Nonureva Really Surprised!

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Amy Adler Ronald, the Boy (Buster Keaton) has his eyes on one gal only at his high school graduation, Mary (Ann Cornwall). But, alas, she is the girlfriend of the best athlete in the school. Ronald, the top scholar, tries to put down sports in favor of academics, in his valedictorian speech. Wow, does he ruffle a few feathers, even though Mary may take some of his speech to heart. As this young woman and her present beau are going to a nearby college in California, Ronald convinces his mother that he can work his way through school and attend the same school. Once there, though, Ronald is put down for his job as a soda jerk and his lack of athletic prowess. In order to claim Mary's affections and silence the bullies, Ronnie launches a brave attempt to make any and every team available, from baseball to track-n-field. The results are what you might expect. Or are they? This silent classic is a keeper for the ages. Keaton is one truly funny and physical comedian. Just watch him try the discus, where the metal frisbie takes off the wig of a bigwig, or the high jump, where he lands "planted" in the ground and the giggles will flow like the Mississippi. Cornwall and the other cast members are wonderful as well. Then, too, the novelty of reading the screen for cues and listening to the expressive music of the times makes it a must-see. Its surprising, however, how little human nature changes over time, as much of the story will seem to hit home for every viewer. If you are at all interested in the silent movie era, this is a great place to start your journey into the beginnings of the cinematic age. Your appetite and appreciation for the times, and for Keaton, will grow by leaps and bounds.

Bill Slocum Incredible stunts and deadpan expressions were Buster Keaton's stock in trade, but his best films relied on more to interest audiences. "College" plays more like a filler project between more ambitious efforts, showcasing the talents of its silent comic star only in fits and starts.Buster plays Ronald, valedictorian of his high school class but too poor to afford college and a shot at the woman he loves, Clayton State College freshman Mary Haynes (Anne Cornwall). He enrolls at Clayton anyway, tries his hand at work, and jumps into scholastic athletics despite his grievous lack of physical coordination. Mary is impressed he's trying, but his old rival Jeff (Harold Goodwin) is one of many who block his path.Directed by James W. Horne and an uncredited Keaton as an excuse for a series of sports-related gags, "College" barely makes it to its running time of just over an hour, even with the padding of a long intro centered around Buster's high-school graduation. Ronald's college career seems to consist of alternating bouts of athletics and hazing, with some period shots of USC's campus for atmosphere.Buster's stone face is a little more expressive in this film, beginning with his big graduation speech, an ironic denunciation of sports he delivers with amusing, eye-bulging passion as he sways from side to side, feet planted on the floor. "What have Ty Ruth or Babe Dempsey done for Science!" he demands, angering his classmates so much they leave in mid-ceremony.Speaking of Ty Cobb, his former Tiger teammate Sam Crawford appears here as Clayton's baseball coach in one of the better sequences (he was really USC's baseball coach at the time). As the third baseman, Buster gets caught in a rundown, then as a baserunner manages to cause a triple play by himself. Crawford finally ends things by gives Buster the boot.The overall storyline is episodic and haphazard. For a job, Buster first works as a soda jerk, scattering milk and eggs hither and yon until Mary walks in and Buster ashamedly pretends to be a customer, too. This would seem a promising idea, but instead the boss confronts him and Buster walks out, ending that whole deal with a shrug. Later, he tries to be a "colored waiter" by donning blackface. The color comes off; the sequence doesn't.Even the celebrated visual trickery found in Keaton's other films gets short shrift here. The most prominent involves him being tossed up in the air holding an umbrella, which causes him to "slow" when falling. It's a poor device in service of a weak gag, involving a heavyset woman dressing at a window who gets annoyed at Buster's apparent peeping. Like much else in the film, it could have been eliminated without notice.Finally, with the help of a friendly dean who identifies with Buster's lovelorn state, he gets a varsity position as the coxswain, or "coaxer" as Buster calls it, for Clayton's crew team, which must win their big race or face elimination from the school program.There's an energetic ending, like the blackface humor rather dated, in which Buster must save Mary from a fate worse than death - being caught in her room with a boy. Never mind the couple's fully dressed and she's struggling to get out; it's instant expulsion for her if she's caught. Here, rushing to save her, Buster shows off the athleticism that he has been keeping under cover for the whole film, and it's a nice payoff in that you get laughs and thrills, standard fare in most Keaton films though only in evidence here in the last few minutes.Like many commenters have already noted, "College" is regarded as a lesser Keaton, though its last shot is jaw-droppingly memorable; Keaton's unsentimental sensibilities at their stoniest. It's a good thing he used the shot for a film like "College"; it might have spoiled one of his funnier efforts.

