For Buster Keaton, the era of the "talkies" was a tumultuous time. As a result of signing with MGM, the quality, the quality of his ambitious, eclectic comedies began to decline and in 1934, he signed a contract with Earle W. Hammons's Educational Pictures which, despite its name, specialized in comedy short subjects ("The Spice of the Program"). Keaton's move to Educational was a return to his roots, crafting a stream of two reel comedies in rapid succession, as he had done in the early 1920's, when he first refined his cinematic craft.