On 2010-05-24 Annie Van Auken, Planet Earth wrote: SPEAK EASILY (1932) - Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Ruth Selwyn, Thelma Todd, Hedda Hopper, Sidney Toler, Edward Brophy
MGM´s star transition from Buster to Jimmy continues, yet here Keaton holds his own as Timoleon Zanders Post, a lonely college professor who, wrongly believing he´s inherited $750K, goes out into the world. Smitten by a talentless ingenue, Post invests in a crummy stageshow so he can take it to Broadway. Durante plays colorful entrepreneur/song-and-dance man ´Jimmy´ Dodge, who at one jubilant point sings a few lines from his signature piece, ´Can Broadway Do Without Me?´
During NY rehearsals, the self-appointed starlet (Todd) of newly dubbed and tweaked musical revue ´Speak Easily´ invites Professor Post to her apartment for an intimate party. They get roaring drunk, she passes out and the gentlemanly Post manages to drag the woman to her bed. Then he disrobes, hangs his suit on an imaginary rack in the outside hall and collapses in the other bed.
Comes dawn and with it, two giant hangovers. Feigning anger, the actress questions what happened, blames innocent Post for getting her blotto and tells him to leave. While he gathers his things, she sneakily phones a friend (Brophy) and urges him to hurry right over and pretend to be her irate brother. When the ´brother´ suddenly arrives, suitless Post hides in the other room while Brophy bellows that this cad must marry his sister.
As he´s carrying on, Jimmy climbs the fire escape and sends the dignified Post scurrying down it in his own flashy checkered duds. Then ol´ banana nose bursts out of the bedroom half-dressed to cheerily announce that it´ll be a sacrifice, but he´ll marry the girl! It´s a classic switcheroo that foils the scheme of golddigging Todd and Brophy.
This story´s last 20 minutes equals A NIGHT AT THE OPERA´s zany finale, with Buster showing considerable acrobatic skills, as his Professor goes onstage several times during premiere night and inadvertently disrupts the show, much to the delight of its audience.
Absolute chaos is heightened by a bill collector with an injuction who, when he corners Post, will demand an owed 10K or he´ll close the show. At first he doesn´t believe that clownish Keaton is the smash hit´s owner and not its star; his payment demands are met when an investor with deep pockets buys half-interest in Speak Easily. Post gets the girl of his dreams and it´s a happily ever after ending to a thoroughly satisfying comedy.
Highly recommended!. And summed up by saying The Great Stoneface on the Great White Way. Currently Speak Easily has an overall rating of 4 over 10.
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Buster Keaton claimed Studio: Gotham (dba Alpha) Release Date: 06/22/2004
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