AMERICAN MASTERS: BUSTER KEATON: A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW {EPISODE 1} (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series that explores the lives and achievements of America's most celebrated native-born and adopted artists and performers. This three-part documentary examines the life of legendary screen comedian Buster Keaton (1895-1966), and is highlighted by vintage film footage and still photos; interviews with family, friends, and colleagues; and 1960s interviews with Keaton himself. Part one surveys the following: how Joseph Keaton, Jr., was dubbed "Buster"; Keaton's rough-and-tumble childhood on the vaudeville circuit with his parents, Joe and Myra; how Keaton's childhood experiences filtered into his later film work; speculation regarding the possibility that Keaton was physically abused by his parents; important early lessons Keaton learned in vaudeville -- how to protect himself from serious injury during the dangerous acrobatic stunts he performed, and the revelation that the graver he appeared on stage, the more laughs he got; the importance of Buster, at age five, to his parents' act; how the Keatons and their crew were able to evade child labor law enforcers; Keaton's teen years; his move to New York in 1917, after the Keaton family act broke up; Keaton's fortuitous meeting with the silent comedy star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who offered him work in a film he was directing at the Talmadge Studios in New York; the instant on-screen rapport between Keaton and Arbuckle visible in Keaton's first film, "The Butcher Boy" (1917); Keaton's passion for film, which led him to learn everything he could about the technical aspects of the medium; the string of one-reelers Keaton and Arbuckle made together; Arbuckle and his company's eventual move to California, by which time Keaton was serving as an actor, head writer, and assistant director; Keaton's close relationship with Arbuckle, whom he maintained to the end of his life was his greatest influence and friend; Keaton's rise to stardom, resulting in his being given his own studio in 1919; the perfectionism surrounding the release of Keaton's first solo comedy, "One Week" (1920), a huge hit which set a new standard for production values; how Keaton and his gag men developed their one-reelers; Keaton's marriage to Natalie Talmadge, whose famous family disapproved of him; the Fatty Arbuckle rape trial; Keaton's cautious move into feature-length film with "Three Ages" (1923); the hazardous stunts Keaton always performed himself, and a serious accident that occurred during the making of his first full-scale feature, "Our Hospitality" (1923); the brilliance and courageousness of Keaton as a stunt artist and some of the serious mishaps he endured; and the filming of "The Navigator" (1924), Keaton's most successful comedy to date, putting him in the league with comedy stars Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. Includes interviews with and/or footage of the following individuals: former child acrobat Charles Lamont; writer and friend Bill Cox; actor and friend Loyal T. Lucas; actress Louise Dresser; Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle; friend Viola Dana; actor/director Eddie Cline; actor William H. Crane; actress Bartine Burkett; Keaton's widow, Eleanor Keaton; his first wife, actress Natalie Talmadge; stunt man Harvey Parry; business partner Raymond Rohauer; and actor and friend William Collier, Jr. Includes footage from all the films mentioned above, as well as the following: "Neighbors" (1920), "The Rough House" (1917), "Ralph Edwards's This Is Your Life" (1957), "Out West" (1918), "The Saphead" (1920), "The High Sign" (1921), "The Haunted House" (1921), "The Round Up" (1920), "Hard Luck" (1921), "The Playhouse" (1921), "The Scarecrow" (1920), "My Wife's Relations" (1922), "Electric House" (1922), "The Goat" (1921), "Cops" (1922), and "Sherlock Jr." (1924). Continues with T:40930. This program is closed-captioned.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS WNET New York, NY
- DATE: November 18, 1987 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:53:47
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:40929
- GENRE: Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Arts documentaries; Biography; Comedy; Films - Production and direction; Films, silent
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1986-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Susan Lacy … Executive Producer
- Harlene Freezer … Coordinating Producer
- Kevin Brownlow … Producer, Writer
- David Gill … Producer, Writer
- Linda Phillips … Researcher
- Cy Young … Researcher, Film research by
- Robert S. Birchard … Researcher, Additional research by
- Joel Goss … Researcher, Additional research by
- Alan Hoffman … Researcher, Additional research by
- Frank Holland … Researcher, Additional research by
- Eric Sparks … Researcher, Additional research by
- Carl Davis … Music by
- Jonathan Tunick … Theme Music by
- Lindsay Anderson … Narrator
- Arbuckle, Roscoe "Fatty"
- Bartine Burkett
- Eddie Cline
- William Collier
- Bill Cox
- William H. Crane
- Viola Dana
- Louise Dresser
- Buster Keaton
- Keaton, Eleanor (See also: Norris, Eleanor)
- Joe Keaton
- Myra Keaton
- Charles Lamont
- Loyal T. Lucas
- Harvey Parry
- Raymond Rohauer
- Natalie Talmadge