Buster Keaton’s Movies (Classic Series #3)

The first thing you notice when watching a Buster Keaton film is that he never smiles, never mugs, never admits that he’s in a funny situation. He’s the sad clown. The genius of his humor is that is it always, always goal-oriented. We, the audience, know what he’s trying to accomplish, and laugh at how the situation throws obstacle after obstacle in his way. There are usually villains in Buster Keaton movies, but it’s rarely the villains he battles against; it’s the circumstances. Maybe this is why he is so lovable, and why his movies stay so fresh; anyone can identify with a battle against the universe. Charlie Chaplin’s bum cries out for you to love him, and there’s something manipulative about that; you feel bad if you don’t find the joke funny. Buster Keaton just asks for your respect. And so you laugh.

The second thing you notice will be just how funny the gags are, but the third thing might be just how athletic Buster Keaton himself is. Physical comedy is almost by definition dangerous; these days, camera tricks and stunt men can manufacture dangerous situations without violating anyone’s liability clause in their insurance contract. But in the 1920s, things were different. The classic example has to be Harold Lloyd climbing that building in “Safety Last,” but Keaton’s stunts are more frequent, more rapid, and possibly more dangerous. Watch any of his movies and there’s not five minutes that goes by without him pulling some kind of stunt that could kill him. Danger-comedy. It’s fun to watch.

But let’s talk about the movies. Keaton was prolific; he started off making shorts with Fatty Arbuckle, then made his own short films, then made feature films, then signed with MGM and made talkies. All discussions really start with “The General,” filmed in 1927. Sight and Sound magazine named it the 15th best movie of all time in 2002, it’s on Roger Ebert’s great movies list, and at IMDB.com, it’s rated #136. It’s about a railroad man who tries to get recruited during the Civil War, but can’t; they need him to be a railroad man, but forget to tell him that, so he loses his girl. Then the guys in blue steal his engine, and his girl. Talk about a rough day The sustained setup of the movie is a railroad chase; stop and think about that and you might hurt your head. But “The General” makes it work. Keaton chases them in another engine, then they chase him, then the whole thing reverses. It ends spectacularly, as an engine goes off a bridge and into the river – one of the most expensive stunts attempted at the time. But “The General” is not my favorite Keaton movie, or really, even in my top 5. While it is certainly a masterpiece of creative problem solving, as we watch Keaton get his lil’ engine out of one jam after another, the setups just aren’t that funny. They’re entertaining, it’s never boring, but there’s a notable lack of belly laughs for such a noted movie.

Buster Keaton loved trains, and if he didn’t quite find their comedic value in “The General,” he did in the opening sequences of “Our Hospitality.” But it’s not a movie about trains, it’s a movie about a blood feud. But it opens with a ride on one of the first ever trains, and the ride is a joy to watch. The train moves so slow, Keaton’s dog can keep up. The railroad track goes right over logs, rocks, anything in the path. When a mule stands on the tracks and refuses to move, the engineer just moves the tracks around him instead.

When he arrives at his destination, he somehow finds himself in the home of a family sworn to kill him. But they can’t kill him as long as he’s in their house; southern hospitality won’t permit that. What follows is a frenetically paced series of setups in which he must find a way to stay inside the house, while they try desperately to get him out of it. It’s a much funnier set up than “The General’s” railroad chase. And “Our Hospitality” ends with one of Keaton’s most daring stunts: he swings out over a waterfall to save the girl of his dreams. The scene will make your stomach feel funny. Keaton almost died filming it, when one of his guidelines broke. Danger comedy strikes again.

Another on the short list of Keaton films you’re supposed to see is “The Navigator,” but, like “The General,” I think it’s notable for reasons other than pure comedy. This time Keaton finds himself stranded on a boat with a girl who doesn’t like him. Most of the gags are borrowed from his shorts; There’s a scene in which he tries to arrange a sleeping body in a deck chair that’s straight from “Spite Marriage,” and I think is funnier there. There’s also a creative kitchen gadgets scene, which is much better played in “The Scarecrow.” There’s an underwater sequence that is technically notable, but cinematically boring, and it ends with cannibals attacking the ship, which is one of the few Keaton setups which feels dated and tasteless.

If you’re into boats, skip “The Navigator” and find “the Boat” instead. It’s a short, timing in at just over 26 minutes, but I think has more laughs packed into it than its much longer maritime counterpart. There’s a great scene where he uses his wife’s inedible pancakes to seal a leak, and the film ends with a pun – a tough trick to pull off in a silent movie.

Steamboat Bill, Jr — another movie based on a boat — is another feature-length gem. This time Keaton is the dandy son of a rough-and-tumble steamboat captain; after the comedy of their clashing lifestyles culminates in a hilarious revolving hat scene, a tornado hits the town, and Keaton must save not only his dad, but his sweetheart, and her dad, and some old guy, as well. Buster Keaton battling the wind is more athletic/graceful than funny, but it’s still a sight to behold. Oh yes, and this one contains the famous, oft-mimicked scene in which a house falls on him, but he’s standing in just the right spot so that the open window falls around him. More danger comedy.

But my favorite Keaton film is “The Cameraman,” in which Keaton (or his nameless character) tries to win the love of a good woman by winning a cameraman job at the newspaper where she works. Keaton stumbles into a gang fight, and keeps rolling tape as the guns go off around him. I think the setups here are particularly inspired, and Buster as the underdog to all the other cameramen just cements his character’s role in the universe, and determination to change his circumstances. The fight scene is well shot and exciting, and, as a movie, “The Cameraman” manages to avoid the scenes that feel like filler or throwaway gags that mar his other films. While the others sometimes feel a bit too long, The Cameraman feels more like a long-runningshort – it makes every minute count.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz7FVY0qitc ]

A lot of silent stars couldn’t make the transition to sound, and Buster Keaton’s great films are almost certainly his silents. But I watched “Free and Easy,” his first “talkie” and saw no reason why he shouldn’t have succeeded at talking pictures. There’s nothing wrong with his voice, or delivery. His comic timing is still solid. What more likely led to his decline was the contract he signed with MGM. Known for their factory-like moviemaking process, it just wasn’t a happy atmosphere for Keaton, who thrived on improvisation, collaboration with his producers, and creative control – none of which were allowed him on the Hollywood sets. He became an alcoholic, and, by 1935, was writing gags for the Marx Brothers instead of performing on his own. Countless comedians and actors have studied and/or copied his routines, from Red Skelton to Jackie Chan. He was, and is, not only one of the great silent comedians, but one of the great comedians of any era or age.

Are they great because they’re important? A tough question to answer. Over the years, Keaton’s films have gone in and out of style. As soon as Hollywood started making movies with sound, comedy shifted to verbal, witty jokes, away from physical humor. But plenty of comedians have been influence by Keaton’s movies, and you shouldn’t really call yourself a Hollywood funny man these days unless you’ve seen them. Also, some of Keaton’s movies which get most talked about (The General, The Navigator) are more noted for their elaborate, expensive and dangerous stunts than for actually being funny.

Are they great because they’re good? Enough of them. Keaton had a real gift, that I think show up best in the short films. Watch “The Cameraman,” “The Boat,” and “The Scarecrow” to see Keaton films that are great just because they are funny and entertaining.