Doughboys (1930 film)

Doughboys
Directed by	Edward Sedgwick
Written by	Dialogue by Al Boasberg and Richard Schayer. Story by Al Boasberg and Sidney Lazarus
Starring	Buster Keaton Sally Eilers Cliff Edwards Edward Brophy
Music by	William Axt
Cinematography	Leonard Smith
Edited by	William LeVanway
Distributed by	MGM
Release dates	August 30, 1930
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Doughboys is a 1930 American Pre-Code comedy film starring Buster Keaton. It was Keaton's second starring talkie vehicle.^[1]

Plot

Elmer (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

• Buster Keaton as Elmer
• Sally Eilers as Mary
• Cliff Edwards as Nescopeck
• Edward Brophy as Sgt. Brophy
• Victor Potel as Svendenburg
• Arnold Korff as Gustav
• Frank Mayo as Captain Scott

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."^[2] Keaton felt that Doughboys was the best of the films he made for MGM.^[1]

References

1. 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. Doughboys, TCM.

External links

• Doughboys at the Internet Movie Database
• Doughboys at the International Buster Keaton Society