Nothing But Pleasure (1940) – Review

Okej, straight up – *Nothing But Pleasure* is like one of those cheeky Ludde movies SVT1 used to show on rainy Sundays, when the whole family just wanted some fika and feelgood laughs. You get Buster Keaton (yes, the Buster Keaton!) and nothing in my VHS collection has ever quite compared to how that guy moves – kind of like my old neighbor Rune skidding down the icy stairs in Norrköping, one winter back in ’85. You don’t forget stuff like that.

The plot’s pretty standard slapstick: Buster and his wife (Dorothy Appleby, who’s got that kinda sharp but sweet thing going) take a road trip to Detroit to pick up a car, think they’re gonna save money, but you know, it’s a mess. They run into bizarre situations, sleep in weird hotels, people act ABSOLUT insane, you get the idea. Not like Ingmar Bergman here, but hey, sometimes you just want old-school chaos and a good laugh – feels lika a forgotten skruv from a Volvobil bouncing on the highway.

Del Lord was the director (he’s behind a bunch of Three Stooges stuff, så that’s kind of the vibe), and producer Jules White – those guys, they don’t get enough cred for doing what Swedish comedies always struggled with: making a mess without overdoing it. It’s short too, 17 minutes. Fits exactly in the time it takes to eat up a cinnamon bun and a strong kaffe. But sometimes you wish they’d squeezed in just a liiite more story.

If you’re like me and find yourself giggling over grown adults getting in pointless arguments about petrol money (hej, who hasn’t fought over that on E4 during Midsommarvägen?), this is för dig. But be ready for jokes that maybe feel a bit old, like a forgotten Pucko in the glovebox.

Still, you can kinda sense Buster Keaton’s genius even when he’s just throwing luggage around, and for me, that’s enough, at least for a gloomy Tuesday.

watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube

please note that there may be geographical blocking implemented.