The Passionate Plumber (1932)

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Siskoid
The Passionate Plumber is a Buster Keaton talkie where he is paired up with Jimmy Durante - perhaps they thought they'd need someone known for verbal comedy to balance Keaton's physical brand - who I find to be a dated performer. His character tells manufactured jokes then slaps his knee or stomps his foot to indicate "laugh here". It's terribly annoying. The movie's plot, such as it is, takes place in Paris (cue variable accents to the point, at first, where I thought it would play as a silent film after all), and has a literal-minded plumber cross paths again and again with a rich girl whose boyfriend is two-timing her with his "wife", keeps being taken for the other boyfriend, and so on. While the pace is a little turgid, there are enough misunderstandings to keep one's interest, but it's a different kind of comedy than what we're used to from the silent cinema star. There's some slapstick, but nothing too memorable. Sadly, there's a lot of shouting and screaming to amp up the zaniness, and ultimately that's what sinks the picture. Durante, for his part, is totally surplus to requirements. 3 years 11 months ago
ClassicLady
It seems odd to hear Buster Keaton talk and see him with more than a stone face. 10 years 7 months ago