Doughboys (film)

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Doughboys
Doughboys-movie-poster-1930-1020197185.jpg
Directed by Edward Sedgwick
Written by Al Boasberg
Richard Schayer
Sidney Lazarus
Starring Buster Keaton
Sally Eilers
Cliff Edwards
Edward Brophy
CinematographyLeonard Smith
Edited byWilliam LeVanway
Music by William Axt
Production
company
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Distributed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Release date
  • August 30, 1930 (1930-08-30)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Doughboys is a 1930 American Pre-Code comedy film starring Buster Keaton. It was Keaton's second starring talkie vehicle [1] and has been called Keaton's "most successful sound Picture." [2] A Spanish-language version was also made under the title, De Frente, Marchen.

Contents

Plot

Elmer (Buster Keaton), a member of the idle rich, is smitten by working girl Mary (Sally Eilers), who will have nothing to do with him. When Elmer's chauffeur gets caught up in an army recruitment drive and quits, Elmer goes to an employment agency to find a new driver and accidentally enlists in the army. Elmer learns that Mary is on the base to entertain the troops and learns that his drill sergeant, Brophy (Edward Brophy), is also interested in Mary.

Cast

Reception

Keaton had creative input in Doughboys, which was partly inspired by his own experience in World War I. Although the writers kept inserting puns and verbal jokes into the script, Keaton insisted that his dialogue, at least, be less "jokey." [3] Keaton felt that Doughboys was the best of the films he made for MGM. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Neibaur, James L. (2010). The Fall of Buster Keaton: His Films for M-G-M, Educational Pictures, and Columbia . Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p.  42. ISBN   978-0-8108-7682-8.
  2. Flamini, Roland (1994). Thalberg: The Last Tycoon and the World of M-G-M. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. pp. 231–232. ISBN   9780517586402.
  3. Doughboys [ permanent dead link ], TCM.