Doughboys (1930)

(On Cable TV, March 2020) Buster Keaton served in World War I, and one imagines that Doughboys, which see Keaton’s idle-rich character accidentally set to the front, was an outlet of sorts for him. It certainly shows in the film’s more serious nature: while still a comedy, it’s more occasionally amusing than outright funny. Considering the bad years that Keaton had making early talkies at MGM after signing away his creative freedom, it’s a slight balm to find out that he considered this to be the best of his MGM films. Still, Doughboys was only his second sound feature, and the emphasis here is on plot rather than gags. I’m happy I saw it, but it’s not among Keaton’s best films—the ending peters out, and there’s a sense that here’s this comic monster leashed underneath a lot of constraints, both self-imposed and studio-mandated. There are some amusing gags, but it’s the overall plot that’s strong—perhaps as a deference to his own experiences in WWI, the film is not as ferociously funny nor as satirical as his other films, and that’s something to respect.