Palooka from Paducah (1935) User Reviews

The Three Keatons reunited.

[tom.hamilton · 6/10 · 2 May 2002]

Buster Keaton's career as a performer comes full circle in this free wheeling little comedy which unites him with his mother, father and sister, all together for the only time on screen. Though produced very cheaply at the nadir of Buster's career this is another occasion where Buster pulled out the stops and managed to make an at least sporadically hilarious film. Perhaps working alongside his family perked him up, but he really seems to enjoy himself in this one and in it's unassuming way it's funnier than anything he did at MGM after Spite Marriage.

Fans will be a little taken aback by his appearance in this, both he and his father sport the most ridiculous beards, and `rube' accents as they portray a family next to whom the Beverley Hillbillies look sophisticated.

Adding a surrealistic touch to this virtually plot less romp all four Keaton's play with stone faces, and there's a real delight in watching them play off each other especially the scenes with Buster and Joe where Buster is clearly cracking the old man up.

Along with Allez Oop and Grand Slam Opera, proof that comic genius can survive just about anything.

Inbred comedy

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 5/10 · 24 March 2006]

I'm not sure I can really form a fair judgement on this film, since I suspect it may well be full of local in-jokes that I'm completely missing -- starting with the title, for I had no idea what (or, subsequent research informs me, rather 'who') a Palooka was, or of where a Paducah might be.

But I got the general gist of it, I think. Hill-billies are the local yokels of the American countryside, and the film is poking fun at their stereotypes. When their income from liquor-distilling falls through, the Diltz family try to set the loutish elder brother up as a professional wrestler, with Buster as trainer and subsequent referee...

There are a couple of good moments -- my favourite being when the dinner-bell rings in the middle of a practice bout, and the tank-like contestant charges in to table without so much as bothering to dislodge diminutive Buster, who still has his knees wound horizontally around his brother's throat in a totally ineffective (and impressively gravity-defying!) headlock. However, I have to say that I didn't find the material based around the general stupidity and loutishness of the family to be particularly funny: it's just not my sort of humour. There were also a number of gags I simply didn't get at all, including a puzzling episode where Buster appears to pull on a piece of elastic attached to the wall before leaving the room (has he mistaken it for his braces, perhaps?), and -- unfortunately -- the entirety of the brief epilogue.

I'm sure the whole regional stereotypes thing works a whole lot better for people who are actually acquainted with the stereotype in question. But I have to say I can't really perceive the on-screen 'family dynamic' among the various Keatons either, despite recommendation. The film of which this actually reminds me most is "My Wife's Relations", featuring a similarly unlovely family, and of course, it does quote one table-manners gag explicitly from the earlier short, as a muttered grace is followed by a mass fork-attack on the food. There is no equivalent to the original's follow-up no-meat-on-Fridays twist, however... and this more or less sums up the whole film for me; by and large individual gags, good or bad, fail to build up into anything greater than the sum of their parts.

I saw this as the opening short of a programme featuring Keaton's own earlier MGM production "The Passionate Plumber", and thoroughly enjoyed the latter despite its low reputation; but I'm afraid "Palooka from Paducah" left me cold.

Pleasant and undemanding entertainment...but look at the cast!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 28 June 2011]

This is a highly unusual Buster Keaton film in that his family (mother, father and sister) co-star with him! I can't think of another film like this and it's like a reunion of the old act that the family did on stage. In addition, Dewey Robinson (a VERY familiar face to old film buffs like myself) and Bull Montana (a professional wrestler in real life) are along for the fun.

The Diltz family lives in the hills and are a lot like the type of very stereotypical folks you'd see in a L'il Abner comic. And, like you'd expect from such folks, they are moonshiners. However, they finally got around to learning that Prohibition was repealed a year ago and they need to find another way to make money. So, Buster's big brother (Robinson) decides to become a pro wrestler--and considering his looks, he appears that he'll be a great one! The problem is that he needs to practice--and guess who his sparring partner will be? Yep, poor little Buster.

