It is true that by the time SPITE MARRIAGE was released in 1929, Buster Keaton had already made just about all of his best work, and this film may be said to mark the beginning of a fast decline, as the artist Keaton was forced into the role of an ordinary, hired actor at MGM. Even so, in this last silent film of his, he still managed to display the material with enough of the former Keaton Magic that it stands out, in retrospect, as a worthy swan song. The story is nothing spectacular: Buster (here named "Elmer" for the first time) is in love with stage actress Trilby Drew (Dorothy Sebastian), and regards it as a truism to see every single one of her appearances in an ongoing Civil War drama. Several events, notably Buster's brief and utterly unsuccessful stint as a stand-in actor, leads the two to marriage. Unbeknownst to our hero, however, this is only Trilby's way of getting a revenge on her boyfriend, who has suddenly become engaged to someone else. A "Spite Marriage" if ever there was one. Expectedly, Trilby is soon forced by her manager to leave Buster. Several more odd coincidences lead up to Buster and Trilby being reunited alone on a yatch, however, where our hero is finally given opportunity to demonstrate that he really is a man, as he struggles to beat up a group of boot-leggers who take command over the yatch.
Like his first film at MGM, THE CAMERAMAN, SPITE MARRIAGE was based on a carefully prepared script, written by employees at MGM who only vaguely, one would imagine, followed Keaton's original story synopsis. This must have been frustrating to the comedian, whose former films (including classics such as OUR HOSPITALITY and THE GENERAL) had never been "written" in a literal sense, but were the results of story conferences with trusted and experienced gag-men such as Clyde Bruckman, with Keaton always having the final say. As a result, SPITE MARRIAGE has a sort of "studio feel" to it, which is probably its most unfortunate aspect; it doesn't really feel spontaneously playful in the way Keaton's previous work had. One of the most pleasing aspects with films such as OUR HOSPITALITY is that the story appears to be well thought out, following traditional dramaturgy rules as much as required for in order to make an engaging story, but keeping enough open room for improvisation that it doesn't feel too revealingly organized. By contrast, SPITE MARRIAGE appears to follow an A-B-C-D-formula which seldom suits comedy well.
The good news is that Keaton at this point had still not given up. Although he sometimes had to fight hard for it, he convinced his producers to keep in some of the material which they felt was inappropriate. The best example of this is the sequence where newlyweds Buster and Trilby arrive at their hotel suit, the lady being dead drunk. Keaton is transformed into his former, imaginative self as he struggles to get the unconscious lady to bed. The bit was largely, if not completely improvised, and remains the most memorable part of the film. Keaton would return to the sequence many times later, including at least one time on TV in the 1950's with his wife Eleanor. Other highlights include the final part with Keaton outwitting the dangerous boot-leggers; I name that sequence with some hesitancy, as Keaton himself reportedly fought to have it omitted, feeling that a simpler ending would be more fitting. However, there's no way of getting around that he did the best he could out of the material.
As Keaton's swan song in silent films, SPITE MARRIAGE all in all remains a worthy finale. Notably, Keaton had in fact been eager to make it a talkie, but MGM refused (which, if we take a look at the majority of his soon-to-be talking films at said studio, we should probably be grateful for). For all the creative freedom he had now lost, what we tend to forget is that Keaton even in his heyday was never independent to the same degree which Chaplin and Harold Lloyd were. He occasionally had to appear in productions he didn't totally believe in himself even in those years, such as COLLEGE; I rank SPITE MARRIAGE to be somewhere on the same level as these. Finally, Dorothy Sebastian is definitely worthy of a mention as his leading lady in this film, being more believable and complex than most of Keaton's former leading ladies.
Like his first film at MGM, THE CAMERAMAN, SPITE MARRIAGE was based on a carefully prepared script, written by employees at MGM who only vaguely, one would imagine, followed Keaton's original story synopsis. This must have been frustrating to the comedian, whose former films (including classics such as OUR HOSPITALITY and THE GENERAL) had never been "written" in a literal sense, but were the results of story conferences with trusted and experienced gag-men such as Clyde Bruckman, with Keaton always having the final say. As a result, SPITE MARRIAGE has a sort of "studio feel" to it, which is probably its most unfortunate aspect; it doesn't really feel spontaneously playful in the way Keaton's previous work had. One of the most pleasing aspects with films such as OUR HOSPITALITY is that the story appears to be well thought out, following traditional dramaturgy rules as much as required for in order to make an engaging story, but keeping enough open room for improvisation that it doesn't feel too revealingly organized. By contrast, SPITE MARRIAGE appears to follow an A-B-C-D-formula which seldom suits comedy well.
The good news is that Keaton at this point had still not given up. Although he sometimes had to fight hard for it, he convinced his producers to keep in some of the material which they felt was inappropriate. The best example of this is the sequence where newlyweds Buster and Trilby arrive at their hotel suit, the lady being dead drunk. Keaton is transformed into his former, imaginative self as he struggles to get the unconscious lady to bed. The bit was largely, if not completely improvised, and remains the most memorable part of the film. Keaton would return to the sequence many times later, including at least one time on TV in the 1950's with his wife Eleanor. Other highlights include the final part with Keaton outwitting the dangerous boot-leggers; I name that sequence with some hesitancy, as Keaton himself reportedly fought to have it omitted, feeling that a simpler ending would be more fitting. However, there's no way of getting around that he did the best he could out of the material.
As Keaton's swan song in silent films, SPITE MARRIAGE all in all remains a worthy finale. Notably, Keaton had in fact been eager to make it a talkie, but MGM refused (which, if we take a look at the majority of his soon-to-be talking films at said studio, we should probably be grateful for). For all the creative freedom he had now lost, what we tend to forget is that Keaton even in his heyday was never independent to the same degree which Chaplin and Harold Lloyd were. He occasionally had to appear in productions he didn't totally believe in himself even in those years, such as COLLEGE; I rank SPITE MARRIAGE to be somewhere on the same level as these. Finally, Dorothy Sebastian is definitely worthy of a mention as his leading lady in this film, being more believable and complex than most of Keaton's former leading ladies.