Buster Keaton Brings Silence to Life

Of the many delightfully funny people who silently cavorted and tumbled across the silver screen in the years 1914 through 1936, three or four of them managed to survive the whims of the public, the tyranny of the movie moguls and the censorship of the Hayes Commission to rise to lofty and permanent stardom - Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, perhaps Harry Langdon, and Buster Keaton. Chaplin and Lloyd were undoubtedly the most popular overall, with Chaplin earning undying love from his audiences and with Lloyd becoming the wealthiest man in Hollywood for a time. Harry Langdon had a brief spurt with stellar success after the other three had established themselves as the upper echelon. Buster Keaton, for most of the successful part of his career, was a solid if somewhat distant third behind the first two in terms of viewership and personal wealth earned (which was still no small salary, making him a millionaire).

Over the long term, however, except for Chaplin, most of these supreme funnymen have been relegated to the dustbins of history, with few people remembering their names. For Keaton, it was his loss of independence at the hands of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the subsequent depression he endured, during which he ignored his best works as worthless relics, that resulted in his temporary downfall. His name and reputation were gradually forgotten, a grave injustice.

Fortunately for Keaton and legions of latter-day fans, cannisters of his old films were discovered in time in many places, including the basement of his Hollywood estate, various European countries, and other locations. Raymond Rohauer, a business associate, gathered them together in one place, had them restored and saved in the nick of time. The result has been a revelation, one greatly to our benefit. From the 1950's onward, the name of Buster Keaton was no longer forgotten, and now he is perhaps as popular as at any time since 1933.

The independent films on these DVDs and videos show why. From his first appearance in "The Saphead" through to the final athletic climax of "Steamboat Bill, Jr." we are shown the magic and uniqueness of this singular performer. Whether he is careening along the streets of Los Angeles avoiding capture by a thousand angry police officers in "Cops", being pursued by a similar number of wannabe brides in "Seven Chances" or doing the chasing himself at the throttle of a steam locomotive in "The General", he enchants us with his surprising acrobatics and stoic determination, all the while making us belt out gales of laughter and gasps of amazement.

Of course, any silent movie is best seen with an audience; but the beautiful prints that are duplicated on these media are a good substitute. With few exceptions, the transfers are from the best sources available, and it is surprising to see how well most of the fragile films have survived decades of neglect. As a result, we are treated to innumerable moments of glee. In "Sherlock, Jr.", one of the most creatively splendid movies of all time, Keaton invites us into the world of movie fantasy fulfillment as he dreams his way from drab and occasionally bitter real life into the nearly impossible world of movie heroics. In doing so, he anticipates our own fondest dreams and desires, all the while hilariously pointing out the pitfalls of not being grounded in reality. In "The Navigator", the film that first brought him acclaim as a feature comedy filmmaker, he mines a rich lode of humor for nonstop gags and laughs, almost all at sea on a boat occupied by himself and his lady love. In these two films, as well as his two other "pinnacle" films, "The General" and "Steamboat Bill, Jr." he brings comedy filmmaking to its greatest heights, bringing us richness and detail and heartfelt emotion without ever becoming sentimental or maudlin (something Chaplin is frequently accused of), all the while with that endlessly expressive yet unsmiling face, and leaving us in awe, as much for his skill as a storyteller as for his humor. In "The General" (this reviewer's personal favorite film), Keaton effectively takes us on an epic journey across time and space on nothing more than a handful of ancient but tough teakettle steam locomotives, recreating the southern United States of 1862 as realistically as anyone before or since, and placing his own amazing mark of surprise and humor on the scene. Cannons, boxcars and water tanks are the toys of his slapstick, wielded effectively by Keaton as he himself becomes one with his beloved locomotives. There is no other film like it, and it is recognized as one of the all-time great comedy classics.

The short films presented in this set are no mean productions - Keaton packed most of them with a comedic wallop that was unprecedented in the 1920's and still make modern viewers sit up and take notice. With a long background in Vaudeville and with comedy filmmaker Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle as his friend and mentor, Keaton became a master at placing funny business on film, and these delightful movies are a strong testament to that background. Often surrealistic, often silly, sometimes quite dark but always funny, these bonbons in many ways are Keaton at his quirkiest, most unusual best. Incredible sight gags seem to materialize out of thin air, yet become essential to each story as Keaton weaves the fabric of comedy. Liberally punctuated with some of the most graceful, acrobatic and dangerous stunts ever put on film by the primary star, these little films give sheer joy. He grabs passing cars to escape pursuers, jumps from moving trains and leaps through transom windows with a grace of movement absent from the stunts of most other performers. Whether we are entranced by the sight of a large warped house-that-Buster-built spinning in the wind of a sudden storm (One Week), mesmerized by an improbably hilarious story of justice finally coming to the Native Americans (The Paleface), in sympathy with the construction, launching, sailing and sinking of a small, mighty but ultimately doomed pleasure boat (The Boat), or just watching how Keaton's little man copes creatively, athletically and humorously with the tribulations of life in a world of seriously hilarious madness, we find ourselves in wonderment and merriment over these little gems.

The one aspect of these trasnfers where there are any significant problems are not in the films themselves (which are mostly of excellent quality), but in the modern musical adaptations, composed and played by many generally able accompanists. Music is an important part of the silent movie experience, and a good musical score truly enhances the experience of watching a soundless film; just as easily, a poor score can botch up the viewer's sense of timing and mood, and of course poorly played music can be downright offensive. Most of the scores are fine, some are excellent, some are undistinguished but acceptable, but a few are poorly coordinated with the action on the screen. The one that really misses for me is the score for "Our Hospitality", an otherwise excellent feature film (Keaton's first personal feature, in fact) that has a rather haphazard-sounding set of attached musical cues. This is not a reason to avoid this set or this wonderful movie, but it is a mild warning to those who demand quality musical accompaniment.

Another aspect of these films that may bother some viewers is the occasional dependence on racial humor. It is sporadic, appearing in some films and not others, sometimes strong and at other times very modest, and for the time of original production was acceptable and welcome. Today, in a new movie, racial references of the kinds found in these films would be be utterly unforgivable. This reviewer suggests that the viewer watch these films with this historical perspective in mind, appreciate the racial humor for what it was, be glad that we live in a more enlightened age, and enjoy the films. We needn't discard so much excellence for the sake of a few inappropriate references that, in that day and age, were not seen as such.

Many people still think of silent movies as relics, obsolete expressions of the moviemaking craft, dated and worthy only as artifacts for scholarly study. In fact, most good silent films are still quite good as general entertainment, and some seem to defy time and history as though it hadn't passed at all. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the timeless films of Buster Keaton. Despite the fact that these are solidly G-Rated films, and even with the exception of the outmoded racial humor described above, these films seem as relevant, engrossing and funny as they were 75 years ago. They cannot be recommended highly enough.

The DVD set corrects a few minor problems from the video set, and also includes an extra bonus DVD that includes two quite funny Keaton "sound" films from the middle 1930s that are well worth having, a short but effective 1950s film with Keaton playing his one and only "straight" role (played with such honesty, commitment and excellence that it makes us wonder how he would have done with dramatic films), many bits from his television programs, numerous still photographs, and some interesting historical details about Keaton's filming locations. A wonderful addition to round off what was already one of the greatest compilations of filmmaking achievements ever.

Thank you, Buster, thank you endlessly. Thank you, Raymond Rohauer, for helping to preserve this material. Thank you, David Shepard, for restoring these gems for these editions. Thank you, Kino on Video for making this set available. It is a great achievement.