College

One of the weaker Keaton flicks. There are funny parts, but I didn't care for the blackface bit (though it wasn't nearly as racist as it could have been) and I thought it unfortunate that the character entirely abandons his academic talents for the sake of trying to impress the girl with athletics.

Keaton's bookish wimp tries to win over his dream girl with athletic prowess; the trouble is, he has none. This is arguably one of his funniest pictures and features a number of great stunts, including many hilarious failed attempts at an assortment of track and field events. His heroics at the end of the film are cinema at its purest.

Some nice gags and comes together in the end, but it lacked a real romance and charm.

Uneven but reasonably funny, and the final act is a worthy conclusion.

Viewed February 16, 2022. I really enjoyed the episodic structure of this, where every sequence basically involves Keaton trying and failing at a different sport. There’s a romance involved but it seems rushed and secondary to the action. While it never reaches the heights of his greatest films, there’s a simplicity here that continually suggests what a precise filmmaker and physical performer Keaton is. Every beat is perfectly timed.

Touro

There is some good physical humor on display.

Good fun, made me laugh, although the pacing is pretty bad and the script is a little too dumb for its own good at times (don’t set the main character up as a genius and then have him act like a half-wit for most of the movie).

First Buster Keaton I've seen, not fantastic but still very funny and makes me crave more

After the extravagance of "The General," it was apparently time for Keaton to make some quick bank on something very predictable. This time around, that means a mid-budget Harold Lloyd knock-off that meanders into a bunch of uneven segments mostly on the theme of "college sports". It's fairly tepid overall, with one of those awkward blackface bits to drag down the middle. Still, it has its moments: I loved the blanket-tossing segment, and things do pick up a little at the very end.

Keaton's bookworm tries his hands on different college sport to win the respect of his love-interest. These different attempts have funny gags, but overal the movie is hurt by it feeling fragmented. It does come nicely together at the end when all his effort pays of in rescuing the girl.

A lesser Keaton that feels a bit rote and calculated compared to the inventiveness of his best work.

Is this a good film? I'm not sure. It's made at the height of Keaton's powers, so it should be better than it is. Unlike his best films, the premise is just something to hang the gags on. Without this cohesion, some jokes land and some don't.

Suffers a bit from not being quite as romantic nor the sublime technical achievement Keaton's films could be, but it's a charming incarnation of his underdog character who tries and tries again.

Gratifying College Sports comedy -- one of the first of its type -- has Keaton showing off in fine form as he grapples hysterically with sports equipment of all kinds and finally winning out over the abusive jock types.

The sports sequences were many and a little over-long, although there's a decent payoff at the end.

i did laugh at a couple of bits, but the blackface scene was revolting.

Once again Keaton acts awkward young man who does something out of his league to impress her. This time it's athletics. All film consists of sketches involving some kind of sport. Some of the gags are fun, but as a movie it suffers from severe fragmentation. There also are nice slow-mo umbrella effect and the "happy ever after ending" that was later references in the famous film "Un Chien Andalou" to keep an eye on.

An average Keaton film.

4th and final film of my short Buster Keaton marathon. Not much innovation in this film, but it's still Buster Keaton.

A bookworm (Buster Keaton), shunned by the girl he loves, decides to try his hand and sports, and despite a number of humiliations ultimately saves her from a brutish rival (Harold Goodwin). One of Keaton's weakest features, really just a bunch of episodes strung together (and none of them quite brilliant), with an uncomfortably anti-scholastic subtext and an especially egregious blackface sequence. A good finale (and a bizarre, fatalistic coda) help somewhat.

I want to see Buster Keaton do wild stunts (physical), not wild stunts (blackface).

The final reel makes up for a rather lack-luster Keaton effort, which includes an embarrassing black-face gag that nearly derails the entire film.

The obvious pitch from Keaton was, "wouldn't it be funny if I tried playing various sports?" It is, but maybe a little thin when compared to some of his other features. The random scene in the middle with him in blackface is unfortunate.