Parlor, Bedroom and Bath

A Buster Keaton sound comedy directed by Edward Sedgwick for MGM. Keaton plays Reginald Irving, a hotel clerk who is recruited to impersonate a playboy in order to help a wealthy man convince his girlfriend's disapproving sister that he has a respectable friend. The scheme requires Irving to romance the sister, leading to a series of comic complications across multiple hotel rooms. The film is a bedroom farce in the classic mode, but Keaton's minimal creative control at MGM is evident—the gags are more dialogue-driven than his silent masterpieces, and his physical comedy is constrained by the studio's formula. Still, Keaton's timing and presence elevate the material above the average MGM comedy of the period. The film is in the public domain.