Buster Keaton in College

College is a hilarious short Buster Keaton feature. It is just over an hour. Their is a rumor that Keaton cut a football sequence to avoid comparison to Harold Lloyd’s college themed film, The Freshman, released two years earlier.

At his high school graduation ceremony, Ronald gives a speech where he praises education and belittles sports. He does this as his clothes shrink. He was caught in the rain and they have since dried. The object of his affection, Mary, dislikes his speech and informs him that until he tries athletics, she will not go out with him.

Mary, and Ronald‘s rival for her affection, Jeff, head off to Clayton College. Ronald follows them, but has to work his way through school. The main body of the film is Ronald trying out for sports and trying to keep a job. He fails miserably at both.

My favorite sequence is when he goes out for the baseball team. He has no clue what he is doing. Three players on the side bust a gut laughing at all of his ridiculous attempts. My favorite moment is when he runs around the bases thinking he is about to score. He slides into home head first, then flips his body over. The Great Stone Face looks so serious doing it all, only to find out that the ball was caught and he never tagged up.

He also tries out for the track team. In a sequence that seems to go on a bit too long, Ronald discovers he is just not meant for sports. The Dean steps in and gets Ronald on the rowing team as the coxswain.

After winning the big contest, Ronald gets a call from Mary. Jeff has been kicked out of school, and is trying to get her expelled as well by being in her room. Having a boy in a girls room was apparently enough to get you kicked out. Using all of his new sports skills, Ronald races to rescue Mary. He high jumps over a bush. He hurdles over some hedges. He pole vaults into Mary’s window and fights Jeff.

College has a scene that would now seem very racist. Ronald gets a job at a restaurant that had a sign in the window that read, “Colored waiters wanted.” Keaton wears black makeup, and pretends to be black. A black lady cook flirts with him. When she, and the rest of the staff, find out he is white, they chase him away with knives.

One last thing of note is that the name of the first row boat is DAMFINO. Keaton had previous used that name in The Boat

(1921). Both vessels meet with the same fate.

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