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| PASSIONATE
PLUMBER, THE (aka: HER
CARDBOARD LOVER) (director: Edward Sedgwick;
screenwriters: Laurence
E. Johnson/Ralph Spence/based on the plays Her Cardboard Lover by Frederick Lonsdale and Dans sa candeur naive by Jacques Deval/;
cinematographer: Norbert
Brodine; editor: William S. Gray; cast:
Buster Keaton (Elmer
E. Tuttle), Jimmy Durante (Julius J. McCracken), Irene
Purcell (Patricia Alden), Polly Moran (Albine), Gilbert
Roland (Tony Lagorce), Mona Maria (Nina),
August Tollaire
(General Bouschay), Maude Eburne (Aunt Charlotte);
Runtime: 73; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Harry Rapf;
Kino; 1932) "Silent comic Buster Keaton talks and he sounds awful." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz The comedy farce based on the plays Her Cardboard Lover by Frederick Lonsdale and
Dans sa candeur
naive by
Jacques Deval were made as straight melodramas in 1927
and 1942. They
all stunk, but this comedy version stunk the most. The
laughs are few (if any), and the annoyance level at
such crude comic antics is high. In this one, silent
comic Buster Keaton talks and he sounds awful. Buster
made the big mistake of giving up his independent
movie career for a lucrative contract by MGM. They
gave him no artistic control and the result was a
series of commercially successful films that were
embarrassingly wretched. Director Edward Sedgwick
("The Cameraman") misused the comedian, whose subtle silent film
humor was overtaken by the aggressively loud verbal
comedy of the second-billed Jimmy Durante. Elmer Tuttle (Buster
Keaton) is an eccentric Parisian plumber and amateur
inventor, who is hired by dizzy high-strung socialite
Patricia Alden (Irene Purcell) to fix her shower but
soon gets roped into being hired to make her supposedly married
Spanish sweetheart Tony Lagorce (Gilbert Roland)
jealous. Later it's learned that Tony is a swinging
bachelor playboy, who strings his Spanish girlfriend Nina (Mona Maria) along by saying
he's married to Patricia. Helping 'The Great
Stoneface' in the deception are Patricia's loyal maid
Albine (Polly
Moran) and the loudmouth chauffeur McCracken (Jimmy Durante),
who recruited the plumber to work for his boss. There is a duel between the
plumber and the Spaniard, blustery scenes with a
hot-tempered Tony forcing his way into Patricia's
mansion, the fickle Patricia unable to forget about
the oily Spaniard whom she loves and hates, and the
Spaniard's other love conquest Nina excitedly
confronting her man in the presence of Patricia and Elmer. The slapstick comedian was
out of his element doing this verbal romantic farce.
It was a film that played against his strengths, and
it was a crime how the studio abused their star
property with such crappy films without letting him
use his artistic talents to full advantage. But then
again, Buster sold out for the money. He learned the
hard way a valuable lesson, that having a desirable
product is more important than becoming rich. REVIEWED ON 10/27/2011 GRADE: C- Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |