Parlor, Bedroom and Bath Reviews

Keaton made the transition from silents to talkies with a bit of difficulty. He'd already done FREE AND EASY and DOUGHBOYS (both 1930) before this remake of the 1920 film of the same name which had starred Eugene Pallette and was based on a play that ran in 1918. While certainly nowhere near the quality of his masterful silents, PARLOR, BEDROOM AND BATH contains several funny moments. Keaton plays a man who earns his living nailing up advertisements on telegraph poles. While working one day, he is nearly killed by a car. The driver, Denny, is extremely upset because the girl he loves, Eilers, refuses to marry him until her older sister, Christy, is betrothed. Comedies being what they are, Christy meets Keaton and falls in love. Knowing that Christy will fly into a jealous rage if Keaton is caught flirting with another woman, the rest of the clan takes great pains to ensure this doesn't happen. Unfortunately Denny employs the lovely Greenwood to train the dim-witted Keaton in the proper skills of proposing marriage. This of course leads to the teacher-student relationship blossoming into true love, with the resulting comedy gags following closely behind. The film was shot mostly on location at Keaton's palatial Beverly Hills home, and while supporting players Brophy and Edwards contribute some nice bits, it's Keaton's picture all the way. Director Sedgwick, who helmed most of the Great Stone Face's movies, ensured this and tried to protect the comedian when the studios took control of his career. Keaton also performed in the French and German versions of the film, speaking the foreign languages himself (the supporting players were all actors from the respective countries). Denny, an actor whose career spanned 50 years (he would go on to play the role of Algy in the BULLDOG DRUMMOND series), had a vocation in addition to acting: he designed the first radio-controlled airplane ever flown in the US, a feat that made him a force in the aviation industry.