Out of all of the talkies made during Buster Keaton's ill-fated partnership with MGM, only The Passionate Plumber (1932) and Speak Easily (1932) are watchable. The others range from sleep-inducing to infuriatingly bad, but these two have funny moments and Buster is allowed to play characters with dignity and functioning brains.
In this film, Buster plays a timid college professor who decides to live it up once he believes he has inherited a large sum of money. He does well in the role and actually has some comedic chemistry with Jimmy Durante, who proves himself not irritating here. Thelma Todd is sexy and funny as the vamp out to get Buster's money and Ruth Selwyn is good as Keaton's love interest.
Despite being somewhat entertaining, this is still no classic. The climax on the stage is lifted from a similar sequence in Spite Marriage (1929) and even uses some of the same lines. Some scenes are forced and painful, like when Buster and Thelma get sauced. But if you had to sample a few of Keaton's MGM talkies, this would be one to see.
In this film, Buster plays a timid college professor who decides to live it up once he believes he has inherited a large sum of money. He does well in the role and actually has some comedic chemistry with Jimmy Durante, who proves himself not irritating here. Thelma Todd is sexy and funny as the vamp out to get Buster's money and Ruth Selwyn is good as Keaton's love interest.
Despite being somewhat entertaining, this is still no classic. The climax on the stage is lifted from a similar sequence in Spite Marriage (1929) and even uses some of the same lines. Some scenes are forced and painful, like when Buster and Thelma get sauced. But if you had to sample a few of Keaton's MGM talkies, this would be one to see.