Buster Keaton once claimed that Battling Butler was his favorite out of all the films he made, but at the time he said it, he was an aging, bitter man whose career was at its nadir. Before his death in 1966, Keaton would finally get the credit he deserved as one of silent comedy's greats, and Battling Butler wasn't one of the films that got him there -- especially when compared to his best work, such as The Navigator, The Cameraman and, of course, The General. But neither is Battling Butler a bad film -- it's far more amusing than Keaton's weaker silent features, such as Seven Chances and The Three Ages.
Battling Butler was based on an English musical comedy -- not the most promising start for a Keaton picture. But Keaton was able to adapt it to his own style and he wholeheartedly threw himself into the role of the coddled rich boy turned fighter -- he actually trained hard to prepare for the ending scene in which he fiercely battles the real "Battling" Butler (Francis McDonald). In fact, Keaton's appearance in boxing getup almost gives things away -- instead of the smooth, flabby body expected of the wimp he plays, he displays a small but well-muscled physique. To the trained eye, he looks fitter than McDonald's pugilist! Although the film's power is contained in the intensity of the climax, where the two Butlers battle it out, Keaton's fine comic touches throughout are its soul -- for example, his character's idea of "roughing it," which includes valet, gourmet meals and a different outfit for every hunting and fishing occasion, or his woefully inept attempts at training (he can't even enter the ring without getting tangled up in the ropes). Keaton's valet/sidekick -- the little, funny-faced Snitz Edwards -- also adds a lot of humor, and while Sally O'Neil (like most of Keaton's leading ladies) doesn't have a lot to do, she's pleasantly spunky.
Even if this isn't one of Keaton's finest pictures, it's still far better than most comedies of its day, and it grossed more than any of his other films in the 1920s. In fact, its success enabled Keaton to later spend the large amounts of money it took to make The General such a timeless classic...and if Battling Butler really did hold a special place in his heart, perhaps that's the reason why.