The Haunted House is a 1921 American two-reel silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton. It was written and directed by Keaton and Edward F. Cline.[1] The film has a runtime of 21 minutes.
| The Haunted House | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Written by | |
| Produced by | Joseph M. Schenck |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Elgin Lessley |
| Distributed by | Metro Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 21 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Plot edit
Keaton plays a teller at a successful bank. Unbeknownst to him, the manager of the bank and his gang are planning on pulling off a robbery and hiding in an old house that they have rigged up with booby traps and effects to make it appear to be haunted. After a mishap that afternoon with Keaton getting glue all over the money and himself, he almost thwarts the gang's robbery, but when the owner of the bank walks in and sees Keaton armed with a gun, he assumes it was he who tried to rob it. Keaton flees and takes refuge in the old house; however, a troupe of actors from a theatre production are also in the house and are clad in their scary costumes (ghosts, skeletons, etc.), leading Keaton and the gang of robbers to believe the house actually is haunted. After Keaton has many encounters with the "ghosts" and the house's booby traps, he discovers the scam, and the manager is revealed as being behind the robbery. As the manager is about to be taken away, he hits Keaton over the head and knocks him out, before escaping. Next, we see Keaton being awoken by two angels at the foot of a large stairway, which he ascends all the way to Heaven. He asks Saint Peter to be let in but is denied and sent all the way down to Hell instead. However, this is all revealed to be a dream sequence, as Keaton regains consciousness in the house seconds later.
Cast edit
- Buster Keaton as bank clerk
- Virginia Fox as bank president's daughter
- Joe Roberts as bank cashier
- Edward F. Cline as bank customer
- Dorothy Cassil as flirty bank customer (uncredited)
- Mark Hamilton as tallest ghost (uncredited)
- Natalie Talmadge as fainting female bank customer (uncredited)
Legacy edit
Christopher Workman commented, "[The film] belongs to a different, more simplistic era of comedic storytelling. As such, it doesn't work too well today...[but] it has a certain amount of naive charm. Even in its day, there wasn't much original about it, given that haunted houses occupied by criminals had been a staple of the genre for nearly two decades already."[2]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "TBK 7: Teller Talks Buster Keaton! + Interview with Teller." Talking Buster Keaton, November 13, 2017.
- ^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 237.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
External links edit
- The short film The Haunted House is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- The Haunted House at IMDb
- The Haunted House on YouTube
- The Haunted House at AllMovie
- The Haunted House at the International Buster Keaton Society
- The Haunted House - short film with piano score
