The Play House (1921) on Netflix
One man plays every part of a variety show: the conductor, the orchestra, the dancers, the audience. A spectator remarks to the woman beside him that he is the whole show.
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- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.4/104,957 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
A single performer carries a variety bill at a theater, taking the roles of conductor, every orchestral player, the actors, the dancers, the stagehands and the minstrels, and appearing as every man and woman in the seats; nine parts in the minstrel troupe alone fall to him. The film builds its opening as a string of tricks on the viewer, doubling the same figure over and over so that little is quite what it first appears to be. Sitting among the crowd, one audience member turns to the woman beside him and remarks that this fellow seems to be the whole show.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Play House (1921)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Keaton considered playing every part in the whole of The Play House, but held back, worried audiences "might tire of the joke" or take it as showing off; he later regretted not having done it.
- The camera was hand-wound, so cameraman Elgin Lessley's hand had to be perfectly steady to avoid changes in speed. Keaton timed each character's dance to a banjo player working with a metronome, and kept his method secret for decades.
- Buster Keaton had fractured his ankle on the film he made just before this one, so The Play House leaned more on cinematic techniques and sight gags than on stunt work.