When they arrive in the city for the big match, Buster somehow enters the ring with his brother and is the ref. The match degenerates to a crazy free for all and eventually the entire Diltz clan enters the fracas. It's all mildly entertaining but not laugh out loud funny...or even close. The bottom line is that if you expect the brilliance of Keaton in the 1920s, you'll be disappointed. However, when you consider just how awful his films had become with MGM, you'll appreciate just how good this film for Educational Pictures actually is, as at least it is entertaining.

By the way, two years later, Keaton's family returned for "Love Nest on Wheels"--Keaton's last film for Educational.

Hillbilly Heaven

[lowbrowstudios · 11 January 2011]

On the face of it a hillbilly comedy featuring a comic icon sounds like the nadir of the bottom rung for all concerned but that comes nowhere near describing the delightful PALOOKA FROM PADUCAH. Buster Keaton's third short for Educational is a major change of pace from what one thinks of as a Keaton comedy until the absurdest humor of it all comes rolling home. Everyone speaks in a parody of a country dialect while Buster and his Pa sport the most ridiculous fake beards similar to the makeshift version Buster slaps together backstage in SPITE MARRIAGE (1929). Keaton gives the production an extra twist by casting his entire real life Keaton clan in it. (Well...all except brother Harry. I guess he didn't like to work much). The former vaudeville performers fit right in with the storyline. They look like an Al Capp drawing come to life.

This unbridled, fast pace short mixes slapstick with off-the-wall gags such as Buster's attempts to teach his behemoth of a brother how to wrestle to the nightly sleeping arrangements of the family The best of Keaton's film work tends to have a biographical feel to it and this short is no exception; the dinner scene evokes memories of the on-stage horseplay of the Three Keatons while Louise proves she can be just as deadpan as her brother when an errant stick of dynamite goes off causing her to appear out of nowhere and then scatter like the wind.

As many have noted before the presence of his family seems to energize Busters' performance but I contend that he was getting comfortable in the production schedules of these shorts and was in the throes of creating a string of top grade comedies - of which this is one of them.

Buster keeps it all in the family.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 27 December 2016]

It's difficult to get into this third Educational short not only starring Buster Keaton which features several members of his family as well. It's nearly as bad as the 1940 version of "Lil Abner" which featured Keaton in a small role. It's not just the hillbilly stereotypes, but the fact that it simply is just totally without laughs. The premise has Keaton supposedly becoming a champion prizefighter after being discovered like oil was for the Clampetts. Keaton's granny like ma ends up in the ring as well. If the idea of scrawny Keaton wrestling with another hillbilly three times his size seems funny to you, then go for it. I sat there, stone faced like Buster himself, and never laughed once.

At Least the Keaton's Are Together

[Michael_Elliott · 1 May 2011]

Palooka from Paducah (1935)

** (out of 4)

This Educational Picture isn't a winner but it remains watchable due to Buster Keaton getting to act with his father Joe, his mother Myra and his sister Louise. In the film the four play redneck moonshiners who are about to lose their business once the government legalizes alcohol. In need of cash Joe and Buster decide to turn their brute brother (Dewey Robinson) into a wrestler. Once in the ring things don't go as planned. PALOOKA FROM PADUCAH will certainly want to be viewed by Keaton die-hards as it does feature his entire family and there's no question that the four have some good chemistry and work well together. The good things to say about this film pretty much end there, although there are a couple funny bits in the first few minutes including one funny line of dialogue about the difference between the one and two dollar bottles of moonshine. We also get another funny joke where Buster takes a fall after trying to put his leg up on a barrel. Sadly that's pretty much it in terms of comedy as once again Buster finds himself in a low-budget film trying to overcome a rather weak screenplay. The second portion of the film takes place inside the ring where Buster finds himself working as the referee. He really doesn't have much to do except fall down, fall out of the ring or get tangled up in the ropes. None of it was well-written and sadly there aren't any laughs to be found.