Review of Neighbors

Neighbors (1920)
10/10
Breaking necks and pulling up pants only hoe Buster can
26 June 2023
A simple love letter from Virginia Fox's Girl to Buster (and his response back) through a whole in a fence leads to misunderstandings, chasing with cops (duh), a moment of uh-oh mistaken blackface (uhh) that turns into Buster with a hilarious painted Two-Face, a daring rescue attempt involving Buster going back and forth from his place to his neighbor's standing on two other guys, and an ungainly would-be wedding almost spoiled by the father of the bride buying a 5 cent ring. Along the way, Buster has to get dug out of a hole (he wound up in there head first, does it matter how), and dangles by feels from a clothesline.

You know it's a brilliant feat of comic filmmaking over a century later when a slipping on a banana peel bit gets big laughs and a bit involving loose un-suspendered pants at Buster and the Girl's flawed wedding leads to a master's class in timing and building on a moment to another moment. It doesnt have the death-defying stunts of Buster's most iconic shorts, but it is amazing anyway, especially when he uses a tie to go across a thin clothesline. You know who the Dads are here, and my goodness is one of them a brutish bastard (oh, just rescuing the lady from rampant abuse, s you do), because of their oversized mustaches.

I love when the old man pulls the bedsheets aside and kittens are underneath.
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