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Hard Luck

Hard Luck

1921Short⏱️ 22m
ShortComedy
6.9
IMDB Rating
2,891 votes

Strange things ensue after a young man attempts to take his own life.

Director
N/A
Writers
Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton
Stars
Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, Joe Roberts
Release Date
March 14, 1921
Language
None, English
Country
United States
🎯 1
Nominations
💬 21
Reviews
📋 1.2K
Watchlists
📽️ View on IMDB

🎭 Top Cast

Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
as Suicidal Boy
Virginia Fox
Virginia Fox
as Virginia
Joe Roberts
Joe Roberts
as Lizard Lip Luke
Bull Montana
Bull Montana
as Virginia's Husband
👤
Bessie Wong
as Chinese Wife

🎬 Technical Specs

Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Sound
Silent
Color
Black and White
Filming Location
MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, California, USA
Production
Joseph M. Schenck Productions

🏷️ Keywords

attempted suicidearmadillofox huntingcountry clubswimming pool

🎯 Categories

SlapstickComedyShort

⭐ Featured Review

Strange, Bizarre, Insane!
by ccthemovieman-12006-09-02
8/10

"This was an odd Buster Keaton in that the story totally changed directions multiple times, out of nowhere. The strange 22-minute movie begins with Buster trying to kill himself in various forms. Obviously, he doesn't succeed and the reasons why are funny. It may morbid to some but I found this part very clever and the best part of the film. All of sudden, he's obtained the job of hunting for an armadillo for a local zoo and while he's doing that, he winds up in a country club where they are having a fox hunt. There are numerous sight gags involving Buster trying to mount the ho..."

💡 Did You Know?

This film was considered to be Buster Keaton's major lost film for over 60 years until it was discovered in 1987. The recovered print had dozens of shots and scenes and gags missing throughout the film, making many of the extant gags non-understandable, including the final two gags missing entirely: the pool dive, which Keaton said got his biggest laugh at the time it was originally released, and the Chinese family. The print was preserved in the Raymond Rohauer Collection and later released on home video.

Over a decade later a tinted print was discovered complete except for the final Chinese family scene. That final scene was discovered in a badly degraded Russian copy. The now complete film, with tinting, was restored by Lobster Films in 2001 and released on DVD.

In 2015 the tinting was restored to the original B&W, and new completely rewritten intertitles were substituted throughout with many new ones added, and this version was re-released on Blu-Ray.

📖 Synopsis

Strange things ensue after a young man attempts to take his own life.