The Scarecrow (1920 film)

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The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow 1920.jpg
Buster Keaton and Luke
Directed by Edward F. Cline
Buster Keaton
Written byEdward F. Cline
Buster Keaton
Produced by Joseph M. Schenck
StarringBuster Keaton
Sybil Seely
Joe Keaton
Joe Roberts
Cinematography Elgin Lessley
Edited byBuster Keaton
Distributed by Metro Pictures
Release date
  • December 22, 1920 (1920-12-22)
[1]
Running time
21 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

The Scarecrow is a 1920 American two-reel silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton, and written and directed by Keaton and Edward F. Cline. [2]

Contents

Plot

The Scarecrow

Buster plays a farmhand who competes with his housemate (Roberts) to win the love of the farmer's daughter (Sybil Seely). Running from a dog that he believes is rabid, he races around brick walls, jumps through windows, and falls into a hay thresher that rips off most of his clothes. After Sybil’s father sees him in this compromising position, he is forced to flee and borrow a scarecrow's clothes in a nearby field as a disguise. After he escapes, he runs into Sybil and trips into a kneeling position while tying his shoes which Sybil interprets as a proposal. They speed off on a motorcycle, with Joe and the farmer (played by Buster's father, Joe) in hot pursuit. Scooping up a minister during the chase, they are married on the speeding motorcycle and splash into a stream, where they are pronounced man and wife.

Cast

Buster accidentally proposes to Sybil in The Scarecrow (1920). Buster Keaton The Scarecrow 1920.png
Buster accidentally proposes to Sybil in The Scarecrow (1920).

Music

In 2013, the Dallas Chamber Symphony commissioned composer Brian Satterwhite to write and original musical score for The Scarecrow. [3] It premiered during a concert screening at Moody Performance Hall on November 19, 2013 with Richard McKay conducting. [4]

See also

References

  1. "'Leopard Woman' Thrills American Theater Patrons". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 8, 1920. p. 7. "The picture, which yesterday opened a week's run at the American Theatre to capacity business, is a production truly big from a production angle [...] The new Buster Keaton comedy, 'The Scarecrow,' made a real impression upon the audience. It has been aptly termed the best comedy Mr. Keaton ever made and one of the best productions of its kind ever seen on the screen." Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  2. Fristoe, Roger. "The Scarecrow." Turner Classic Movies. November 7, 2017.
  3. Laughlin, Jamie. "The Dallas Chamber Symphony Lured Us In With Slapstick. Then, it Pulled the Rug Out". Dallas Observer. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  4. Laughlin, Jamie. "The Dallas Chamber Symphony Lured Us In With Slapstick. Then, it Pulled the Rug Out". Dallas Observer. Retrieved December 12, 2024.