020: College (1927) - released 9/10/27, viewed 8/19/05
1000 people a week die of influenza in Britain during March. The Bell Telephone Company executes the first successful long distance demonstration of television. The Great Mississippi Flood becomes the greatest national disaster in US history. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded. Charles Lindbergh makes the first Trans-Atlantic flight. An 8.6 earthquake kills 200,000 in Xining, China. A clash between police and protesters in Vienna leaves 90 dead. Italian-born anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are tried and executed.
BIRTHS: Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Cesar Chavez, Pope Benedict XVI, Phil Hill, Coretta Scott King, Robert Ludlum, Clint Walker, Jerry Stiller, Bob Fosse, Janet Leigh. DEATHS: Joe Start, Victoria Woodhull.
KEVIN: So far, College is the least of all the Buster Keaton movies we've watched. There are lots of great gags and great laughs, but it still seems pretty average. I imagine part of the inspiration for this film was Harold Lloyd's The Freshman, which had some great football gags. Either way, Keaton figured out that there was a wealth of great gags in sports. Keaton's character in this film seems much more pathetic than in his other films. But don't worry, even though he's the worst athlete in the world at the beginning, all his athletic potential comes to the fore when he has to save the woman he loves.
DOUG: One of Buster Keaton's lesser efforts, College follows a bookish high school graduate who goes to great lengths to prove to his girlfriend that he really can get into sports after all. It's always about a girl in these silent movies. I just realized it would have been nice if there were a female comedic silent film star who was as prolific as Keaton or Lloyd. Anyway, I call this one of Keaton's lesser efforts because it just doesn't stand up to The General or The Navigator in terms of clever gags or stunt sequences. I feel like Keaton saw Harold Lloyd's The Freshman and thought "Hey, I should do a sports movie. There's some good gags there." However, in an effort to avoid comparisons with Lloyd, Keaton doesn't do any football bits in the final film.
Last film viewed: The General (1927). Last film chronologically: It (1927). Next film viewed: My Best Girl (1927). Next film chronologically: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927).
The Movie Odyssey is an exhaustive, chronological project where we watch as many milestone films as possible, starting with D.W. Griffith's Intolerance in 1916 and working our way through, year by year, one film at a time. We also write a short review for each and every film. In this project, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the time period, the films of the era, and each film in context, while at the same time just watching a lot of great movies, most of which we never would have watched otherwise.
1000 people a week die of influenza in Britain during March. The Bell Telephone Company executes the first successful long distance demonstration of television. The Great Mississippi Flood becomes the greatest national disaster in US history. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded. Charles Lindbergh makes the first Trans-Atlantic flight. An 8.6 earthquake kills 200,000 in Xining, China. A clash between police and protesters in Vienna leaves 90 dead. Italian-born anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are tried and executed.
BIRTHS: Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Cesar Chavez, Pope Benedict XVI, Phil Hill, Coretta Scott King, Robert Ludlum, Clint Walker, Jerry Stiller, Bob Fosse, Janet Leigh. DEATHS: Joe Start, Victoria Woodhull.
KEVIN: So far, College is the least of all the Buster Keaton movies we've watched. There are lots of great gags and great laughs, but it still seems pretty average. I imagine part of the inspiration for this film was Harold Lloyd's The Freshman, which had some great football gags. Either way, Keaton figured out that there was a wealth of great gags in sports. Keaton's character in this film seems much more pathetic than in his other films. But don't worry, even though he's the worst athlete in the world at the beginning, all his athletic potential comes to the fore when he has to save the woman he loves.
DOUG: One of Buster Keaton's lesser efforts, College follows a bookish high school graduate who goes to great lengths to prove to his girlfriend that he really can get into sports after all. It's always about a girl in these silent movies. I just realized it would have been nice if there were a female comedic silent film star who was as prolific as Keaton or Lloyd. Anyway, I call this one of Keaton's lesser efforts because it just doesn't stand up to The General or The Navigator in terms of clever gags or stunt sequences. I feel like Keaton saw Harold Lloyd's The Freshman and thought "Hey, I should do a sports movie. There's some good gags there." However, in an effort to avoid comparisons with Lloyd, Keaton doesn't do any football bits in the final film.
Last film viewed: The General (1927). Last film chronologically: It (1927). Next film viewed: My Best Girl (1927). Next film chronologically: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927).
The Movie Odyssey is an exhaustive, chronological project where we watch as many milestone films as possible, starting with D.W. Griffith's Intolerance in 1916 and working our way through, year by year, one film at a time. We also write a short review for each and every film. In this project, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the time period, the films of the era, and each film in context, while at the same time just watching a lot of great movies, most of which we never would have watched otherwise.