The Scarecrow (1920 film)
The Scarecrow | |
---|---|
Directed by | Edward F. Cline Buster Keaton |
Written by | Edward F. Cline Buster Keaton |
Produced by | Joseph M. Schenck |
Starring | Buster Keaton Sybil Seely Joe Keaton Joe Roberts |
Cinematography | |
Edited by | Buster Keaton |
Distributed by | Metro Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 21 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Scarecrow is a 1920 American two-reel silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton, and written and directed by Keaton and Edward F. Cline. It runs 19 minutes. One of its more memorable scenes is the opening, where Buster and Joe Roberts share a small one-room house filled with space- and labor-saving Rube Goldberg-type devices. Later, Keaton tries desperately and comically to outrun and escape Luke the Dog.[2]
Plot[]
Buster plays a farmhand who competes with his housemate (Roberts) to win the love of the farmer's daughter (Sybil Seely). Running from a dog (played by Luke, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's real-life pet) that he believes is rabid, Buster races around brick walls, jumps through windows, and falls into a hay thresher that rips off most of his clothes. He is forced to borrow a scarecrow's clothes in a nearby field. He then trips into a kneeling position while tying his shoes, and Sybil believes he is proposing marriage. They speeds off on a motorcycle, with Joe and the farmer (played by Buster's father, Joe) in hot pursuit. Scooping up a minister during the chase, they are married on the speeding motorcycle and splash into a stream, where they are pronounced man and wife.
Cast[]
- Buster Keaton as Farmhand #1
- Edward F. Cline as Hit-and-Run Truck Driver (uncredited)
- Luke the Dog as The "Mad" Dog (uncredited)
- Joe Keaton as Farmer (uncredited)
- Joe Roberts as Farmhand #2 (uncredited)
- Sybil Seely as Farmer's Daughter (uncredited)
- Al St. John as Man with Motorbike (uncredited)
- Mary Astor as (uncredited & cut)
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "TBK 5: The Scarecrow + Gabriella Oldham." Talking Buster Keaton, October 30, 2017.
- ^ Fristoe, Roger. "The Scarecrow." Turner Classic Movies. November 7, 2017.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Scarecrow (1920 film). |
- The short film The Scarecrow (1920 film) is available for free download at the Internet Archive.
- The Scarecrow at IMDb
- The Scarecrow on YouTube
- The Scarecrow at AllMovie
- The Scarecrow at the International Buster Keaton Society
- 1920 films
- 1920 comedy films
- American films
- American silent short films
- American black-and-white films
- Films directed by Buster Keaton
- Films directed by Edward F. Cline
- 1920 short films
- American comedy films
- Films produced by Joseph M. Schenck
- Films with screenplays by Buster Keaton