Buster Keaton in Battling Butler

Buster Keaton directed and wrote, at least part of, most of his films.  Battling Butler is an exception as it is based on a play.  He likely still made some changes to this one.  I doubt the many out door antics and car driving in the country scenes could have been done on a stage.

Alfred Butler is a spoiled rich young man, whose valet does every little thing for him.  His father sends him on a camping trip, to hunt and fish and hopefully make a man of him.   He proves to be completely inept at all things outdoors.  His valet goes along and continues to serve him.  Alfred's tent has a bath, a bed and basically all of the comforts of home.  He even gets the newspaper delivered to their campsite where they read about a champion boxer with the same name.

Alfred meets a "mountain girl" and falls in love.  Her father and brother think him unworthy as he is a weakling.   The valet tells them that Alfred is actually Alfred "Battling" Butler, the champion boxer. They buy the story, and Alfred and valet head off to watch the next boxing match, letting the country bumpkins think he is fighting in it.

They return to the small town after the fight to a grand reception.  Alfred finds himself getting married to the girl.  He feels guilty for the ruse but keeps it going.  They head of to the real Butler boxing camp where Alfred pretends to work out.  My favorite joke is when he meets the real boxer's wife by the ring where her husband is sparring.  He asks her about her shoe he helped her with earlier, "How's your heel?"  She responds, "He's alright." looking at her husband.

This is not my favorite Keaton film.  There are no great scenes of slapstick that stick with me, but it has some things to offer.  The moment Alfred "becomes a man" is one of "the great stone face's" best acting scenes.  At one point, the real boxer thinks his wife and Keaton are flirting with each other and gets mad.  The next scene shows her sitting at a table reading a magazine with a black eye.  It is meant to be funny, and perhaps it was, then.   How times have changed.

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