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Show 10 LIFE FORUMFORTNIGHTLY.COM w I CM ; t rr i ., i i ' r f r t t ' r 1 4 t ft 11 T, 5 r ncr o r'. it .'STEAMBOAT U? iiiitl I - X Joseph M.5chcnck CjBwiJmmn f liUSTTB KJCATCM . Youve got to see this! Vtr- - n Buster Keaton: The engineer of comedy Movie Review Column Stephen Cook Contributing Writer Its a story that seems to happen too much in Holly- wood. A young, brilliant independent filmmaker signs to a major studio after being promised bigger budgets and more promotions for his films. But then the studio begins to control every aspect of his films and the filmmaker realizes too late his mistake of joining. It sounds like a modem story, but this was 1928 and it happened when actorwriter director Buster Keaton signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Ma- yer, or MGM Studios. At age 32, Keaton had already been making comedy films for If years, first with his mentor Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle and then by 1919 working independently. Keaton was the star of 11 feature-leng- th films and 19 comedy shorts and he had directed most of them. He owned his own studio lot. Before this, he lived his childhood in vaudeville with his parents. Comedy was in his blood. And he was already acknowledged as one of the masters of silent films. His facial expression, always remaining stoic no matter the chaos around him, earned him the nickname The Great Stone Face. , But MGM executives wanted Keaton to tow their line of filmmaking. Keaton had never worked from a written script. He preferred to improvise his . gags. He and his writers would come up with a beginning and an end and work from there. He would build elaborate sets but then have them torn down and rebuilt to make a sequence work properly. He would even perform his own stunts. Hating to be called an artist, Keaton said that if he hadnt gone into show business, he would have been a civil engineer. But MGM demanded that he work the way the rest of their studio did. MGMs rigid style clashed immediately with Keaton and he was no longer allowed to direct. He was name recog- nition only. His MGM film started well, but declined in quality with each release. He called his signing with the studio the worst mistake of his career. After he left MGM and signed with other studios, Keaton continued to star on film and on television. But his studio films never achieved the same quality as his independent films. And to make matters worse, it seemed those films had been lost forever. But despite his acting troubles, Keatons talents were never fully wasted. He would write gags for many ing comedy teams, including the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges and Red Skeleton. And, in the 1950s, all of Keatons lost films were found. Once rediscovered, Keatons genius for engineering comedy was once again acknowledged and praised. His 1926 film The General is considered to be his masterpiece, and its placed 18 on both the American Film Institutes 100 Years... 100 Movies and 100 Years... 100 Laughs lists. I want to recommend three of my favorite Keaton films that I think students might enjoy. Our Hospitality (1923, Metro Pictures. Directed by Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone ) A light-heart- ed retelling of the real life Hatfield-McCo- y Feud, Keaton stars as Willie McKay, who returns to Kentucky to inherit his family estate. On the train ride down, he meets Virginia Canfield, whose father and brothers have the feud with McKay's family. When Virginia invites Wilke to dinner, her father and brothers must abide by the code of Southern hospitality and not loll him while he is a guest in their house. Our Hospitality is a genufilm with inely funny many hilarious sight gags involving Willie finding ways to stay a guest with the Canfields. Keaton de- signed and built early versions of a locomotive and a bicycle designed to give the film some brilliant comedy moments. The latter was given to the Smithsonian Museum. He even built a huge waterfall on his set and performed amazing stunt work named it one of the 100 best movies ever made. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928, United Artists. Directed by Charles Reisner) with it. Sherlock, Jr. (1 924, Metro Pictures. Directed by Buster Keaton) In my opinion, this film is Buster Keatons best. With a running time of just 45 minutes, Sherlock, Jr. is packed with imaginative visual effects and stunt work. Keaton stars as a movie house projectionist who is studying to be a detective on the side. When his girlfriends father accuses him of stealing his watch, Keaton tries to find the real culprit. But unable to do so, he returns to the movie theater and falls asleep. He then dreams of entering a movie that is projecting on the screen. Keatons entering a movie scene is a visually stunning effect, even for the age of CGI. He also has a chase sequence in which he is riding on the handlebars of a motorcycle without a driver. In reality, Keaton learned to drive a motorcycle while sitting on the handlebars. Its no wonder that film is praised as one of the funniest ever made. Time Magazine The last of Keatons independent comedies is a gfeat gem. d Keaton stars as William Jr., an eastern dandy who is meeting up with his rough Can-fiel- and tumble Southern father, Steamboat Bill. Problems escalate when William falls for the daughter ofBills rival and Bill is arrested. And when a hurricane hits, William must save everyone from the winds that are destroying the town. This film features one of the most amazing stunts of Keatons entire career. A hurricane destroys the town around him, and from hanging onto flying trees to having buildings collapse around him, Keaton survives each encounter with his trademark deadpan look. But the most amazing stunt is when the side of a house literally falls on top of Keaton, with the open window being his only escape. This stunt was one of the primary influences ofJackie Chan, who also performs his own stunts. All stunts aside, Steamboat Bill Jr. is a film that delivers a lot of laughs and heart as Keatons character transforms from a weakling into a hero. |