Pest from the West
Encyclopedia
Pest from the West is the first short subject starring American comedian Buster Keaton
made for Columbia Pictures
. Keaton made a total of ten films for the studio between 1939 and 1941.
traveler who falls in love with a senorita (Lorna Gray
) and sets out to win her.
starring Keaton and was a condensed remake of his English-made feature film The Invader
(1935). Keaton's silent-era
writer Clyde Bruckman
collaborated on the screenplay and it was directed by comedy veteran Del Lord
. The supporting cast features Columbia regulars Lorna Gray
, Gino Corrado, Richard Fiske, Bud Jamison, Eddie Laughton, and Ned Glass
with the voices of short-subject stars Charley Chase
and Curly Howard
heard on the soundtrack.
Much of Pest from the West was filmed on location at Balboa, California
, USA (Keaton repeatedly falls off his boat, into Balboa Bay). The Mexican-village settings were adapted from sets used in Columbia's 1937 feature film Lost Horizon.
. Like Pest from the West, this borrowed content from an older Keaton feature, The Passionate Plumber
.
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
made for Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. Keaton made a total of ten films for the studio between 1939 and 1941.
Synopsis
Keaton is a millionaire vacationing in MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
traveler who falls in love with a senorita (Lorna Gray
Lorna Gray
Lorna Gray is an American film actress, known for her comic roles and later as a villainess. She is best known for her role as Mattie Herring in the 1940 Three Stooges film You Nazty Spy!-Career:...
) and sets out to win her.
Production
This was the first film made by Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
starring Keaton and was a condensed remake of his English-made feature film The Invader
The Invader
The Invader is a comedy film, starring Buster Keaton, released in the United Kingdom. The film, also known as An Old Spanish Custom, co-stars Lupita Tovar. The film follows the same plot as its remake Pest from the West , with a millionaire setting out to win a local girl in Mexico...
(1935). Keaton's silent-era
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
writer Clyde Bruckman
Clyde Bruckman
Clyde A. Bruckman was an American writer and director of comedy films during the late silent era as well as the early sound era of cinema. Bruckman collaborated with such comedians as Buster Keaton, W.C...
collaborated on the screenplay and it was directed by comedy veteran Del Lord
Del Lord
Del Lord was a Canadian film director and actor best known as a director of Three Stooges films.-Career:Delmer Lord was born in the small town of Grimsby, Ontario, Canada...
. The supporting cast features Columbia regulars Lorna Gray
Lorna Gray
Lorna Gray is an American film actress, known for her comic roles and later as a villainess. She is best known for her role as Mattie Herring in the 1940 Three Stooges film You Nazty Spy!-Career:...
, Gino Corrado, Richard Fiske, Bud Jamison, Eddie Laughton, and Ned Glass
Ned Glass
Ned Glass was an American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly or weasely characters...
with the voices of short-subject stars Charley Chase
Charley Chase
Charley Chase was an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for his work in Hal Roach short film comedies...
and Curly Howard
Curly Howard
Jerome Lester "Jerry" Horwitz , better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and vaudevillian. He is best known as a member of the American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges, along with his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine...
heard on the soundtrack.
Much of Pest from the West was filmed on location at Balboa, California
Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, California
The Balboa Peninsula is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is named for the famous Spanish explorer, Vasco Núñez de Balboa....
, USA (Keaton repeatedly falls off his boat, into Balboa Bay). The Mexican-village settings were adapted from sets used in Columbia's 1937 feature film Lost Horizon.
Reception
Pest from the West was a huge hit in theaters, and earned rave reports from exhibitors. Keaton starred in nine more Columbia shorts, the last of which was She's Oil MineShe's Oil Mine
She's Oil Mine is the last short subject American comedian Buster Keaton made for Columbia Pictures. Keaton made a total of ten films for the studio between 1939 and 1941.-Plot:...
. Like Pest from the West, this borrowed content from an older Keaton feature, The Passionate Plumber
The Passionate Plumber
The Passionate Plumber is a 1932 American comedy film directed by Edward Sedgwick. The screenplay by Laurence E. Johnson and Ralph Spence is based on the play Dans sa candeur naïve by Jacques Deval. It is the second screen adaptation of the play, following the 1928 silent film The Cardboard Lover...
.