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There are two reasons to watch "Sidewalks of New York" -- the talent of the youthful cast, especially the boy who plays 'Clipper' Kelly, and a number of excellent physical comedy scenes from the inimitable Buster Keaton. A third reason might be in order to appreciate the unintentional humour of some of the dialogue sequences; but unfortunately, while weak, the exchanges aren't really bad enough to be funny.
I suppose the material is fairly weak overall; it's basically a fairly standard 1930s 'Dead End Kids' plot, with Keaton's character grafted on for comic effect as a millionaire who falls in love with a girl from the slums. However, it's lively and full of novel twists, with its main defect being set-piece scenes that drag due to over-reliance on lame dialogue and Buster Keaton falling over.
{Sample exchange, paraphrased: SHE, departing: "I hope I didn't hurt your feelings." HE, gazing rapturously after her: "I can never be hurt by anything again!" TWO SMALL CHILDREN with a skipping rope promptly trip him up from behind, cracking his head on the pavement. (Cue intended laughter)}
The scenes between 'Butch' and 'Clipper', on the other hand, are played straight with a fast pace, and are surprisingly effective. The plot revolves around cross-dressing, passing Clipper off as a woman, 'the blonde bandit', in order to throw the police off the trail, but it's not played for laughs. At least, not until it comes into contact with the boys' club's very bad play, in which our millionaire is taking the lead female role...
As for Keaton's accent in the said part -- to be honest it doesn't distress me half as much as it does his fellow-Americans, for the simple reason that I wouldn't know an authentic American upper-crust accent if it bit me in the face! It's true that he sounds completely ridiculous mouthing phrases like "Come, come, my little man", but then I think it's intentional: anyone would. As soon as he comes across as more natural, I don't notice any more; whether the 'natural' tones in question are authentic or not is a matter on which I'm certainly unqualified to judge.
The enjoyable comedy highlights of this film, on the other hand -- and they *are* thoroughly enjoyable -- are all Keaton's doing, and they are almost all sight gags. The classic scene in the record shop, where the ever-helpful Poggle holds up the titles of one popular songsheet after another to prompt the semblance of a lover's declaration, Cyrano-de-Bergerac-style, only to fall hopelessly adrift with his final random choice: the novelty hit "Yes, we have no Bananas". (Sadly, the end of this scene, and hence its consequences, goes beyond the bounds of credulity, and as a result is less effective -- but the beginning is very funny, as is Keaton's face when confronted with the bananas...) The demonstration wrestling match between Poggle and his employer, neither of whom has the faintest idea of what they're doing: this sequence, and especially Keaton's ever-changing expressions of fiercely inventive inspiration, would not be out of place in any one of his silent movies. The boxing match that follows: this is, of course, drawing heavily on Keaton's similar unequal fight in "Battling Butler", and as a result is less fresh and funny when you've recently seen the earlier film, but it's still well worth a watch, with a whole new set of twists to the outcome.
The birthday-party scene is perhaps notable in that it is the only one of these 'highlights' in which dialogue plays a significant role -- demonstrating that, given a halfway-decent script, Keaton was perfectly capable of holding his own in the talkie stakes -- and the only one in which his character is actually provided with any emotional depth. As he tries to comfort Clipper's sister and shield the boy, he is both funny and moving. (It is also worth appreciating the Keaton-style (rather than MGM-style) gag in which he *doesn't* drop the cake!) More echoes from the past as Keaton cross-dresses for the comedy melodrama, reminiscent this time of a similar act he had done over ten years earlier as an exotic girl-dancer opposite Fatty Arbuckle. This could have been simply excruciating to watch, like the failed on-stage business in "Free and Easy", but in fact -- perhaps because we've all seen school plays, perhaps because of the obvious rapport between Buster and co-star Cliff Edwards, with whom he'd had a similarly successful partnership in "Doughboys" -- the effect is rather charming.
The final scene I'd name as worthy of note is the finale, where Keaton holds off the band of bandits single-handed while the boys race to the rescue. Never mind the dodgy plot (the boys' sudden change of heart has to be one of the least convincing moments in the script -- surely someone could have come up with a better rationale?) or the hero's sudden unexplained wrestling prowess; never mind that the bullets-in-the-fire sequence is again a quote from a 1920s hit (this time "Hard Luck"). The athletic fight and siege sequence with its mixture of ingenuity and acrobatics is a flashback to happier memories, Buster Keaton's talents unleashed once more, and it garnered a spattering of appreciative applause as the film ended.
Not a great picture, but plenty of reason to watch for the Keaton fan -- if you can make it through the slow-as-treacle courtroom sequence, that is.
score 7/10
Igenlode Wordsmith 20 March 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1320913/ |
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28-2-2021 12:05:02