Free and Easy was the first film in which the legendary comedian Buster Keaton spoke. In spite of what others say, his voice suits him and had he still been independent of the studio system, I believe he would have made the transition from silent films to talkies quite well. Alas, he was not independent of the studio system at this point in his career and thus had no control over the films he was obliged to make. Had he had such control, there was no way Keaton would have ever made a film as dismally unfunny as Free and Easy.
I'll try to give a plot summary: an idiot named Elmer is manager to an aspiring actress named Elvira. He accompanies her and her overbearing mother to Hollywood in the hopes that he can make the girl a star. They meet a matinée idol named Larry, who takes a liking to Elvira, which irks Elmer since he's in love with her as well. In between useless cameos and gaudy music numbers, Elvira never even gets a screen test, Elmer runs around the lot like a moron and somehow lands a contract, and then stars opposite Elvira's mother in a stagey "comic opera". Larry attempts to seduce Elvira; the plan backfires when she discovers he has no intentions of marrying her and she leaves him, however, they're both still madly in love (?!) and Larry changes his ways. He proposes marriage to Elvira, and she accepts, breaking old Elmer's heart in two. The final shot lingers on his sad, heartbroken face.
I would say this is the worst of the talkies he made with MGM in the early 1930s. While he gave a worse performance in the infamous What! No Beer (1933), at least that film had an actual plot and structure. Free and Easy meanders from unfunny scene to unfunny scene, whether they be filled with lame verbal humor, needless musical numbers, or Elmer bumbling about the set. It's all dreadfully boring.
And don't get me started on that insipid ending! The film is nothing but an idiotic farce all the way through, right until we get to the end, then it decides to go Chaplin on us by attempting to drench Elmer in pathos. It's like ending Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant's character getting mauled by the leopard and having him die in Katharine Hepburn's arms. It makes no sense whatsoever and does not mesh with the rest of the film.
Definitely a skip unless you're a huge Keaton fan, and even then, you're only likely to watch it once.
I'll try to give a plot summary: an idiot named Elmer is manager to an aspiring actress named Elvira. He accompanies her and her overbearing mother to Hollywood in the hopes that he can make the girl a star. They meet a matinée idol named Larry, who takes a liking to Elvira, which irks Elmer since he's in love with her as well. In between useless cameos and gaudy music numbers, Elvira never even gets a screen test, Elmer runs around the lot like a moron and somehow lands a contract, and then stars opposite Elvira's mother in a stagey "comic opera". Larry attempts to seduce Elvira; the plan backfires when she discovers he has no intentions of marrying her and she leaves him, however, they're both still madly in love (?!) and Larry changes his ways. He proposes marriage to Elvira, and she accepts, breaking old Elmer's heart in two. The final shot lingers on his sad, heartbroken face.
I would say this is the worst of the talkies he made with MGM in the early 1930s. While he gave a worse performance in the infamous What! No Beer (1933), at least that film had an actual plot and structure. Free and Easy meanders from unfunny scene to unfunny scene, whether they be filled with lame verbal humor, needless musical numbers, or Elmer bumbling about the set. It's all dreadfully boring.
And don't get me started on that insipid ending! The film is nothing but an idiotic farce all the way through, right until we get to the end, then it decides to go Chaplin on us by attempting to drench Elmer in pathos. It's like ending Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant's character getting mauled by the leopard and having him die in Katharine Hepburn's arms. It makes no sense whatsoever and does not mesh with the rest of the film.
Definitely a skip unless you're a huge Keaton fan, and even then, you're only likely to watch it once.