Originally published at: Happy Birthday, Buster Keaton(OCT 4th) | Boing Boing
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For those who are curious, he would have been 127 this year.
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I have a few dozen VHS that have Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and very early Chaplin. Keaton & Loyd can hold their own against Chaplin any day.
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“Comedians do funny things. Good comedians do things in funny ways.” - Buster Keaton
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I rate them thusly:
- Keaton
- Lloyd
- Charlie Chase
.
.
. - Chaplin
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There’s a really good short on Keaton and the use of gags in his films on the defunct YT channel, Every Frame A Painting.
Also, YT should have all three parts of the in-depth & fascinating documentary, A Hard Act to Follow.
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Here’s a recent set of clips which just underscore the amazing athleticism of this fabulous actor, (a standing back-flip? egads)…
(apologies for reddit link in general - tip o’ porkpie)
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A standing backflip is just a warmup compared to the rest of his athletic abilities.
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My recollection (from a film class) is that the family vaudeville act involved Buster’s father throwing him across the stage, against walls etc. Later in life, Buster went to a doctor to complain about frequent/strong headaches. The doctor ordered some x-rays which revealed that, somewhere along the way, Buster had fractured his neck.
That happened while filming Sherlock jr (I think… at any rate, as a grown-up). Landed the wrong way on a railway track during a stunt involving a moving train. Got up, did another take.
Like they say, comedy is hard.
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More or less, although it wasn’t the train that got him, twas the water tower:
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It’s also a lot harder for me to enjoy Chaplin as much given what I know about his personal life.
A 35-year-old man knocking up his 15-year-old mistress (who he’d known since she was eight) was illegal, predatory and gross by 1920s standards.
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