Passionless

I'll try to keep this short: After sound came to motion pictures, silent stars like Buster Keaton were considered a problem. Could they be make money in a talkie world? One solution was to pair them with younger, more verbal comics. In Buster's case, this was Jimmy Durante. Hence, The Passionate Plumber (1932).

Quick summary: Parisian Irene Purcell has a married lover, Gilbert Roland. She wants to break off with him, she wants to keep him, she wants to make him jealous. She also has some plumbing problems, so she sends her chauffeur, Jimmy Durante to fetch plumber Buster Keaton. When Keaton shows up at Purcell's place at the same time as Roland, she pretends that Keaton is her suitor. And the merry mixups ensue.

One of these mixups is that Keaton is really an inventor who has added a flashlight to a pistol as an early laser sight. He hopes to sell this idea to the French army, but every time he gets close to a general, he pulls the gun and is assumed to be an assassin. Plus, he gets into duels with everyone he meets, like Homer Simpson with the glove slaps. 

Keaton does get a little bit of physical comedy here and there, although I didn't see any daring stunts. Durante gets to do a little of his patented malapropism, and also some romance with the maid (Polly Moran). But neither is served well by the movie, and don't work especially well against each other. 

Amazingly, MGM made three movies pairing Keaton and Durante (the others were What, No Beer and Speak Easily - ironic, since these movies drove Keaton to alcoholism). Durante went on to become whatever he became (respected comic relief?), and Keaton never recovered until the 60s, when he was slowly re-discovered. 

Oh, well, we still have the silents.