Buster Keaton's 'College' Trivia Quiz

Answer: No

Much like the prolific Woody Allen, Buster Keaton thrived on the independence of starring in movies that he was also responsible for directing. A lot of the time he was a co-director but he still had a big say on what went on. 'College', even though James W. Horne is credited as director, is one such example where Keaton didn't really have anybody telling him what to do; there was no pressure from the major Hollywood studios. Despite not having the directing credit for this film, Keaton was the man who called the shots on set; he reportedly said of Horne, "[He was] absolutely worthless to me... I don't know why we had him."

The lack of pressure from the major Hollywood studios would soon change and being signed up to MGM saw a general decline in the standard of his work and simultaneously catalysed his personal descent into alcoholism. I mentioned earlier that Keaton was free to do as he chose when it came to 'College' and that is true if money is kept out of the picture; filmmaking and money however, go hand-in-hand. As hard as it is to believe in the modern day, Keaton's previous film, 'The General' (1926), was a flop and it was an expensive flop at that; the consequence of such a failing was that Keaton's funding dropped and so too did the quality of his output. 'College's limited budget resulted in a mediocre production and the silent-era star suffered his second successive flop. The hands of the guardians of the metaphorical purse strings started to get tense; the opening of the bag of seemingly endless money was finally strung shut, Keaton's freedom strangled.

Answer: Graduation

Buster Keaton was one of the great physical comedians of the silent age, his stunts as good as anything seen in the modern era. The graduation scene at the beginning of 'College' is not notable for its dangerous stunts however, but for its depiction of Keaton's character as a lonely person who was cut off from the rest of his cohort. Graduation should be a time when students enjoy a shared success and it is perhaps this fact that makes Keaton's isolation all the more striking.

There are some great gags in this part of the film and it is at this juncture that, in my opinion, the film peaks; it is all downhill from here!

Answer: A Curse

In the opening scenes of 'College', we are invited into the graduation ceremony of a group of seniors divided; there are those who love academia and there are those that love all things sport. Quite amusingly, this scene is acted out by people who look far too old to about to be leaving school and embarking upon an exciting new life at college - let us not worry too much about that little fact, though! Keaton's character, Ronald, is a bookworm and a successful one at that; not only is he bright but he is insufferable as well, liking everybody to know just how clever he is.

His farewell address to the graduating cohort is not a unifying one, his words further isolating him from the pack. The man who likes spending his time in a library has nothing but disdain for the "jocks" amongst the crowd and he goes on to discuss the merits of intellectual stimulation at the expense of sport; the intertitles help us understand that his views on the sporting fraternity are deeply-held, "the Curse of the Athlete".

Answer: Anne Cornwall

Anne Cornwall featured in a couple of films opposite silent-era greats such as Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy; 'College' was one of her most notable credits. I am not a big fan of the character she plays in this film, Haynes being a rather superficial person who only finds Ronald attractive when he is doing everything he can to not be himself! Then again, Ronald doesn't particularly ingratiate himself to people either; he is intolerant of anybody with different interests to those of his own, so in that regard maybe Ronald and Mary were meant to be together from the beginning (such a cliché).

As per the plot of the movie though, Mary isn't interested in Ronald at the outset; Ronald's bookish "charm", or whatever it is he has going on, doesn't do it for Mary as her type is men who exude athletic masculinity. For Buster enthusiasts, the irony in all this is that Keaton was exceptionally fit, a fact that would be visible to all when he eventually dons his tightly-fitting sports clothes.

Answer: Athletics

Ronald decides to sell himself out by neglecting his true interest in books; he instead starts to make efforts to fit in with the sporting crowd. He soon finds that his exertions don't have the desired effect; the "jocks" simply don't like him and a few attempts at clearing the bar in the high jump isn't likely to change that. That said, the boorish gentlemen who spend all their time pounding the racetrack are not the ones he is trying to impress; Mary is his only concern. Even though he is inept at all things athletics, everybody loves a trier! On that note, Mary starts to discover affections for Ronald (even if it is an inauthentic version of the man).

Answer: Yes

The film does indeed contain a blackface scene with Keaton attempting to fool restaurant owners that he is black (only black people are allowed to work at this particular joint). I don't really want to dwell too much on this as it is only a small part of the film. Additionally, I wasn't around in the 1920s and so cannot relate well to the mindset of the age. All I will put out there is that the scene doesn't seem to be derogatory towards black people; it looked to me as though deep down, Ronald, a lonely and misunderstood person, just wanted to belong. For those who wish to know more about blackface, there are many authoritative works out there by people who offer far more on the subject than I ever possibly could.

Answer: Rowing

The coxswain is the person in charge of steering the rowing boat as well as being responsible for encouraging and motivating the rowers who power it. Ronald gets this motivational role on the orders of the dean of the college, played by Snitz Edwards, as the dean is worried about one of his top students getting consistently poor grades. Ronald had previously made it known to the dean that he was having trouble in the love department, an area in which the dean himself was no expert, and as a way of helping his student "get the girl" (and the grades) he selects him as coxswain.

This doesn't go down well with the college's rowers or indeed with the man who coaches them!

Answer: Slipping Ronald a sleeping potion

Ronald's coach is clearly not a fan of interference, even when it is the dean who is meddling! As he cannot overrule the decision made by the man in charge, the coach is left to find a cunning way to circumvent it. He decides to slip a sleeping potion into one of Ronald's beverages, but in a gag that is as old as time, the cups get switched and the wrong person consumes the sleeping potion.

The unfortunate person in this instance is the original coxswain, the gentleman that Ronald had pushed out of the crew (not a very good day for him!).

When it becomes apparent to the coach just what has happened, he has no other choice than to let Ronald hop on board and cox the crew. The coach may well have had his doubts, but fans of Keaton are well aware of his pluck; he never intentionally achieves what he sets out to, but circumstances favour him more often than not. Would that be the case in 'College'?

Answer: False

True to form, a Buster Keaton character turns out to be a success despite the odds being stacked against him. The race itself is quite humorous with Ronald going above and beyond the role of coxswain, very literally steering his crew to victory. Surely Ronald, with his newly-found status as the college's star coxswain (though still disliked by his crew), must have gone up in the estimations of his love interest, Mary?

Answer: Pole vaults through her window

The pole vault through the window of a first-floor dormitory is quite an impressive thing to see; none of that CGI garbage, this is 1920s action: real and risky. The stunt proved to be so tricky that even the master of physical comedy couldn't do it, instead the work being outsourced to an Olympic pole vaulter. Keaton can't really be blamed for this as pole vaulting is an extremely difficult thing to do, and as anybody who has ever seen it done in person will attest to, it is a spectacular sight.

The impressive nature of pole vaulting translates well to film and this stunt wouldn't be out of place in the films of the modern day. In terms of the plot, pole vaulting through a window seems to be something that Mary particularly desires in a man and so Ronald gets his girl. I still find it a rather immoral tale, that one has to significantly change who they are to be considered a worthy person but then film is usually at its best precisely when it is immoral! For some reason though, "best" is not something that can be applied to this film with much sincerity; it is a mediocre example of physical comedy in the silent age, a film made at the cusp of the "talkies" era ('The Jazz Singer' was released in the same year).