Buster Keaton on a Boat That Isn't a Boat: A Quick Look at Hollywood on Parade No. A-13

Is it worth the watch?

Honestly, you are either here for the Buster Keaton appearance or you aren't. If you want a structured narrative, skip this. If you enjoy feeling like you accidentally stumbled into a time capsule that someone left open in their basement, you'll probably get a kick out of it. People who need a plot will likely hate it. It's just a bunch of stuff happening for ten minutes.

Keaton is the main reason I even clicked play. He's dressed up as an admiral on this weird land-cruiser thing called the California. It’s exactly the kind of silly, low-stakes bit he could pull off without even trying. The deadpan face is there, obviously, but there's this weird frantic energy to the whole production that makes it feel less like a movie and more like a fever dream. 🚢

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Hollywood on Parade No. A-13 (1933) through its definitive frames.

The rest of the short is a mix of musical numbers and random cameos from stars like Cliff Edwards and Polly Moran. It’s jarring. One minute you're watching Buster do his thing, and the next, someone is singing a song that sounds like it was written on a napkin five minutes before filming started. It reminds me of the vibe in Natir Puja, where everything feels a bit disjointed and rushed.

Odd Little Notes

• The editing feels like someone was just tossing film strips into a pile and hoping for the best.
• The set design for the 'land cruiser' is hilariously cardboard.
• I spent most of the time wondering who actually greenlit these promotional shorts.
• It’s definitely not as grand as Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall, but it’s not trying to be.

There's a specific moment where the transitions just stop making sense. It jumps from a musical number to a comedy sketch with zero warning. You can almost feel the studio executives tapping their watches in the background. It's not good cinema, but it’s definitely real cinema. You know what I mean? 🎞️

It’s the kind of thing you watch once while eating a sandwich and then never think about again. But for those ten minutes, it's pretty weirdly charming. Just don't go in expecting a masterpiece.