''Hard Luck'' is a 1921 American
two-reel
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
silent comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
starring
Buster Keaton, written and directed by Keaton and
Edward F. Cline. It runs 22 minutes. For sixty years it was Keaton's only major lost film until it was partially reconstructed in 1987, with the critical final scene—which Keaton called the greatest laugh-getting scene of his career—still missing. It was later discovered in a Russian archive print, and now the full film is available.
Plot
Buster plays a down-on-his-luck young man who decides to commit suicide after losing his job and his girl. After several inept attempts to end his life—and bolstered by whiskey disguised as poison—he joins an expedition to capture an
armadillo. He finds himself becoming more confident through a series of adventures (such as fishing and fox hunting) as the film proceeds. But the confidence becomes his undoing as he misses the pool in a dive from a high board and hits the ground on the far side with such force that he disappears into a hole. Some years later, an Asian-garbed Buster climbs out of the hole in the now dry and deserted pool followed by a Chinese wife and three young children.
Cast
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Buster Keaton – Suicidal Boy
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Virginia Fox – Virginia
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Joe Roberts – Lizard Lip Luke
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Bull Montana
Lewis Montagna (born Luigi Montagna; May 16, 1887 – January 24, 1950), better known as Bull Montana, was an Italian-American professional wrestler, boxer and actor.
Biography
Born in Voghera, Italy, into a poor country family — and at a ti ...
– Virginia's husband (uncredited)
See also
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Buster Keaton filmography
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List of American films of 1921
A list of American films released in 1921. In the years before, during and since World War I several major studios based in Hollywood had come to dominate American film production including Paramount, Fox, Universal, Vitagraph, Gold ...
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List of rediscovered films
This is a list of rediscovered films that, once thought lost, have since been discovered, in whole or in part. See List of incomplete or partially lost films and List of rediscovered film footage for films which were not wholly lost.
For a fi ...
References
Bibliography
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External links
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''Hard Luck'' at the
International Buster Keaton Society The International Buster Keaton Society Inc.— a.k.a. "The Damfinos"—is the official educational organization dedicated to comedy film producer-director-writer-actor-stuntman Buster Keaton.
Mission
According to the Damfinos, their mission is "t ...
1921 films
1921 comedy films
1920s English-language films
Films directed by Buster Keaton
Films directed by Edward F. Cline
American black-and-white films
American silent short films
Films produced by Joseph M. Schenck
Films with screenplays by Buster Keaton
Articles containing video clips
1920s rediscovered films
1921 short films
American comedy short films
Silent American comedy films
Rediscovered American films
1920s American films
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