STAR OF THE MONTH
Buster Keaton
Born October 4, 1895
Died February 1, 1966
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was born in October of 1895, in Piqua, Kansas.He was a natural-born performer whose parents, Myra and Joe were comedians.His father actually owned a travelling show with Harry Houdini.
Rumor has it that it was, in fact, Houdini who gave young Keaton the nickname of "Buster" when he was still an infant.Unlike most babies and toddlers, Buster had an uncanny ability to take a spill, get trampled, or thrown around,and never come close to shedding a tear.
When Buster was only around three years of age, he started acting in a show alongside his parents. "The Three Keatons" was nothing more than a simple comedy sketch, where Buster would make his father angry,and Joe would lose it and end up throwing his young son into scenery, the orchestra pit, and sometimes even the audience.Viewers were often shocked,especially noting that the small boy hardly ever got so much as a bruise.
Buster grew up on the stage, and easily began making a name for himself there.He continued doing family acts, until he was around 21 years old.His father,an alcoholic, was no longer able to do the shows, and Buster almost lost his built reputation as a good performer.So, Buster and his mother, Myra, travelled to New York together.The young Keaton was then introduced to film, and took it up naturally and easily.His first appearance was in the short film,The Butcher Boy in 1917.He made several more short films until 1920, when he got his first starring role in a movie for the silent film, The Saphead.
Due to his success,Buster was given control over his own production unit.He made more than one comedy film reel as the head of Buster Keaton Comedies, and then gradually shifted into producing full-length feature films.Keaton was very successful, until 1927.After investing too much money in a film that was considered a flop, he was never allowed free reign with his films again, having to work under a sort of supervisor, who monitored expenses and had moderate control over story lines.
The next year, 1928,brought a contract with MGM for Keaton.He later recalled signing it as one of the worst mistakes of his life.Keaton had always been free to improvise, ad-lib, do his own stunts and write his own material.Under MGM, however, he had cold-cut scripts, no room was made for his own twists and takes on things, he had to use a stunt double, etc.However,despite his unhappiness with his new contract, he was successful in "talkies."He would continue act in movies,on television,and with cameo appearances for the remainder of his career,and lifetime.He passed away in February of 1966 due to lung cancer.
Today, he is most recognized and remembered for his early silent comedies, which are one of a kind."Great Stoneface," as he was known,had a special talent of keeping people laughing and being able to convey emotion, whilst always keeping his deadpan expression.In recent years, Buster Keaton has been listed as the seventh greatest director of all time, and many of his films have been labelled as some of the greatest comedies ever made.He also has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
MOVIE OF THE MONTH
The Cameraman
1928
Starring Buster Keaton,Marceline Day,and Harold Goodwin
The Cameraman follows the adventures of Buster (Keaton), who sells tintype portraits on city streets to make his living.Buster has a crush on an MGM secretary named Sally (Day), and he tries to get a job as a cameraman for the studio in order to spend more time with her.An already successful cameraman, Harold (Goodwin),mocks Buster and tells him there's no way he'd ever get the job.
Sally tells Buster that he could be a great cameraman,he just needs some experience.Encouraged by her words, Buster empties his bank account to buy a motion picture camera, and goes about filming anything and everything.Sally looks at some of his film, and it just isn't good enough,so she tips him off about something big that could be happening in Chinatown, and she tells him to go check it out with his camera.On his way there, Buster accidentally kills a sidewalk musicians monkey.A police officer settles the issue, ordering Buster to pay for the monkey and take it's body so he can dispose of it.Soon after leaving, Buster finds out that the monkey was only stunned, but it revives and joins him for the rest of his mishaps.
Buster and his monkey arrive in Chinatown to the breakout of a Tong War.Buster,putting himself in danger, does his best to get up close and personal so that he can get good footage of the fight.The police break up the fight,and Buster is almost taken into custody, but he manages to get away.Ecstatic,he goes to MGM to turn in the footage only to discover that, in his excitement, he forgot to load actual film into his camera.
Dismayed, Buster goes back to selling tintypes, but eventually discovers he really did get footage of the Tong War.The monkey had switched reels before he turned it in.After another series of mishaps, Buster submits the real footage to be used,free of charge.The boss at MGM decides to show it for laughs,but is astounded at the quality of the footage.He sends Sally to get Buster, telling him he has great reception waiting for him.Caught in a ticker-tape parade,he assumes it's for himself, not realizing it's actually for Charles Lindbergh.
Today is the last day of Buster Keaton films on Turner Classic Movies,beginning at 8pm ET with In The Good Old Summertime.
To see a clip from The Cameraman, go here:
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