Hard Luck
- 1921
- 22m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
Strange things ensue after a young man attempts to take his own life.Strange things ensue after a young man attempts to take his own life.Strange things ensue after a young man attempts to take his own life.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film was considered to be Buster Keaton's major lost film for over 60 years until it was discovered in 1987. The recovered print had dozens of shots and scenes and gags missing throughout the film, making many of the extant gags non-understandable, including the final two gags missing entirely: the pool dive, which Keaton said got his biggest laugh at the time it was originally released, and the Chinese family. The print was preserved in the Raymond Rohauer Collection and later released on home video.
Over a decade later a tinted print was discovered complete except for the final Chinese family scene. That final scene was discovered in a badly degraded Russian copy. The now complete film, with tinting, was restored by Lobster Films in 2001 and released on DVD.
In 2015 the tinting was restored to the original B&W, and new completely rewritten intertitles were substituted throughout with many new ones added, and this version was re-released on Blu-Ray.
- GoofsBuster steps off a curb by a narrow street with no streetcar tracks, into a wide street with an approaching streetcar.
- Quotes
Zoo committee member: Have you ever been connected to any branch of science?
Suicidal Boy: I was once attached to a branch of the zoo...
- ConnectionsFeatured in Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987)
Featured review
Great
Hard Luck (1921)
**** (out of 4)
Complete version
A down on his luck and depressed Buster Keaton tries to commit suicide but even has hard luck at that. This is probably my favorite Keaton short and while a few of the jokes don't work the majority of them are right on the money and hilarious. There are countless memorable scenes here including the attempt to hang himself, jumping in front of the "car" and the wonderful stunts with the horse towards the end. This was my first time watching the complete version of this, which shows what happens when Keaton jumps off the high dive (it was missing from earlier versions). I had never read or heard what happened in this once lost segment but the wait was certainly worth it because the gag is among the most mind numbing stunts in Keaton's career.
**** (out of 4)
Complete version
A down on his luck and depressed Buster Keaton tries to commit suicide but even has hard luck at that. This is probably my favorite Keaton short and while a few of the jokes don't work the majority of them are right on the money and hilarious. There are countless memorable scenes here including the attempt to hang himself, jumping in front of the "car" and the wonderful stunts with the horse towards the end. This was my first time watching the complete version of this, which shows what happens when Keaton jumps off the high dive (it was missing from earlier versions). I had never read or heard what happened in this once lost segment but the wait was certainly worth it because the gag is among the most mind numbing stunts in Keaton's career.
helpful•42
- Michael_Elliott
- Mar 12, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Nonsens
- Filming locations
- MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, California, USA(scenes with Gen. Harrison Gray Otis)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime22 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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