So, I’ve been having some fun lately composing new scores for Buster Keaton classics. If you’re a fan of the silent film era, no introduction is needed – you are well aware of Keaton’s impeccable timing, intelligent parodies and deadpan face while surviving and thriving in all sorts of situations from love affairs to disasters. But for those of you who’ve only heard of Chaplin – meet another major comedic star with equally brilliant talents. A short video festival on the blog for your viewing pleasure and if you want more here’s a great collection The Art of Buster Keaton (The General / Sherlock, Jr. / Our Hospitality / The Navigator / Steamboat Bill Jr. / College / Three Ages / Battling Butler / Go West / The Saphead / Seven Chances / 21 Short Films)
From Wikepedia:
“Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer.[1] He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistentlystoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname “The Great Stone Face”.[2]
Buster Keaton (his lifelong stage name) was recognized as the seventh-greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.[3] In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Keaton the 21st-greatest male star of all time. Critic Roger Ebert wrote of Keaton’s “extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, [when] he worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies…”[2]
Orson Welles stated that Keaton’s The General is “the greatest comedy ever made, the greatest Civil War film ever made, and perhaps the greatest film ever made.”[4] A 2002 worldwide poll by Sight & Sound ranked Keaton’s The General as the 15th best film of all time. Three other Keaton films received votes in the magazine’s survey: Our Hospitality, Sherlock, Jr., and The Navigator.[5]”