Buster Keaton (Part 1)
It's Buster Keaton Week! Welcome to Part 1 of 3 in celebrating all things Buster in honor of his 127th birthday!
Buster Keaton was both a legendary figure in comedy and cinema. He was one of the most inventive artists in the early days of film, but I know he would quibble with that. He didn’t see himself as an artist, he saw himself as a working stiff, which he certainly was that too, but the sheer volume of influence he has had on the industry is astounding. It’s shocking to see the shots he was able to pull off in his films, like the famous train scene in The General (1926) that was the most expensive shot ever in film at the time, and the famous chase scene in Cops (1922).
For me, what is so special about Buster Keaton films is that anybody, of any age, can enjoy them. I was on vacation a couple of months ago and showed Cops to a few of the kids who were there. Their ages ranged from 6 to 13. First, I should mention that all of them watched the whole thing, which is no minor miracle. Speaking for myself, I probably couldn’t have sat still at that age unless it was something I truly found entertaining. Anyway, they watched it, and the older ones seemed entertained to a degree, but went into it wanting to not like it because it was so old. I get that, I’ve been there. But I still maintain that they watched the entire film, so there was something about it that captivated them. Meanwhile, the youngest seemed to love the film, and was laughing throughout. It actually made me notice some other funny moments in the film that I hadn’t caught before. It was a reminder to me that kids are the best audience members, they’re honest and present. Which is exactly what Buster was when he was performing.
Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton was born on October 4th, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, which was just a stop on the tour of Myra and Joe Keaton’s vaudeville act. When Buster was born, they quickly had plans for him to join their act, and on September 12th, 1896, somewhere in the Midwest, the first mention of Buster Keaton is seen in a report from the Clipper.
Joe Keaton, black face Irish and all ‘round comedy acrobatic song and dance and high kicker; Mrs. Joe Keaton, musical soubrette, song and dance and sketch act: Buster Keaton, low comedy.
You might be doing the math right now. He was born October 4th, 1895, and the first documented time he was on stage was in September of 1896? Yes, that means he was only 11 months old when he made his first appearance on stage.
Over the years, the story of the baby’s birth got stretched and embellished to the point where the most widely accepted version was utter fiction, a whopper of Joe Keaton’s invention that was embraced and retold by both Myra and her son. What Myra herself remembered most vividly was the knocking-around she took during the latter part of her pregnancy— a tumble from a buggy at six months, a tent blown down around her at eight months, a fall of the stage with just days to go. (“Thank God!” said Joe. “That’s the third accident. Now we’ll be all right.”)1
Our hero came from Nowhere—
he wasn’t going Anywhere
and got kicked off
Somewhere.
- The first title card from The High Sign (1921)
Before venturing into his own films, Buster learned the business of filmmaking from his mentor Roscoe Arbuckle, known to the public as ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle.2 Buster Keaton had a chance encounter with Arbuckle in New York, and was given a walk on role in the movie he was currently filming, The Butcher Boy (1917). This started a fruitful working relationship that lasted from 1917 to 1920, with some memorable two-reelers along the way. My personal favorite is Moonshine (1918) where Roscoe and Buster play revenue agents who are tasked with busting bootleggers in the Virginia Hills. There’s a certain gag in this film that seems to pave the way for the type of comedy that Keaton would later perfect in his independent films.
Buster calls in reinforcements to help find these criminals, and what ensues is an incredible bit of comedy filmmaking, aided by the use of perfectly timed split screen to make it seem like all these men are coming from the same car. This is just one example of Buster’s genius in front of and behind the camera, and Roscoe Arbuckle helped him hone that skill on his sets.
When Roscoe was on trial for the murder of Virginia Rappe, Buster was one of the few people in Hollywood to actually come to his defense. The Roscoe Arbuckle case is one I won’t get into right now, since we’re here to celebrate Buster, but I have plenty of thoughts on it. To this day, it is one of the most misunderstood cases in Hollywood history.
In 1920, Buster starred in his first feature film The Saphead. He secured the gig after being recommended for it by Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in the original stage production as the same role. The part jump started Keaton’s career, making him more visible to the public. This would lead to him making a deal with producer Joseph Schenck (also his brother-in-law) to open his own production company called The Buster Keaton Studio where he had a contract to produce 8 two-reeler films a year, his first released being One Week (1920).
On Thursday, I’ll pick up from there and get into the glory days of Buster Keaton as he made some of the most inventive (and hilarious) films of the 20th century that are still watched today by thousands of people.
I’m anxious to see the day when television and the motion picture industry marry and set out a system, because it can’t continue the way it is. I see only one solution to it: There should be paid television, and they could keep the costs so low that the poorest man in the world could have a television, they can keep the entertainment that low-priced. And in the way you’d make pictures exactly the way you used to make them before television.
- Buster Keaton
Today, on his 127th birthday, if Buster Keaton falls off that train from nowhere, not going anywhere, and gets kicked off somewhere, I’d like to think he’d find his way to the nearest house with a TV and pull up one of his many films that are free to watch on YouTube. I think he’d get a kick out of that.
Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life, Curtis (15).
It should be noted that even though the public knew him as ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, it was a name he wasn’t fond of, and when people would call him this in his personal life, he would respond to them by saying “I’ve got a name, you know?” That’s why you won’t see me referring to him by that name other than this explanation.