A Film Canon

Our Hospitality contains all the ingredients of Keaton's later masterworks, albeit in a less developed form. In particular, Keaton doesn't quite manage to abstract his persona from the narrative in the manner that will subsequently become so distinctive. As a result, he seems uncharacteristically vulnerable to physical danger, most notably in the last scene, in which he swings from a tree trunk pivoted at the edge of a waterfall to catch the heroine as she tumbles over. This is a breathtaking stunt, making the conclusion to Griffith's Way Down East seem tame by comparison. Yet the extreme sense of danger detracts from the comic tone and, worse, partially humanises Keaton - or ostensibly humanises him. In fact, this willingness to encounter violence caters to a dehumanising, exploitative tendency in the audience, only surmounted through a sublime deadpan not quite achieved here. That said, there are some remarkable moments. Keaton's fascination with transportation finds expression in a surreal nexus between train, car and coach, whose rickety negotiation of a resistant landscape provides a figure for the logistical ingenuity with which Keaton himself encounters the world. Equally manifest is Keaton's delight in the bizarre Southern sensibility: the narrative centres around the tradition that blood-feuds temporarily cease when an enemy is invited into the house. In this case, the invitation is unwitting, and Keaton's protracted stay provides a more subtle proximity to violence than the final chase.