“The hard stare remains, even as every last part of him disappears under the water.”

A wonderful article about the work of Buster Keaton. Thanks for sending it, peteb – You’re right – it describes the whole Keaton thing marvelously.

If you’re going to characterise your entire career in cinema by a single expression, the expression on Buster Keaton’s face is a very good one to have. I remember recognising this when I first saw Steamboat Bill, Jr, made in 1928. There’s a scene in it featuring a particularly fierce hurricane visiting destruction on a small town. Keaton is holding on to a tree to stop being blown away by the fierce gale. However, the force is so strong the wind breaks the tree from its roots in the ground and carries it, with Keaton still clinging on, up and across a river where it slowly sinks. Keaton’s expression throughout all these stunning visuals is the best part of the joke: he consistently stares blankly at the camera, a man who can’t believe his dignity is being robbed in this way. The hard stare remains, even as every last part of him disappears under the water.

hahahaha

I know it’s stupid and sentimental of me … but for some reason Buster Keaton makes me want to cry. I mean, he makes me laugh, too … but the sheer inventiveness of him, and … also the fact that he’s NOT a forgotten genius … that people, to this day, (including Cashel!!) truly LOVE Buster Keaton … It just fills my heart. I’m a goof. Sue me.

Astonishing. To this day.

This entry was posted in Actors and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to “The hard stare remains, even as every last part of him disappears under the water.”

  1. peteb says:

    Hahahaha

    There’d be a lot of people to sue, Sheila.

    I loved what Armando Iannucci says in the article about Keaton as a comedian and as a director – “he explored both disciplines to perfection.”

  2. dorkafork says:

    For the particular scene in the picture, Buster had very little room for error. And the frame was heavy enough to kill him. The cameraman said he turned away because he was convinced he was about to film Buster’s death.

  3. dorkafork says:

    I might have mentioned this in your comments before, but once Buster got to be known as “Old Stoneface”, producers would constantly come up with idea to have Buster smile at the end of the movie. Advertise it as “the movie where Buster Keaton smiles!” And every time Buster would insist they try it out at a test screening, and every single time it would bomb with the test audience.

  4. Mark says:

    I guess I’m too close to Buster, because it always suprises me when he’s referred to as a “forgotten genius.” I seem to assume that everyone knows him as the number two silent comedian (but number one to me). It makes me want to say “Forgotten genius? What about poor Fatty Arbuckle?”

  5. red says:

    Mark – he’s #1 to me, too. But if you ask your regular Joe on the street: “Have you heard of Charlie Chaplin” for the most part they’ll say yes – probably not so with Buster. I would love it if the Film Forum here did a Keaton festival – I think that would be awesome.

    and hahahaha with the Fatty Arbuckle!!

  6. red says:

    dorkafork – wow – fascinating about the smile bombing with the test-audience!!

  7. Mark says:

    And speaking of Buster smiling and Fatty….

    I always come cross this “rumor” that Buster can be seen smiling in one of the shorts he did with Fatty because it was so funny he couldn’t help himself. It is a rumor, because Buster smiles in just about ALL of the shorts he did with Fatty. Near as I can tell, it’s always scripted beacuse Buster learned at an early age not crack in the middle of the act.

Comments are closed.