''The Haunted House'' 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 Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

. It was written and directed by Keaton and Edward F. Cline. The film has a runtime of 21 minutes.

Plot

Keaton plays a teller at a successful bank. Unbeknownst to him, the manager of the bank and his gang are planning on pulling off a robbery and hiding in an old house that they have rigged up with booby traps and effects to make it appear to be haunted. After a mishap that afternoon with Keaton getting glue all over the money and himself, he almost thwarts the gang's robbery, but when the owner of the bank walks in and sees Keaton armed with a gun, he assumes it was he who tried to rob it. Keaton flees and takes refuge in the old house; however, a troupe of actors from a theatre production are also in the house and are clad in their scary costumes (ghosts, skeletons, etc.), leading Keaton and the gang of robbers to believe the house actually is haunted. After Keaton has many encounters with the "ghosts" and the house's booby traps, he discovers the scam, and the manager is revealed as being behind the robbery. As the manager is about to be taken away, he hits Keaton over the head and knocks him out, before escaping. Next, we see Keaton being awoken by two angels at the foot of a large stairway, which he ascends all the way to

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

. He asks

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

to be let in but is denied and sent all the way down to

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

instead. However, this is all revealed to be a dream sequence, as Keaton regains consciousness in the house seconds later.

Cast and characters

as bank clerk *

Virginia Fox Virginia Oglesby Zanuck ( Fox; April 19, 1899 or 1902 or 1903 or 1906 – October 14, 1982) was an American actress who starred in many silent films of the 1910s and 1920s. Life and career Fox was born as Virginia Oglesby Fox in Wheeling, West ...

as bank president's daughter * Joe Roberts as bank cashier * Edward F. Cline as bank customer * Dorothy Cassil as flirty bank customer (uncredited) * Mark Hamilton as tallest ghost (uncredited) *

Natalie Talmadge Natalie Talmadge (April 29, 1896 – June 19, 1969) was an American silent film actress who was the wife of Buster Keaton, and sister of the movie stars Norma and Constance Talmadge. She retired from acting in 1923. Early life and career Ta ...

as fainting female bank customer (uncredited)

Legacy

Christopher Workman commented, "

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

belongs to a different, more simplistic era of comedic storytelling. As such, it doesn't work too well today... utit has a certain amount of naive charm. Even in its day, there wasn't much original about it, given that haunted houses occupied by criminals had been a staple of the genre for nearly two decades already."Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 237..

References

External links

* *
''The Haunted House''
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

*
''The Haunted House''
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 ...

The Haunted House - short film with piano score
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haunted House, The 1921 films 1921 comedy films American silent short films American black-and-white films Films directed by Buster Keaton American haunted house films Films directed by Edward F. Cline 1921 short films Silent American comedy films Articles containing video clips Films produced by Joseph M. Schenck 1920s English-language films Films with screenplays by Buster Keaton American comedy short films 1920s American films Silent horror films

Plot

Cast and characters

Legacy

See also

References

External links