Buster Keaton

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks to Nancy I got to see The Silent Partner a playhouse TV programme directed by George Marshall, it's premise is Buster playing an old silent comedian watching the Oscar ceremonies in a bar with Zasu Pitts (looking no different from the thirties) and a bunch of bowling buddies who I'm pretty sure included Karl Malden. Buster's old director played by Joe E Brown gets an honourary Oscar and he remembers Buster's character, we see how Buster came into pictures and we see an example of one of his movies. It's quite amusing to see Buster made up as a silent comedian although to my untrained eye it isn't makeup like he used to wear.To see how he entered movies in this story is pure Buster although the comedy they showed wasn't a patch on Buster's originals. At this point in 1955 I think his work was still missing, audiences would only have their own memory to compare this version of Buster to. I'm amazed how agile he was at this point in his career but he definetly still has it, I'm glad TV got the chance to exploit it. Chaplin might have kept his talent untainted so to speak by appearing only in his own work but I wish there was more of him to enjoy, Buster enjoyed working and loved TV and got the chance to leave us more examples of his work by embracing television.

[knitwit45]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! The 'meanie' is Jack Kruschen, rather than Karl Malden. Kruschen's best role (to me) was as the neighbor/doctor in The Apartment. Jack Elam and that old darling, Percy Helton were wonderful in their roles as the silent "AC-TOR" and the bartender, respectively. From the listing on IMDb, the whole series looks terrific. If Netflix has them, I may have to sign up..again.

[JackFavell]

I'm not crazy about The Silent Partner, but I am sure glad Buster got work in TV, which brought him renewed interest and a good paycheck.

The rest of the series is fun, I really like most of the ones I've seen, even if they aren't all perfect, it's still interesting to watch how experimental TV was back in the day.

[charliechaplinfan]

I haven't watched a great deal of early TV but it always suprises me how well stars of the day come across and how they immediately feel more accessible and intimate.

I think there is a certain amount of fondness and nostalgia about The Silent Partner, Buster makes me feel good, that dead pan expression can hide so much and his voice, I remember the first time I heard him speak, it was not the voice I expected, if I'd have given it thought I should have expected him to sound like he does but I didn't. His voice is deeper and more serious than I expected, hiding the same depths as his dead pan face. He's very reassuring, the world can fall down but somehow Buster will always behave in the same way, for me that's reassuring.

[intothenitrate]

That sounds like a gem (the Silent Partner). I have a Kino boxed set of Keaton's work that includes some television, even some commercials for (I believe) the SInclair Oil company. I suppose some people would feel sorry for him, you know, "A great star, having to take work as blah, blah, blah." But when I watch him in those situations, I never get the feeling that he's feeling sorry for himself. I have a quote of his that I keep nearby. He says, "It seems to me that if you are a good craftsman your principal concern should be to keep working."

[charliechaplinfan]

That's exactly how I see him, I'd read about him long before I really became acquanited with his later work, during the Metro period and his later TV and film work I never got the feeling that he was anything other than accepting of his life and enjoying the moment. I gives me the impression of a glass half full kind of guy.

[intothenitrate]

His widow said that the doctors told her first about his cancer, and that it was inoperable. She elected not to let him know. Maybe so that he could live his final days without feeling despair or being beaten by something?

[charliechaplinfan]

What a woman, I think she brought him the personal contentment that had up to that time eluded him.

[MichiganJ]

I thought these were fascinating and wanted to share. They are a look at how Keaton used various shooting speeds to active some of his gags and stunts.

(If you only want to sample one, I'd suggest part 4)

[charliechaplinfan]

These are fabulous, thanks for posting them. What is it about Buster? It's not just his technial ability or the way he constructs a story but his deadpan character, I really care about that guy.

[JackFavell]

Deadpan, but not unfeeling. He can communicate more with a flicker of an eyebrow than most actors with a whole arsenal of pulled faces. Alec Guinness may be the only other actor to accomplish so much with so little.

[charliechaplinfan]

That's true, I can't think of anyone else. Gotta love Buster

[Rita Hayworth]

That's true, I can't think of anyone else. Gotta love Buster

Me too included!

[CineMaven]

Dinner at the Keaton Estate:

https://secure2.convio.net/lac/site/Eco ... p1.app209a

[JackFavell]

Yeah right! I don't have the 300 bucks for the smallest ticket price, much less the $2500 for the tour I would LIKE to get....

It always amazes me how modest the Keaton villa looks from that side when it looks like this from the back.