Review of Our Hospitality (1923) by Jason D — 26 Sep 2011
The first half hour was pretty unwatchable. The gags were so tame it became annoying. Most of it is a really lame train sequence that foreshadows the much better train gags in The General. The only things that even elicited a chuckle were the few humorous references provided by the anachronistic view of history as manipulated for the 1920s audience.
However, the last 45 minutes of the movie are up to the quality of other Keaton features. I swear, he seemed to be using the set from Birth of a Nation for most of it. The pace quickens quite a bit, the gags have a little more bite to them, and I feel, at least, that this movie could be rewritten as a really crass R-rated comedy for today's audience, one that pokes fun at antebellum south stereotypes.
Just my private thought though. This movie does play on the stereotypes, but only a little. Anyway, the gist is that this movie is just not very good at the beginning, but gets better as it goes along.
Not as great as the best Keatons therefore, but still standable.
This review of Our Hospitality (1923) was written by Jason D on 26 Sep 2011.
Our Hospitality has generally received very positive reviews.
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