Mike D’Angelo has a wonderful piece up about the glories of Buster Keaton running, especially in that unforgettable chase scene at the end of Seven Chances, which I’ve written about before. He nails it. I love how he delves into the physicality and what it is that makes it so funny, and also so … so … Buster.
You could make a case that it’s the incongruity between his storied “stone face” and his furiously pumping legs, but the notion that Keaton is somehow emotionally inexpressive has never made much sense to me, frankly—his refusal to mug doesn’t make him stoic or impassionate (though it does make him look well ahead of his time, in terms of performance style). Truly, I think it’s mostly just that he runs funny, in much the same way that, for example, Chaplin walks funny. I do believe I could identify his 100-yard dash 10 times out of 10 with his face obscured.
Go read the whole thing. And make sure to watch the clips, or better yet, watch the whole movie.
Seven Chances is my fav film of BK. It’s the only film I’ve ever bought just reading about the premise and scenes. Back when vhs movies were between 40 and 50 dollars. It’s a horrible copy, but still a favorite.
Thanks for the link.