Doughboys (1930) is cited as one of the least painful of the talkies that MGM put Buster Keaton in. This is true-- in the same way that a root canal is less painful than being crucified.
Like Free and Easy (1930) and the other talkies after it, Doughboys contains a lot of shrieking and loud remarks which are meant to be funny, but they just come off as irritating. Buster and Cliff Edwards are relaxed in front of the camera, but all of the other actors give mediocre, stiff performances, which were unfortunately common in early sound film. The jokes almost all fall flat.
There are good moments in between the awkward acting and obnoxious shouting. There's the scene where Buster, Cliff, and fellow recruits do a little music number with the ukulele. There's the scene where Buster finds some friends among his German enemies and tries getting them dinner. But these scenes are charming rather than funny.
If you're a Keaton devotee like me, then yes, you should see it. But I doubt you'll want to see it more than once.
Like Free and Easy (1930) and the other talkies after it, Doughboys contains a lot of shrieking and loud remarks which are meant to be funny, but they just come off as irritating. Buster and Cliff Edwards are relaxed in front of the camera, but all of the other actors give mediocre, stiff performances, which were unfortunately common in early sound film. The jokes almost all fall flat.
There are good moments in between the awkward acting and obnoxious shouting. There's the scene where Buster, Cliff, and fellow recruits do a little music number with the ukulele. There's the scene where Buster finds some friends among his German enemies and tries getting them dinner. But these scenes are charming rather than funny.
If you're a Keaton devotee like me, then yes, you should see it. But I doubt you'll want to see it more than once.