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← Older revision		Revision as of 15:29, 28 September 2022
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−	~~This~~ is an ~~article stub~~. ~~Delete~~ this ~~text~~.	+	== Introduction ==
		+	[[File:Hard Luck qq00 02 10qq00019.jpg\|thumb\|Buster waits for a safe to fall on him.]]
		+	Hard Luck is an American two-reel silent comedy film released in 1921 starring Buster Keaton. The film was written by Keaton and [[w:Edward_F._Cline\|Edward F. Cline]]. The run time is 22 minutes. Buster Keaton called the final scene the greatest “laugh-getting” scene of his career. It was lost for sixty years until discovered in a Russian archive print.
		+
		+	== Plot ==
		+	Buster Keaton plays a young man who is experiencing a string of “hard luck.” He decides to commit suicide after losing both his job and his love in a row. He first tries to jump in front of a trolly train, but he’s caught at the end of the line, and it turns around. He then cuts a rope causing a safe to fall missing him by an inch. He takes the rope and attempts to hang himself from a nearby tree but is chased away by police officers. He attempts to get hit by a car only to find it is two motorcycles that whiz past. He spots some poison through a window and chugs it down. He does not realize that it is whiskey labeled incorrectly.
		+
		+	Buster then agrees to go on a nature hunt for the zoo. In an attempt to be a hunter, Buster sets up camp. He grabs his fishing pole to catch dinner. He uses the first small fish he catches to reel in a bigger fish. He then repeats that to get a bigger fish. Finally, the fish is too big for Buster to reel, and he ends up in the lake.
		+
		+	Buster makes his way to a country club. He sees a young woman struggling to get onto a horse ([[w:Virginia_Fox\|Virginia Fox]]). He kneels to help her and she invites him on their hunt. Antics with his horse ensue (including a treacherous journey across a river and a mistake that lands him on the back of a bull instead). At one point, trying to rope his horse, Buster instead ropes a bear. He jumps through a window to escape.
		+
		+	Lizard Lip Luke, a bandit, takes the Virginia hostage. Buster attempts to disarm him and save her. He ends up sneaking her away from Luke and his gang. Buster proposes to Virginia, but she has a husband already ([[w:Bull_Montana\|Bull Montana]])! Buster is so upset that he jumps from the pool high dive into the concrete.
		+	[[File:Hard Luck qq00 03 20qq00031.jpg\|thumb\|Buster attempts to hang himself from a tree.]]
		+	Years later, Buster emerges through the hole in Asian clothing. He is followed by a Chinese wife (Bessie Wong) and two children. <ref>“Hard Luck (1921).” ''Century Film Project'', 19 Jan. 2021, <nowiki>https://centuryfilmproject.org/2021/01/18/hard-luck-1921/</nowiki>.</ref>
		+
		+	== Cast ==
		+	Buster Keaton as Suicidal Boy
		+
		+	Virginia Fox as Virginia
		+
		+	Joe Robers as Lizard Lip Luke
		+	[[File:Hard Luck qq00 14 10qq00159.jpg\|thumb\|Buster crosses the river atop his horse.]]
		+	Bull Montana as Virginia’s Husband
		+
		+	Bessie Wong as Chinese Wife <ref>“Hard Luck.” ''IMDb'', IMDb.com, <nowiki>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0012253/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm</nowiki>.</ref>
		+
		+	== Production ==
		+	Hard Luck was Keaton's sixth film distributed by Metro Pictures. Buster wanted to give the film an astringent quality rare among comedians at the time.
		+
		+	The stunt that Keaton credits as his biggest laugh is that in which he dives into concrete. Buster explains they achieved this stunt by covering a portion of the pool with chin wax that looked like tiles. Keaton would dive through the paper into the water. He says about the stunt, “It was a perfect imitation, so perfect in fact from the top of chat diving platform I couldn't tell which was paper wax and which was tile. I was so scared that if I hadn't lost my balance due to a sudden wind, I would never have left that platform. Down I went then bang! I broke through the wax, but it cut my head and shoulders." <ref>James Curtis, ''Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life'' (New York: Knopf, 2022), p. 157-161</ref>
		+
		+	Cinematography by Elgin Lessley
		+
		+	Filmed at Westlake Park
		+
		+	Produced by Joseph M. Schenck Productions
		+
		+	== See Also ==
		+
		+	=== References ===
		+	<references />

Hard Luck by Daisy - Revision history

Daisy at 15:29, 28 September 2022

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