Buster Keaton was born on October 4th, 1895, and he went on to become one of the greatest (and my personal favorite) comedians in the silent movie era and still maintained his natural talent, though was held down by an incompetent studio head and crew, through the early days of the talking era as well. So in honor of his 116th birthday, a tribute to some of his greatest films:


First, some of his earlier work with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle:


Coney Island

Backstage:

The Garage:

The Rough House

The Bell Boy

The Butcher Boy:






This is one I haven't gotten around to seeing yet but this is Buster's premiere in film and there are 2 things I'd like to point out about it:

1. In his autobiography Buster said Roscoe threw all of his weight into chucking those 20 pound flour bags and when it hit him it went up his nose and down his throat and it was 15 minutes before he was able to breathe again.

and 2. His first scene in the film was done in one take with no do overs, which was a first THEN, and to my knowledge has never been done again since, to be your first time appearing in a film to get your first scene done in a single take. Good work Buster!

Now we'll look into some of his solo work, The High Sign, his first independent short:






I think at the time Buster did this short he was too overly critical of his work because he didn't put it out immediately because he didn't think it was funny enough. You couldn't prove it by me, I was sick with laughter watching him go through that obstacle course and of course the actual high sign:

The Electric House:






This is where The High Sign came in handy, Buster caught his foot in the escalator in this short and broke his ankle so wasn't able to get his next short out on schedule so he released The High Sign in its place.

The Playhouse






Buster was still recovering from breaking his ankle here so the stunts for The Playhouse were 'tamed by comparison to his other work'...again, you couldn't prove it by me...and tamed down or not I thought this was one of the most fantastic and hilarious things I've ever seen, and he sure made some pretty women,

Convict 13

The Goat

One Week






This is one that really shows off Buster's genius, all the crazy things you see with the house are all real sets, no miniatures or anything of that sort were used at all. Typical Buster fashion I think, like in the General, he didn't settle for recreating a train wreck with a miniature toy train, he sent a real one crashing off the bridge.

The Boat

And here's another one about a boat, The Love Nest:

The Frozen North:






Buster was parodying William S. Hart, a very serious and dramatic actor of this time period, in this short. When Hart saw it he was so outraged he didn't speak to Buster for 3 years. Apparently he wasn't aware that vaudevillians like Buster only incorporated into their own acts, parodies of those who they considered to be the best.

The Haunted House






Both Buster and his wife Eleanor explained he and Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd were always swapping ideas for jokes they knew were good, but not for their acts. Still that might explain the similarities in some of their films, for instance I find the Heavenly segment towards the end here to be similar to the dream sequence in Chaplin's The Kid. Though overall this short reminds me quite a bit of Buster's earlier short The High Sign.

I forgot one from his days with Fatty Arbuckle, and it's one of a very unusual position for him so I decided to put it up here anyway:

Goodnight, Nurse!






Some people who have seen this may not be aware that Buster actually had 2 parts in this, and I'll give you a hint, that is NO lady Fatty is kicking in the rainstorm in the beginning, who's getting sucked around by her umbrella, LOL!

Neighbors





That part at the end when they're all walking on each other shoulders just kills me every time. That was so genius and hilarious!

Hard Luck




Buster's attempted suicide antics remind me of a Harold Lloyd film where he also tried suicide at every point but was always foiled, though the name of it escapes me. The ending where he climbs back from the pool was 'lost' for quite some time and in fact on the regular DVD for it, where it's in black and white, they don't have that scene, only a title card explaining what happened along with a still photograph. I love the ending here, obviously Buster found some way to make the time pass,

And of course no marathon of his work would be complete without his last and one of if not THE best shorts, Sherlock Jr.!




Here is where Buster broke his neck, during the water spout scene, but he didn't know it for 10 years, we should all be so lucky. Meanwhile though, while he was riding on the handlebars of the motorcycle he DID crash into the director, the camera, two cars, and finally wiped out, would've loved to see that though.

If Sherlock Jr. is Buster's most famous short, I do believe Cops must be the second most famous, they certainly reuse the footage enough:

My Wife's Relations




Apparently this was supposed to be some reflection of how his relationship with his in-laws the Talmadges was going at the time.

The Blacksmith



Apparently that Rolls Royce he destroys was a wedding present by his in-laws, which it's said by that time was when things were going sour between them.

Now into the way of his full length movies, The General





One of his two favorite movies and his effects and portrayal of the Civil War here was considered so historically accurate that it even beat out Gone with the Wind in that department. Go figure.

The Navigator












His other favorite movie, unfortunately he had to cut out what he thought was his funniest joke because the audience did NOT find it funny; when he's in the scuba suit trying to fix the boat, two schools of fish block each other's way and he puts on a starfish like a badge and directs fish traffic. I wish he could've kept it, I would've liked to see that.