zardoz-13 The sophomoric 1927 Buster Keaton silent comedy "College" lacks the overall creativity of "The General" (1927), "Steamboat Bill, Jr.," (1928) and "The Cameraman" (1928). Buster's gags and routines are tame compared with the three aforementioned epics. Nevertheless, "College" isn't completely without merit. The irony, for example, is that the physically fit Buster plays a protagonist without any athletic ability until the villain endangers our hero's sweetheart. Like Charles Chaplin, Buster exploited incongruity as the source for his comedy. "College" is basically your boy wants girl, boy loses girl, and then boy wins girl nonsense. "On the sunkist slopes of the Pacific where land and water meet—California" reads the opening title card. Rain pelts Union High School auditorium as people huddle under newspapers and umbrellas. The opening 10 minute-plus scene depicts Buster's high school graduation day "where the next step is either to go to college or go to work." Buster arrives at graduation with his mother. Although Ronald has brought an umbrella, his cheap $15 suit shrinks up on him as that he looks ridiculous. This gag and his problems closing an umbrella gag are clever and cute. This is the most non-traditional graduation because nobody wears caps and gowns. They had to otherwise everybody would have looked the same and we would never have seen Buster's suit shrink. All in all, this is the most thought out and calculated sequence in "College."Mary Haynes—the heroine--has a memorable introduction. The male students remove several coats that they had generously allowed her to bundle up in to avoid getting drenched. She is described as "the winner of every popular contest in which the boys were allowed to vote. When she receives his diploma, the principal predicts that she will fit in at Clayton College as she did at Union High School. Star athlete Jeff Brown (Harold Goodwin) appears amid fanfare. He is described "as a man who loved exercise so much that he has made many a girl walk home." When the principal hands Jeff his diploma, he notes that Jeff took seven years to earn it. Lastly, the principal congratulates Buster for being "the most brilliant scholar." Of course, everybody laughs at Buster because his suit has shrunken so much that the buttons on his vest have popped off and his sleeves have retreated virtually to his elbows. Buster alienates everybody at graduation with his anti-athletic speech. As the top student, he receives an honor medal. "The student who wastes his time on athletics rather than study show only ignorance." His words anger Jeff and the other fellows. "Future generations depend upon brains and not upon jumping the discus or hurdling the javelin." Mary (Anne Cornwall) criticizes Ronald. "When you change your mind about athletics then I'll change my mind about you." She rides away with Jeff.Mary enters Clayton College. Neither Ronald nor his mother can afford the tuition, so Ronald looks for a job so he can work his way through school. He gets a temporary job as a soda jerk clerk. He carries a picture of Mary around in his suitcase and boards in the dormitory. The soda clerk job doesn't last long because Ronald is afraid that Mary will see him in such a lowly job and ridicule him so he quits.Dean Edwards (Snitz Edwards) congratulates Ronald about his maturity. He praises him, "A boy like you can make this athlete infested college a seat of learning once more." Eventually, Ronald quits his soda jerk job when Mary enters the shop. Ronald decides he wants to take a try at sports. Ronald gets on the baseball team and his idiotic antics result in his team losing. Jeff and some guys catch him walking home from the disastrous baseball game and toss him on a blanket in the air. He sails so high that he can see an old battle axe dressing through her balcony window. Infuriated, she storms onto the balcony and swats at him with an umbrella. More umbrella buffoonery! He seizes the umbrella and floats up and down until he tears down a balcony and brings down the battle axe on it. Ronald tries out for track and other related athletics and again fails miserably. Pay close attention to these shenanigans because they play an important part in the conclusion. Looking for work, Buster masquerades as an African-American in a restaurant. The black paint on his face smears off when he is serving Jeff and Mary on a date. When the blacks discover that he's an imposter, they run him off. Eventually, the Dean summons our hero to his office and complains about Ronald's failing grades. "I took up athletics because the girl I love thinks I'm a weakling," Buster explains in his own defense. The Dean requests that the rowing coach make Buster the coxswain on the rowboat team. The coach, however, has other ideas and he slips Buster a mickey. Things don't work out for the coach and the person intended to replace Buster gulps the potion. The photography for the boat rowing race is incredibly good. One of the boats has the semi-profane name 'Damfino.' This too must have been pretty risqué for its day.Ultimately, Jeff shows his true antagonistic colors when he locks Mary in her dorm room and stays with her. She warns him that his being caught in her room will mean expulsion for both of them. Jeff points out that he has been expelled already. Mary calls Ronald for help and he responds with alacrity. The last nine minutes of "College" portray Ronald as an entirely different kind of guy and the ending is truly odd. Again, "College" is not top-notch Keaton, but it is worth watching and the DVD is available in a Kino International print on Genius Entertainment for under a dollar in some stores.

Michael_Elliott College (1927) *** (out of 4) Lesser quality Buster Keaton film has him playing a dorkish book worm who is told by his girlfriend that she doesn't want him unless he becomes an athlete. Once in college Buster goes all out trying to find a sport that he can do. This isn't a masterpiece or even a very good film but it does have plenty of laughs and it's always fun seeing the athletic Keaton dumb it down and not being able to perform all the athletic stuff. I'd say this film was rushed into production after The General tanked at the box office and it's pretty much unlike anything Keaton had done before. You really don't get to see him genius stunts and instead you pretty much just get a one-note joke of a dork trying to be a star athlete. Still, there are plenty of laughs including the best sequence where Keaton, needing a job, gets in blackface only to have it melt off and then he's attacked by the real black folks.