Cheap Spite Marriage (Video) (Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton) Price

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Customer Reviews of Spite Marriage

In Spite of MGM...
The 1929 movie, THE SPITE MARRIAGE, opens with Buster Keaton attending what appears to be a lousy play. He sits in the first row, and gazes upon his beloved, the woman playing the lead in the unfortunate production. So enamored is he with the actress, that he's been to the theatre every night that it has been open, just so see this woman who he's never actually met before (today, he'd be branded a stalker, forced to give up his front row seat and not be allowed any closer than the cheap seats in the back). Fortunately, while the play is boring, Keaton's character is now so familiar with the script that he provides us with an inadvertent Mystery Science Theater 3000 style commentary, managing to spoil it for everyone sitting around him.

Eventually, he manages to get himself married to the object of his desire. But, as you might have guessed from the title of this film, Buster's marriage is a sham; the bride only wed Buster in order to teach her real boyfriend a lesson. This leads us on to an unlikely but entertaining adventure, ultimately involving pirates capturing Keaton and his beloved at sea. Now, how many romantic comedies have you seen lately that featured fearsome pirates? Not enough, I'll wager.

The plot outline is, of course, unnecessary. The story only exists to create some memorable set pieces for Buster Keaton to work his magic in. And there are some very clever gags here. Particularly of note: Keaton getting himself on stage and ruining an already bad play, Keaton getting himself off stage and remaining in one piece despite the best efforts of the cast and crew, Buster attempting to put his drunken wife to bed.

Some of the stunt work is incredible (particularly in the last third of the film), which is what I have come to expect from the Keaton films. Keaton leaps around sailing ships, rooms, and people in a combination of ballet and slapstick, in a manner that is both hilarious and often breathtaking.

I should point out that I'm not overly familiar with the Keaton filmography (although I am sorely tempted by the "Art of Buster Keaton" DVD box-set). I've noticed other reviewers stating that this feature pales in comparison to Keaton's better-regarded films. This may be true, but I cannot do a fair comparison. It certainly is weaker than the handful of his silent, short films that I recently saw. However, on its own merits, this film is funny. It may not be the best thing on Buster Keaton's resume, but it certainly isn't the worst. It entertained me, and made me laugh. I'm not going to ask for more.

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50% Buster 50% MGM
SPITE MARRIAGE is Buster's last silent feature and his second for MGM. It is not as good as Buster's greatest silent features, but about as good as "College" or "Seven Chances". Spite Marriage is not really a "silent" picture. It has sound effects. It is essentially a sound picture except there is no dialogue. The first half rates with Buster's classic efforts when he had creative control. The second half which takes place on a boat bogs down a little. Parts of it reminded me of The Navigator and the ending reminded me of Battling Butler. It is my understanding that the second half of Spite Marriage is when Larry Weingarten and the insipid MGM crew started to surpress Buster.

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Disappointing Keaton Silent
I've seen all of Buster Keaton's silent films (several times) and this is by far the worst. It has lost almost all of the charm of his independent work. The Keaton character is still endearing, but unfortunately the plot is tired and uninteresting and the humorous moments are few and far between. I'm shocked that anyone would rate the "bed" scene in this film with his finer moments in Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr., The General, or Steamboat Bill Jr. Clearly Buster did not have the controlling hand in this film because it has almost no heart. It struck me as sad to see the normally prideful Buster sacrificing his dignity for a shallow, obnoxious woman who certainly did not deserve his attention. Her character was not developed enough that the audience can understand why Buster's character was so captivated by her or why we should care about their relationship. This film comes across as a more extravagant big studio effort with more money put into it than thought or attention to detail. I even found the Vitaphone soundtrack to be an annoying accompaniment compared to the delightful musical scores which accompany the Kino releases of Keaton's independent work. It's interesting to imagine what it would have been like if Keaton had been given complete creative control and the sound equipment he had requested.