Oh good! You found us.
We’re an on-demand movie theater where you can discover hand-picked films from festivals and collections around
the world. We make it easy for you to find films you’ll love, no matter what your interests are.
Writer on all of the 1937 shorts, Paul Girard Smith has previously worked with Buster Keaton on GO WEST and THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK. The cheapness of the Educationals actually helps in JAIL BAIT. After all, neither newspaper offices nor prisons are known for their opulence. An obvious Keaton gag is the double-uniform scene. With variations, it appears in A SOUTHERN YANKEE, a remake of Keaton's THE GENERAL, starring Red Skelton. As gag-writer, Keaton contributed a scene when Skelton walks between the lines of a Civil War battle without being fired upon by either side. A sudden gust of wind reveals how he did it; his uniform is made up of two halves, one Confederate and one Union. A double-sided flag helps the illusion. Another gag, at the beginning of the picture when Buster sees the sign in the jeweler's window, "We furnish the ring. You furnish the girl," is similar to one used in Keaton's silent short THE GOAT back in 1921. A good gag is always worth using again. So, it seems, is a plot; JAIL BAIT was remade by Columbia as HEATHER AND YON staring Andy Clyde in 1944. - David Macleod (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
GENRES
Related Films
-
Palooka from Paducah
A simple plot, indeed, but the sight of a hirsute Buster Keaton and three other Keatons in the cast makes it a lot of fun. There is an obvious rapport between the Keatons, established over years of working together on the vaudeville circuit. Buster repeated the hillbilly theme two years later in LOVE NEST...Start your free trial to watch
-
One Run Elmer
In reality, Buster Keaton was a lifelong baseball fanatic. ONE RUN ELMER must have been a pleasure to make. The game itself is almost entirely silent and incorporated many of the gags Keaton used in the charity baseball matches which he helped to arrange. They often featured of a host of fellow comedians. The gags include an...Start your free trial to watch
-
Hayseed Romance
The obvious parallel to HAYSEED ROMANCE is Buster Keaton's 1922 silent short, MY WIFE'S RELATIONS. Jane Jones is similar in build to Kate Price, Buster's memorable mother-in-law in the earlier film. Their rough handling of him is similar in both films. A plate-smashing sequence was also featured in the Stan Laurel and Oliver...Start your free trial to watch
-
Tars and Stripes
TARS AND STRIPES seems to be an example of the old Mack Sennett trick of creating a story around a setting where permission to film has been granted, in this case a U.S. Navy compound. The running gag of always returning to the rig and Buster Keaton's attempts to get food always being thwarted work well....Start your free trial to watch
Reviews
(see the best reviews)Join the conversation. Log in or subscribe to write a review!
Probably the best of the Educational shorts, with clever gags and ripe with pathos, since the girl of Buster's dreams doesn't seem to like him...thus ending with an "awww, poor sap." But, it is a bit odd that Buster never mourns the death of his roomie.