"I've made a mistake... This isn't my house or my wife."
It's only taken us twelve years to finally get around
to presenting a short by one of the greatest film comedians of all time, Buster [Joseph
Frank] Keaton (4 Oct 1895 – 1 Feb 1966). Astute film fans, however, may
have noticed that this blog has long featured a GIF from his film Steamboat
Bill Jr (1928 / film)
in the upper right of our page.
The Great Stone Face, as he is also known, made
numerous comic masterpieces in his life that can now easily be found online. His
films from the '20s are generally considered his best, and indeed they remain
visual and comic treats to this day (although one does have to occasionally look
past some questionable racial and/or political attitudes). The Frozen North is
one of his less-remembered projects, and is generally not considered one of his
best. But then, it is perhaps also one of his meanest – his character, who in
the course of the film cold-bloodedly commits murder and simply walks away, is even
simply known as "The Bad Man".
The movie is a bit of cinematic trolling:
angered by statements made by cowboy star William S. Hart
(6 Dec 1864 – 23 Jun 1946) against Roscoe
"Fatty" Arbuckle (24 Mar 1887 – 29 Jun 1933) regarding the then-current
Virginia Rappe
(7 Jul 1895 – 9 Sept 1921) scandal, Keaton made this Western spoof as an insult
to the reputed wife-beating Western star. (Later, after he saw the film
himself, Hart refused to speak to Keaton for years.)
Arbuckle, it seems, was one
of Keaton's best friends, indeed, Buster's career, which began in 1917, was
greatly assisted by Arbuckle: "A chance meeting with Roscoe
"Fatty" Arbuckle changed his life forever. Arbuckle had been making
movie shorts with Mack Sennett and was just starting at Joseph Schenck's
studio. He asked Buster to do a scene with him in The Butcher Boy (1917 / film). Buster agreed and
a lifelong friendship began. Buster worked with Arbuckle until 1919, when in
September of that year he began making his own films. [Find a Grave]"
Keaton was one of the few Hollywood stars that publically came to Arbuckle's defense
both during and after the comedian's arrest, court cases and final acquittal.
"The
Frozen North is [...] co-directed by frequent Keaton collaborator Edward.
F. Cline (4 Nov 1891 – 22 May 1961). It is another of Keaton's venture into
informal surrealism. Unfortunately, it is not an entirely successful effort,
which may be due, in part, to its missing three minutes of footage. [...] The humor in Frozen North is
atypical, with Keaton at his blackest, bleakest, and strangest. [366
Weird Movies]" And we here at a wasted life love it.
The music, of
course, is not original, but at least it works...
The Frozen North:
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