Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton, an individual recognized for his accomplishments as an actor, comedian, and filmmaker in America, is renowned for his silent film work. His trademark was physical comedy performed with a stoic, deadpan expression, which earned him the nickname “The Great Stone Face.” Critic Roger Ebert highlighted Keaton’s “extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929,” during which he worked continuously and made him “the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies.” In 1996, Entertainment Weekly acknowledged Keaton as the seventh-greatest film director, recognizing that “More than Chaplin, Keaton understood movies: He knew they consisted of a four-sided frame in which resided a malleable reality off which his persona could bounce.”
Keaton was a vaudeville child star who grew up to be a tinkerer, an athlete, and a visual mathematician, as his films offer belly laughs of mind-boggling physical invention and a spacey determination that nears philosophical grandeur. He worked with independent producer Joseph M. Schenck and filmmaker Edward F. Cline and produced a series of successful two-reel comedies in the early 1920s, including One Week, The Playhouse, Cops, and The Electric House. He subsequently moved on to feature-length films, several of which, such as Sherlock Jr., The General, Steamboat Bill, Jr., and The Cameraman, remain highly regarded.
Orson Welles regarded The General as Keaton’s masterpiece, describing it as “the greatest comedy ever made…and perhaps the greatest film ever made.” Welles stated that Keaton “was beyond all praise…a very great artist, and one of the most beautiful men I ever saw on the screen. He was also a great director. In the last analysis, no one came near him.” In 2018, Peter Bogdanovich released The Great Buster: A Celebration, a tribute to Keaton, featuring Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Werner Herzog, and Quentin Tarantino, among others. Keaton’s art has inspired full academic study. The General has placed highly on the Sight & Sound poll, and Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr., and The Navigator also received multiple votes.
Keaton’s career declined when he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and lost his artistic independence. His wife divorced him, and he descended into alcoholism. In the 1940s, he recovered, remarried, and revived his career as an honored comic performer for the rest of his life, earning an Academy Honorary Award in 1959. Late in his career, Keaton made cameos in Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, Chaplin’s Limelight, Samuel Beckett’s Film, and the Twilight Zone episode “Once Upon a Time.”
Anthony Lane explained that Keaton was ahead of his time, writing, “He was just too good, in too many ways, too soon… No action thriller of the last, blood-streaked decade has matched the kinetic violence at the end of Steamboat Bill, Jr., in which a storm pulls Keaton through one random catastrophe after another. Anyone who thinks that the movie-within-a-movie is a recent conceit, the province of The Purple Rose of Cairo and Last Action Hero, should check out Sherlock Jr., a film in which Keaton dreams himself into another film: he strolls up the aisle of the theatre, hops into the action, and fights to keep up with the breakneck changes of scene. As for The General, where do you start? It’s a film about a train, but it’s also a spirited romance, peppered with bickering and longing, and its evocation of the Civil War period has
never been surpassed… He is the first action hero; to be precise, he is a small, pale-faced American who is startled, tripped, drenched and inspired into becoming a hero.”
Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton was a trailblazing artist of his time, celebrated for his iconic work in American cinema as an actor, comedian, and filmmaker. The silent film star was known for his signature physical comedy and stoic, expressionless demeanor that earned him the nickname “The Great Stone Face.” Critic Roger Ebert lauded Keaton’s unparalleled work during the 1920s, calling him “the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies.”
Entertainment Weekly recognized Keaton’s contributions to cinema and ranked him as the seventh-greatest film director in 1996, citing his exceptional understanding of the art form. More than Chaplin, Keaton had a profound comprehension of how movies functioned, consisting of a four-sided frame that housed a malleable reality off which he bounced his persona.
A former vaudeville child star, Keaton’s early career was marked by successful two-reel comedies produced in collaboration with independent producer Joseph M. Schenck and filmmaker Edward F. Cline. The early 1920s saw the release of classics such as One Week, The Playhouse, Cops, and The Electric House. Keaton’s transition to feature-length films in subsequent years resulted in several critically acclaimed movies such as Sherlock Jr., The General, Steamboat Bill, Jr., and The Cameraman.
Of all his works, The General is widely considered his magnum opus, with Orson Welles proclaiming it “the greatest comedy ever made…and perhaps the greatest film ever made.” Keaton was a peerless artist, a great director, and one of the most beautiful men ever to grace the screen, according to Welles. In 2018, Peter Bogdanovich’s The Great Buster: A Celebration paid tribute to Keaton, featuring prominent personalities such as Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Werner Herzog, and Quentin Tarantino. Keaton’s contributions to the art of filmmaking have been studied extensively, with The General ranking highly on the Sight & Sound poll, and several other films receiving multiple votes.
Keaton’s career took a downturn when he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and lost his artistic freedom. The loss of his creative independence coincided with his divorce, leading to a period of alcoholism. However, Keaton made a remarkable comeback in the 1940s, with his revival as a comic performer earning him an Academy Honorary Award in 1959. Later in his career, Keaton made cameos in Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, Chaplin’s Limelight, Samuel Beckett’s Film, and the Twilight Zone episode “Once Upon a Time.”
Anthony Lane observed that Keaton was ahead of his time, stating that “He was just too good, in too many ways, too soon…No action thriller of the last, blood-streaked decade has matched the kinetic violence at the end of Steamboat Bill, Jr., in which a storm pulls Keaton through one random catastrophe after another.” In Sherlock Jr., Keaton dreams himself into another film, strolling up the aisle of the theater and fighting to keep up with the breakneck changes of scene. The General is a film about a train that doubles as a spirited romance, rife with bickering and longing, and Keaton’s evocation of the Civil War period has never been paralleled. Keaton was the first action hero, a small, pale-faced American who was startled, tripped, drenched, and inspired into becoming a hero.