Karl Dane - "Crazy House"

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Crazy House (1930)

The 1930 MGM "Colortone" musical "March of Time" was an A-list production starring Bing Crosby, Benny Rubin, Polly Moran, Marie Dressler, Karl, and Buster Keaton. It was abandoned when it was near completion, and the majority of the footage is sadly lost. However, fragments of it can still be seen in existing shorts from the period, including this one, "Crazy House." In "Crazy House", Benny Rubin takes a tour of "Lame Brain Sanitarium" and meets its loony residents.

Karl plays himself in two scenes. In this one, he is clad in chef's garb, and is at first horrified by the demented pair testing out "unbreakable plates."

Karl finally gets into the spirit of things, joining in on the destruction...

...until the equally crazy "unbreakable plate" inventor, not taking too kindly to insults, wreaks his vengeance with a fuit pie.

In the other scene, Karl, Benny Rubin, and Gus Shy quarrel about the correct route to Copenhagen via the Panama Canal. Benny and Gus argue their respective points by furiously drawing maps on a hapless Karl's shirt.

Finally Gus angrily storms off to consult his compass, taking his "map" with him, and leaving poor Karl shirtless and bereft.

Crazy House is available on a DVD with The Champ from Warner Video.