Main Cast: Buster Keaton, Sybil Seely, Joe Roberts
Release Year: 1920
Country: US
Run Time: 2rl minutes
Plot
One Week was the first Buster Keaton-directed film to be released to the public (The High Sign was made earlier but shelved for several months). Based on a now-obscure educational short called Home Made, it involves a build-it-yourself house given to Keaton and his new bride (Sybil Seely). Unbeknownst to the couple, the wife's disgruntled former suitor has changed the numbers on the boxes containing the building materials. Keaton does make the house in one week, as the instructions have promised, but what a house! Right off the bat, this early Keaton film shows his penchant for big props (the cockeyed house, a passing train). Even though it's only a two-reeler, it still managed to become one of the top-grossing movies of 1920. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
Review
Buster Keaton's first solo two-reel short revealed the technical precision and near-surreal flair with large props that would distinguish Keaton's greatest features. Deriving physically precarious slapstick comedy from the mis-numbered construction of a do-it-yourself house, Keaton created a dwelling worthy of Salvador Dali, with a second floor front door and walls and roof akimbo. A house-spinning storm seems a worthy denouement, but the climactic train crash tops it as a technical sight gag. After editing makes it seem as if Keaton's beloved house is stuck in the path of an oncoming train, he cuts back to reveal the train passing on a harmless parallel track -- only to have another train appear from the opposite direction. Deemed a "sensation" on its release, One Week heralded the arrival of a new comic master, mining the logical yet outrageous comedy of extreme everyday circumstances. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
