classicsoncall Buster Keaton finds himself in the middle of a family feud in this story, or at least his character Willie McKay does. The Hatfield and McCoys are replaced in the picture by the Canfield and McKays, and Willie unwittingly becomes involved by developing a soft spot for his train traveling partner, Virginia Canfield (Natalie Talmadge). Once again, Keaton's comic genius is on display with the situations he creates and the energy he puts into doing his own stunts and pratfalls. The 'log over the waterfall' sequence had to be one of the most daring and innovative types of scenes ever filmed back in the 1920's, and Willie's 'save' of Virginia as she's about to go over the falls is a masterstroke of timing and camera work. I also got a big kick out of the scene in which a Blue Ridge Mountain hillbilly pelted stones at the west-bound train with the conductor retaliating by throwing pieces of firewood lumber back at him. That was a crafty way of stocking the fireplace back home with virtually none of the work!The best however is probably the rail switch that separates the train cars from the locomotive and how they bob and weave their way down the track before hooking up again. I don't know if Keaton had a penchant for trains, but one figures prominently here just as in one of his greatest feature length films, "The General". Fortunately, Keaton's McKay is able to make peace with the Canfield clan by the end of the story, closing out with yet another effective sight gag. As the Canfield father and sons lay down their weapons, Willie manages to set down close to a dozen of his own!

bsmith5552 "Our Hospitality" is built around a long standing feud somewhere in the early 19th century south, between the Canfields (Hatfields) and the McKays (McCoys).Buster Keaton plays Willie McKay who was raised in New York after his father had been killed by a Canfield. One day he receives a letter informing him that he has inherited the McKay "estate". In a wild 1830 train ride south he meets a girl (Natalie Talmadge) with whom he strikes up a friendship. On arrival at their destination, she invites him to her home for dinner.McKay discovers, much to his dismay, that the girl he met on the train is actually a Canfield. Her father (Joe Roberts) and her two brothers (Ralph Bushman, Craig Ward) want to kill poor Willie but are prevented from doing so by a family "code" which guarantees any guests in their home, "Our Hospitality".Of course the Canfields try to trick Willie into going outside and he continually foils their efforts. When Willie finally does escape in a woman's dress the fun really starts which culminates over a cascading waterfall where the hero rescues the heroine.There's some really funny stuff in this film. The train ride over "bumpy" tracks which includes the engine winding up behind the coaches is hilarious. The cat and mouse games at the Canfield mansion keep the action and comedy flowing. The final chase down the rapids contains some incredible stunts performed by Keaton. If I have a criticism about this film it's over the prologue which sets up the feud aspect and shows McCay senior being shot. Entirely unnecessary, especially in a comedy. The whole thing could have bee explained through a few title cards or a scene between Willie and the aunt who raised him.The engineer of the train is played by Buster's father Joe who had some alcohol problems that had forced the Keaton family act to fold five years earlier. Although his part was small, you can see some of the mannerisms that Buster used during his career. For example, watch the scene in which Keaton Sr. is standing almost in silhouette on his engine. You would swear that it was Buster.Buster's wife of the day, Natalie Talmadge plays the girl and his son Buster Jr. plays the 1 year old Willie in the prologue.

CinemaClown A parody of a real-life feud between two families in the 19th century, Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality may not be as memorable as Sherlock Jr. or The General but it nonetheless works as yet another accomplished piece of technical filmmaking from "The Great Stone Face" and packs in a few genuinely hilarious situations over the course of its runtime but there are also numerous stretches of nothingness in between that never lets it off the ground.The story of Our Hospitality covers the feud between two families that has been ongoing for so long that no one remembers who or what started it in the first place. The plot follows a young man who, while en route to his hometown, meets a girl on the train and they soon become acquainted. Invited to supper at her place, he ultimately learns that she belongs to the rival family and he's going to be executed by her kins as soon as he departs, following which he keeps finding ways to not leave the house.Directed by Buster Keaton, Our Hospitality is part serious family drama & part comedy and while both these elements are blended nicely, there are still a few overstretched dramatic moments in between that could've been further trimmed. The situation comedy however is expertly handled and Keaton's deadpan expressions only help in making it all the more effective. From a technical standpoint, there isn't really much to complain about as the set pieces, black-n-white photography & other elements are brilliantly executed.On an overall scale, Our Hospitality once again presents Buster Keaton in control of his craft, but its desired effect does feel diminished by time. There are moments that make you wonder how Keaton pulled it off, like the famous waterfall rescue scene, but there is quite a bit of plodding to sit through if all you are looking for is some good old-fashioned laughs. I do appreciate the technical mastery presented here and its contribution to its genre cannot be downplayed but I did expect more from what this silent classic eventually had in store. Still, worth your time & money and a definite must for Keaton fanatics.

Michael Neumann One of the least revived of Buster Keaton's classic silent comedies is also one of his best: a typically graceful and hilarious parody of the legendary Hatfield-McCoy feud, which not only provides the expected thrills and belly laughs (the two often coincided, for example during the climactic waterfall rescue), but also recreates, with remarkable fidelity, the early 19th century American frontier (south of New Jersey). As in the best silent comedies the plot is little more than an outline, with Buster playing an unwitting Northern ancestor reclaiming an old family rivalry alongside his paltry inheritance. But the film is rich in comic detail and invention, with a remarkable sophisticated structure for its time, beginning with a stark dramatic prologue to set up the characters (Buster as a child is played by the actor's own infant son). What follows is a long, leisurely, nostalgic journey through the Shenandoah Valley aboard an antique DeWitt-Clinton prototype locomotive, actually no more than a stagecoach on rails (and donated after filming to the Smithsonian Institute). Throughout his career Keaton insisted he only wanted to make people laugh, but his comedies can be enjoyed just as easily for their style and technique, and this film in retrospect reasserts Keaton's position (in only his second feature) as not just another talented clown, but a truly gifted filmmaker.