. She's like an SRO.
Yeah. You know, nice young single woman who can't forget the bus ride. Then they get on the bus. Right.
Well, and also all the other women are like falling over the head. So then this, what would you call it? What do you call this old lady who looks over when you go? It's the matron.
It's the matron. Like an old marble. You got to be living in a proper place where you're not going to get in any trouble. Right.
And they can, you know, if there's a gentleman call or he'll come into the drawing room and then it'll be horrible. He's not going to come knock your bedroom door to knock you up. It feels like to me the only Buster movie where they kind of acknowledge that he's hot. Yeah.
You know what I'm saying? I guess you're not to a silly degree. No, no, no, but like that ladies want bus. He's so low status in his energy and he's so oblivious.
But there's like, when he makes like eye contact with the woman in the crowd, she immediately catches him. Obviously in seven chances the ladies want bus. I mean, I'm not going to get this money. Yeah.
I think in this, there's this, you know, without him seeing cocky, it's like this thing of like everyone is throwing themselves at him. Right. He has eyes for, um, sadly, yes. But yes, they, they, he ends up on the roof of the bus.
Yeah, he got his bus business and then the sewing pool or what do we call this? The baths. Yes. Right.
It's the city plunge, right? Right. Follows her into the red ladies room. Big mistake.
Renting a bathing suit. Terabytes. Right. I mean, I don't know.
Hygiene, I guess, was different than. I guess it was a bit of luxury to own a bathing suit because it's like, I don't, I don't know why. You know, the, the, the, the sort of like sociology of like public bathing and the way it changed over is interesting because obviously, man has gone in water since time immemorial. Right.
Yeah. But like then you, you know, all the Victorian bathing machines, you know about that where they were like, build a house in the water. Okay. So you could like get in the water without anyone seeing you.
That's insane. You know what I mean? Okay. Like, so like obviously yes, you may have to remove some clothes.
You're probably still wearing like a top to bottom brown, you know, like bathing, but like no one has to see that because you're, you're bathing houses on the water and has walls. Cabana. Yes. Sort of weird.
Okay. Insanity. But you know, this is like, you know, he goes to these lockers where I guess it's just, you know, come one, come all. So he gets in there and then another guy just sort of, you know, barges in with him and Sedgwick wanted to play the guy in the dress.
Sedgwick kind of looks like, like when I see pictures of me, looks like this guy, you know, husky, you know, he was like six foot, one, three hundred pounds. Right. Right. And Buster said the guy needs to be the same height as me because he can be a little bit rough.
But if he's too much taller than me, people are going to think the guy's going to knock me out. Right. He's going right to murder. But I also like that it's sort of this, like I'll give you a black eye.
No. Your final resting places is fucking dressing room. I think this guy was like, he was the locations manager, so he was a crew member. Okay.
He was a crew member. And the thing I like is that it's just sort of this like stereotype of a New Yorker where he's like, excuse me, I'm already in here. And the guy sort of has the attitude of like, yeah, well, I walked in here and I'm too busy to get out of here. He's just got fucking labeled.
And also Buster's doing all the finesse comedy. This guy's just elbows and you know, that's what's remarkable about it is like he just told the guy undress and I will do comedy around you. But then of course they're getting their clothing items like. He's kind of like getting on his back is one of the funniest parts.
It's so good. It is. I mean, obviously, like I said, I do think this is like the whole thing with these Buster movies is I'd seen some of them and others that would be like, well, I know about that. You know that.
You know that like, you know, like the avalanche and like that, you know, and like this one, yes, the changing room is kind of the most famous. Yeah. And once he reuses us for the recipe. So just want to shout out Buster.
Great pod. Total cutie. This is a scene. This is the scene where he starts to pull up his tank top and you're like fucking shh.
No, no, shitty was shredded. The guy was working like crazy and was like, athletic stuff. But I think usually he tries to hide it and you look at this and you're like, okay, he's like built like fucking spider and he's like zero body fat. You're probably a good spider man.
He'd be great. Oh my God. 1940 Buster King. Should we bring back this kind of bathing suit like the dude in the kind of wrestling, old timey wrestler, you know, jump-sootie kind of thing like susp suspenders?
David, if you ever see me on the beach, I'm wearing fucking this. No one's ever seen my nipples. What not? Get him out.
No. I'll go show this with pasties on. That is so disturbing. That is a very disturbing video.
Chicken cutlets. And then, you know, we're in the baths. Yeah. There's the thing where he swims like kind of onto the platform you get in on.
So he's kind of swimming in place. That's pretty funny. Yes. These bats are pretty cool.
They have like a fountain. Yeah. Kind of fancy bat. They're trying to play catch.
And there's this group of fucking jerks. Uh oh. A bunch of stakes on it. Who are like, look at this little guy.
Yeah. I mean, it's just like him. I'm going to catch the ball. They're trying to play catch and these guys keep like, you know, getting in the way.
This is my girl now. Right. There's some diving. That's slamming his fists in anger.
Really, you know, really good diving. So there's supposed to be annoyed by them. And then this is the whole point. It's very effective.
But Buster's like, let me do a really good dive for you. And she's like, like, begging him not to. She's at this point. I think gets the deal with him.
And it's like, don't do this. This is what I like. I like that she gets him. She gets him.
And she's like, you don't need to do anything to impress me. He's sort of, it's, this is like the one movie where he doesn't understand. He's already won. Right.
Like she wants to go on a date with him. She's turned by him. She likes him. He's winding himself up to prove a point that doesn't need to be proven at this point.
But he does this overly extreme dive. He dives so hard that it knocks all his clothes off. And then he's, it's a little risque. He's searching for his bathing suit.
You can't see anything, but you can tell he's he's nude under the water. It's well done where he dives in. You see his body go down. You see the suit rise up.
You see him come out. There's clear like water in his eyes. He swims over like dog paddles over to the edge. And then you see the suit floating in the background.
He tries to get a leg up to get out. And he can't do this. And basically it's how do I get out of this pool without becoming a sex offender? Right?
That's the bit then. Well, Buster, maybe shouldn't have done the fancy dive. Maybe shouldn't have done the fancy dive. Plus your girlfriend is so cute.
Yeah. She's very cute. So she's like, I think she's great in this too. I do too.
And I just really like the fact that like I think they have. Um, actress's name. The actress's name is Marceline Day. And she is a she was a bathing beauty.
She was a yes. She was one of the baby stars. Okay. Another one of these promotional campaigns for cuties.
Was that a max senate? It was the Western Association of Motion Picture advertisers. It was sort of an it girl adjacent thing and included the baby stars included like Joan Crawford, Mary Aster, Janet Gaynor, like a big, big future name. My favorite babies.
So like being in that would boost your, would boost your cred. And then she was in a movie called London After Midnight, which is a classic launch movie that is lost. That's what we talked about. Where I maybe look up the monster design that's like fucking insane.
It's too insane. It's creepy. Yeah. Shit.
She also did the jazz age. I think it's a pretty big Douglas Fairbanks movie back then. But you know, at a certain point, you know, she lived till she was 91 years old. I think they have just by the nature of the story and the fact that she's, you know, sort of in time from the beginning, they have more kind of conventional romantic comedy chemistry in this than he often does with his women who are sort of a pedestal that he's running to try to reach, you know, I like that you get to spend time with the two of them actually hitting it off.
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