Nick Van Alstyne owns the Henrietta silver mine and is very rich and his son Bertie is naive and spoiled. His daughter Rose is married to shady investor Mark. Mark wrecks Bertie's wedding plans by making him take the blame for Mark's illegitimate daughter, and also nearly ruins the family business by selling off some stock at too low a price.
Acting
Keaton's face does what dialogue never could.
Practical Effects
Pre-CGI physical comedy that still lands.
Production
Gilded Age sets dripping with old money aesthetics.
Director
Herbert Blaché
Buster Keaton
Bertie Van Alstyne
William H. Crane
Nicholas Van Alstyne
Beulah Booker
Agnes Gates
Irving Cummings
Mark Turner
Edward Jobson
Reverend Murray Hilton
Edward Connelly
Mr. Musgrave
Carol Holloway
Rose Turner
Jack Livingston
Dr. George Wainright
Edward F. Cline
Stock Exchange member (uncredited)
Alfred Hollingsworth
Hathaway (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Keaton's first feature after his breakout in shorts with Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle; he later disowned much of his early work here.
The stock market climax inadvertently predicted the 1929 crash—audiences in the Depression reportedly found it less funny.
US
