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A mediocre musical that provides a glimpse of Buster Keaton’s brilliant comedy.
Date of Release: March 22, 1930
Studio: MGM
Director: Edward Sedgwick
Cinematographer: Leonard Smith
Editor: William Le Vanway, George Todd
Production Designer: Cedric Gibbons
Screenplay: Richard Schayer, Paul Dickey
Music: Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk
Sound: Karl E. Zint, Douglas Shearer
Choreography: Sammy Lee
Production Designer:
Costumes: David Ward
Leading Actors:
Buster Keaton (Elmer Butts)
Anita Page (Elvira)
Trixie Friganza (Ma)
Robert Montgomery (Larry)
Fred Niblo (Director)
Edgar Dearing (Officer)
Gwen Lee (herself)
John Milan (himself)
Lionel Barrymore (himself)
William Haines (himself, a guest)
Free and Easy was Buster Keaton’s first talkie, and second film with MGM after a non-speaking role in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Buster Keaton was at the height of his career when he made Free and Easy, a somewhat ironic title given his sad decline following his move to MGM.
Production took place at the end of 1929 under the title On the Set. The film was released with the revamped title Free and Easy on March 22, 1930.
The plot follows Elmer Butz (Keaton), manager to Miss Gopher City and aspiring starlet Elvira (Anita Page) as he accompanies Elvira and her mother Ma Plunkett (Trixie Friganza) to Hollywood. After several hilarious mishaps, Elmer finds himself starring in a new musical and is awarded a studio contract. Not all ends happily however, as Elvira leaves to marry Larry (Robert Montgomery).
Demonstrating Keaton’s international appeal, the film was also shot in a Spanish-language version with Spanish actors, including Raquel Torres, and Keaton speaking Spanish phonetically. The Spanish version was released under the title Estrellados. An edited version of the original film with English and French intertitles was released in France.
Reviews were generally positive, praising the behind-the-scenes view into the MGM lot, the performances of Anita Page and Robert Montgomery, and most notably Buster Keaton’s comedic excellence. Reviewer Douglas Fox, writing for trade magazine Exhibitors Herald World, summarized “you have a picture that ought to attract people.” The National Board of Review Magazine noted the film was “exceedingly amusing where the star meets with many comic situations in his hapless manner but less so where he begins making slapstick.”
Buster Keaton received positive to glowing reviews. The New York Times film reviewer Mordaunt Hall enthused “In an extravaganza, with some violently funny episodes and others that are only mildly amusing, Buster Keaton… joins the ranks of the talking screen players and it is a pleasure to report that his voice… thoroughly suits his unique personality.” Writing for Hollywood Filmograph, Ed O’Malley stated Buster Keaton “has busted into the vocables, and if gusts of laughter coming from the auditories can be taken as criterion of his success, he surely has gone over the top with a wam…”
Free and Easy was a commercial hit. According to Keaton biographer James L. Neibaur, the film grossed $438,000 in the US alone. The film was still playing in December 1930, where it was advertised in Canada as “The Star-Studded Comedy Carnival.”
In 1958, Free and Easy was released on television under the title Easy Go.
In the early 1990s, TNT later aired Free and Easy under its original title.
Warner Bros released Free and Easy on DVD in 2004 as part of a 2-disc Buster Keaton Collection that also included The Cameraman, Spite Marriage, and a documentary So Funny It Hurts: Buster Keaton and MGM.
In 2014, the Warner Archive Collection released Free and Easy as a stand-alone DVD which included Estrellados.
Modern day reviewers agree that Keaton’s performance stands out in an otherwise banal film.
Reviewer J. Hoberman stated the film was “less a star vehicle than an advertisement for MGM,” and claimed that “Although inanely framed, Keaton’s performances are more than game.” Film historian Matthew Hoffman describes Free and Easy as “an awkward film,” but praises Buster Keaton’s performance. Hoffman noted “Despite the limitations imposed on him, Keaton is amazing... Unfortunately, when he’s not on the screen, the film is excruciating.”
I confess I had never seen a Buster Keaton movie until Free and Easy, and this film makes me want to seek out more of his work. I agree with other modern day reviewers – Keaton’s comedy is the saving grace of the film, and his sad clown persona is genuinely moving. Trixie Friganza as Ma Plunkett is a terrific foil to Keaton and it’s easy to see why she was a vaudeville headliner in her own right. The only musical numbers are scenes from the film which Elmer inadvertently finds himself in, over-the-top production numbers in period costume which do little to advance the plot.
Date of Release: March 22, 1930
Studio: MGM
Director: Edward Sedgwick
Cinematographer: Leonard Smith
Editor: William Le Vanway, George Todd
Production Designer: Cedric Gibbons
Screenplay: Richard Schayer, Paul Dickey
Music: Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk
Sound: Karl E. Zint, Douglas Shearer
Choreography: Sammy Lee
Production Designer:
Costumes: David Ward
Leading Actors:
Buster Keaton (Elmer Butts)
Anita Page (Elvira)
Trixie Friganza (Ma)
Robert Montgomery (Larry)
Fred Niblo (Director)
Edgar Dearing (Officer)
Gwen Lee (herself)
John Milan (himself)
Lionel Barrymore (himself)
William Haines (himself, a guest)
Free and Easy was Buster Keaton’s first talkie, and second film with MGM after a non-speaking role in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Buster Keaton was at the height of his career when he made Free and Easy, a somewhat ironic title given his sad decline following his move to MGM.
Production took place at the end of 1929 under the title On the Set. The film was released with the revamped title Free and Easy on March 22, 1930.
