The consensus seems to be that "College" is good, but it isn't up to the level of Buster Keaton's best other efforts from this era. Having watched it, I can't really disagree with that assessment. There's plenty of good material here and the star, of course but it's difficult not to compare it with Keaton's other work, and somehow it doesn't really feel like a Buster Keaton feature in certain ways.
The line of the story is less unified and forceful than in his other films; Buster is a bookworm who goes to college and must pay his way while taking up sports to prove himself to a girl. Instead of the kind of logical sequence of events that drives "The General" or flight of stunningly bizarre imagination that marks "Sherlock Jr," "College" is more of an episodic series of sequences in which Buster tries out various new sports and jobs at his new school.
This keeps the story from moving quickly or becoming as involving as it could be, but the upside is that these are mainly handled in a very funny way, with Buster showing off his seemingly innate ability to turn any setting (i.e. a soda jerk's counter) into a treasure chest of natural physical comedy. Probably the highlight of the film is the extended sequence where we get to see Buster have fun generating comedy from his and my favorites sport -- baseball. One can see the enthusiasm as he plays third base in catcher's gear and finds a way to make three outs for his team in one play.
One could believe that Buster's character here is a younger version of his sheltered professor from "Speak Easily," and like that later film this one is funny even if it doesn't always make full use of his particular comedy abilities and style. It feels a little more typical than most of his best comedies, and doesn't feature many of the large-scale and involved mechanical gag sequences that he excelled at until the thrill ending in which Keaton gets the girl. Perhaps as a contrast to the more conventional nature of the story and some of the comedy in this feature, Keaton ends the film which a brilliant gag that subverts the typical "Hollywood ending" in just a few utterly logical and hilarious seconds.
This is a good comedy and well worth a viewing for the comedy Buster Keaton brings to failure at the various sports and jobs at attempts in it, but as a film it has to be said that it is less than well-structured and dynamic.
The line of the story is less unified and forceful than in his other films; Buster is a bookworm who goes to college and must pay his way while taking up sports to prove himself to a girl. Instead of the kind of logical sequence of events that drives "The General" or flight of stunningly bizarre imagination that marks "Sherlock Jr," "College" is more of an episodic series of sequences in which Buster tries out various new sports and jobs at his new school.
This keeps the story from moving quickly or becoming as involving as it could be, but the upside is that these are mainly handled in a very funny way, with Buster showing off his seemingly innate ability to turn any setting (i.e. a soda jerk's counter) into a treasure chest of natural physical comedy. Probably the highlight of the film is the extended sequence where we get to see Buster have fun generating comedy from his and my favorites sport -- baseball. One can see the enthusiasm as he plays third base in catcher's gear and finds a way to make three outs for his team in one play.
One could believe that Buster's character here is a younger version of his sheltered professor from "Speak Easily," and like that later film this one is funny even if it doesn't always make full use of his particular comedy abilities and style. It feels a little more typical than most of his best comedies, and doesn't feature many of the large-scale and involved mechanical gag sequences that he excelled at until the thrill ending in which Keaton gets the girl. Perhaps as a contrast to the more conventional nature of the story and some of the comedy in this feature, Keaton ends the film which a brilliant gag that subverts the typical "Hollywood ending" in just a few utterly logical and hilarious seconds.
This is a good comedy and well worth a viewing for the comedy Buster Keaton brings to failure at the various sports and jobs at attempts in it, but as a film it has to be said that it is less than well-structured and dynamic.