The plot follows Elmer Butz (Keaton), manager to Miss Gopher City and aspiring starlet Elvira (Anita Page) as he accompanies Elvira and her mother Ma Plunkett (Trixie Friganza) to Hollywood. After several hilarious mishaps, Elmer finds himself starring in a new musical and is awarded a studio contract. Not all ends happily however, as Elvira leaves to marry Larry (Robert Montgomery).
Demonstrating Keaton’s international appeal, the film was also shot in a Spanish-language version with Spanish actors, including Raquel Torres, and Keaton speaking Spanish phonetically. The Spanish version was released under the title Estrellados. An edited version of the original film with English and French intertitles was released in France.
Reviews were generally positive, praising the behind-the-scenes view into the MGM lot, the performances of Anita Page and Robert Montgomery, and most notably Buster Keaton’s comedic excellence. Reviewer Douglas Fox, writing for trade magazine Exhibitors Herald World, summarized “you have a picture that ought to attract people.” The National Board of Review Magazine noted the film was “exceedingly amusing where the star meets with many comic situations in his hapless manner but less so where he begins making slapstick.”
Buster Keaton received positive to glowing reviews. The New York Times film reviewer Mordaunt Hall enthused “In an extravaganza, with some violently funny episodes and others that are only mildly amusing, Buster Keaton… joins the ranks of the talking screen players and it is a pleasure to report that his voice… thoroughly suits his unique personality.” Writing for Hollywood Filmograph, Ed O’Malley stated Buster Keaton “has busted into the vocables, and if gusts of laughter coming from the auditories can be taken as criterion of his success, he surely has gone over the top with a wam…”
Free and Easy was a commercial hit. According to Keaton biographer James L. Neibaur, the film grossed $438,000 in the US alone. The film was still playing in December 1930, where it was advertised in Canada as “The Star-Studded Comedy Carnival.”
In 1958, Free and Easy was released on television under the title Easy Go.
In the early 1990s, TNT later aired Free and Easy under its original title.
Warner Bros released Free and Easy on DVD in 2004 as part of a 2-disc Buster Keaton Collection that also included The Cameraman, Spite Marriage, and a documentary So Funny It Hurts: Buster Keaton and MGM.
In 2014, the Warner Archive Collection released Free and Easy as a stand-alone DVD which included Estrellados.
Modern day reviewers agree that Keaton’s performance stands out in an otherwise banal film.
Reviewer J. Hoberman stated the film was “less a star vehicle than an advertisement for MGM,” and claimed that “Although inanely framed, Keaton’s performances are more than game.” Film historian Matthew Hoffman describes Free and Easy as “an awkward film,” but praises Buster Keaton’s performance. Hoffman noted “Despite the limitations imposed on him, Keaton is amazing... Unfortunately, when he’s not on the screen, the film is excruciating.”
I confess I had never seen a Buster Keaton movie until Free and Easy, and this film makes me want to seek out more of his work. I agree with other modern day reviewers – Keaton’s comedy is the saving grace of the film, and his sad clown persona is genuinely moving. Trixie Friganza as Ma Plunkett is a terrific foil to Keaton and it’s easy to see why she was a vaudeville headliner in her own right. The only musical numbers are scenes from the film which Elmer inadvertently finds himself in, over-the-top production numbers in period costume which do little to advance the plot.
RESEARCH SOURCES
Books
Articles
Websites
Other
Books
- Richard Barrios, A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film, Oxford University Press (1995)
- James L. Neibaur, The Fall of Buster Keaton: His Films for MGM, Educational Pictures, and Columbia, Bloomsbury (2010)
Articles
- Brian Cady, “Free and Easy,” Turner Classic Movies (Nov 12, 2004)
- Lindsey D, “Free and Easy (1930)” The Motion Pictures (June 5, 2014)
- Douglas Fox, “Service on Pictures: Free and Easy,” Exhibitors Herald-World (April 26, 1930) p.28
- Ed. Bettina Gunczy, “Selected Pictures Guide: Free and Easy,” National Board of Review Magazine (March 1930) p.16
- Mordaunt Hall, “THE SCREEN; Buster Keaton Talks. "Music Hath Charms,” NY Times (April 19, 1930)
- J. Hoberman, “Silent Comic, Finding His Voice,” NY Times (March 23, 2014)
- Matthew Hoffman, “Buster Keaton in Free and Easy (1930),” Park Ridge Classic Film (March 10, 2017)
- Ed O’Malley, “Free and Easy,” Hollywood Filmograph (April 19, 1930), p.29
- Richard T. Ryan, “Want dopey fun? Then play ‘Dodgeball’: New to DVD,” The Ann Arbor News (Dec 10, 2004)
- Uncredited, “The Shadow Stage: Free and Easy,” Photoplay (May 1930), p.55
- Uncredited, “Big All-Star-Cast in “Free and Easy”,” Drumheller Review (Dec 19, 1930), p.4
- Uncredited, “TV Today: Wednesday, August 20, 1958,” Tampa Bay Times, (Aug 20, 1958), p.13B
- Uncredited, “Monday late night,” The Herald: TV Herald (Rock Hill, South Carolina), (Oct 4, 1992), p.11
Websites
- AFI Catalog, “FREE AND EASY (1930)
Accessed via: https://catalog.afi.com/Film/9238-FREE-AND-EASY?cxt=filmography - Buster Keaton, “Keaton’s Films”
Accessed via: https://web.archive.org/web/20120712140907/http://www.busterkeaton.com/ - Criterion Forum, “Buster Keaton Collection”
Accessed via: https://criterionforum.org/Video/buster-keaton-collection-warner-bros-dvd
Other
- Dir. Christopher Bird and Kevin Brownlow, So Funny It Hurts: Buster Keaton and MGM (2004)
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