Buster Keaton: Tempest In A Flat Hat

by Edward McPherson

Edward McPherson traces Buster Keaton's career from his early days in vaudeville--where as a rambunctious five-year-old his father threw him around the stage--to his becoming one of the brightest stars of silent film's Golden Age. Taking what he knew from vaudeville--ingenuity, athleticism, audacity and wit--Keaton applied his hand to the new medium of film, proving himself a prodigious acrobat and brilliant writer, gagman, director and actor in more than 100 films. Between 1920 and 1929, he rivaled Fatty Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, and even Charlie Chaplin as the master of silent comedy by writing, directing, and starring in more than 30 films. The book celebrates Keaton in his prime--as an antic genius, equal parts auteur, innovator, prankster and daredevil--while also revealing the pressures in his personal and professional life that led to a collapse into drunkenness and despair before his triumphant second act as a television pioneer and Hollywood player in everything from beach movies to Beckett. McPherson describes the life of Keaton--in front of the camera and behind the scenes--with the kind of exuberance and narrative energy displayed by the shrewd, madcap films themselves.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Film, History, Media Tie In, Biography Memoir

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2004

Reviews

[Poppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Edward McPherson's highly readable Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat McPherson successfully juggles the three aspects of a critical biography that have to co-exist if it is to succeed.

A critical biography has to make you want to read farther, and at the same time, it should make you want to put the book down so you can experience the art for yourself. Your attention needs to switch constantly between the life and the works, and it's up to the author to blend the whole thing together into a seamless whole.

McPherson provides great insight into Keaton's character and the circumstances of the different phases of his career. His descriptions of film sequences are as vivid as any I have ever read. On top of that, his prose style is compelling and elegant.

Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat is a hat trick. I'm glad to have read it and even more glad that I've finished it. You see, I own the Kino video boxed set of Keaton films, and McPherson has now inspired me to watch every single one.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegant, concise retelling of BK's life and career. Drawn from other books and close viewing of the films, rather than original research. Probably the best place to start.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the author speak at a screening of Sherlock Jr. at BAM a couple years ago, and I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it. I really enjoyed this.. mostly for the descriptions of how he made his greatest movies The General, Cops etc. but also for the more biographical sections since I knew next to nothing about his life story, how from early childhood he traveled across the country in a vaudeville act with his parents, and ended up in NYC making short comedy reels to start his film career. I definitely learned alot about Hollywood in the silent era and the transition to sound.. due to the vagaries of the studio system and his own problems Keaton couldn't pull the transition off.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The man who wrote this book didn’t meet Buster or Eleanor, nor is he interested in tearing them down, he’s a young-ish fan of the films— and a very good writer. He concentrates primarily on Buster’s films, the two- realers and features of the late teens and 20’s. He’s less interested in Buster’s films and appearances after the 20’s when he lost his studio and autonomy and that’s okay with me. (Those films are hard to find, can be derivative of his earlier glories and can be sad. With the caveat of “The Awakening” that he made for tv in 1953 which is very special and based on Gogol and is available on YouTube.)

“… Sherlock, Jr. is a story about being able to do two things at once: move and entertain, dream and wake, negotiate between our real and our better selves – how are we all, in the end projectionists and detectives… Sherlock, Jr. is a testament to the imaginative impulse…the amount of ourselves that we put into the movies, and what the movies give back to us. For when the lights come up and we’re shoved rudely back into our misfit selves, we find we’re a little better off. Our ghostly flights sustain us. And then it’s time to kiss the girl.” (149)

[Barton Young · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful, tepid first book from E. McPherson which manages to make the life and career of Buster Keaton into a soporific bore. Some achievement. The early vaudeville yeras of Buster's childhod are the most interesting.Then it degenerates into a cut 'n' paste of the (very) bare basics of Buster's life (marriages come and go across a few pages; alcoholism pops up without former mention) and a page after page of scene-by-scene breakdowns of the films which reveals too much for those who haven't seen them and of little interest to those who have. The Arbuckle-Rappe affair is prudishly sketched over: the casual reader may wonder at the 'unspeakable violations' which so shocked 20s America, that McPherson chooses to blush and mumble about. Add in some italicised passages written as though inside the film and which just don't work and the most cringeworthy and baffling closing paragraph I have perhaps ever read and you have a near-total waste of time. If you've seen BK's films and want to know more, don't come here. Some great photos of Buster but that's about it.

[Jennifer Garlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

McPherson provides a compelling look at Keaton's early career and troubled personal life. Although he glosses over much of the later period, it's forgivable mainly because the silent films are those that hold up best today and show Keaton at his best. Those interested in the silent star or the upheaval of Hollywood's transition to the talkies will find this biography a worthwhile read.

[Vanewimsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. Just a rehash of what's available from other sources. If you read the Marion Meade biography and Buster's "as told to" autobiography, you'll get 95% of what's in this book.

Plus it has a bit of an arch, "aren't I clever" tone that is both off-putting and undeserved.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan - and though this book breaks no real new ground, it's a quick-yet-thorough-and entertaining look at the man's life.

[Bleak Mouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine just-the-facts narrative, without pretentions, overwrought analysis, or bullying aesthetics. Exactly what I wished to know, neither more nor less.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Buster Keaton so much. So it was good to read about him.

[Berna Labourdette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como experta en Buster Keaton XD me entretuve mucho leyendo esta biografía, enfocada en sus primeros años de vaudeville (y su compleja relación con su padre) y los primeros años del cine mudo y las maravillosas películas que dirigió y protagonizó. La selección de fotografías es muy buena y el tono es respetuoso, especialmente para abordar la compleja situación de su primer divorcio y alcoholismo. Es una biografía como para empezar a conocer su vida y trabajo a cualquiera que le interese especialmente con el próximo biopic que quieren hacer con Rami Malek :/  

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Buster Keaton: Tempest In A Flat Hat" is writer Edward McPherson's first book, and it's a fan's elegy to the great Stone Face. It's also a really good introduction to The Master, if you're just starting to watch Keaton's films and learn more about him. While there really isn't anything new here for those who are better acquainted with Buster's life and films, the text is a gentle ride through the life of the man who is arguably the silent screen's greatest clown, surpassing Chaplin and Lloyd with his "Little Man" who stoically accepted his situation and did his best to master it, all without cracking a smile.

It's all here - Keaton's golden years in the 1920s, the loss of his own production studio and his subsequent disastrous affiliation with MGM, his first two horrible marriages and his wonderfully successful third, his friends and fellow film talents. (His best friend was the great silent comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, whose career was ruined by false accusations of rape. Buster never believed Arbuckle was guilty - which he wasn't - and, until the day he died, Buster kept a huge photograph of Arbuckle in his house). Also present is Keaton's darker trouble - alcoholism and its effect on his later career - and audiences' later re-discovery of him in the 1950s through Buster’s embrace of television and film festivals featuring his work.

Here, too, are Buster's earliest beginnings in vaudeville with his family act, "The Three Keatons" (dad Joe, mother Myra and Keaton, later becoming "The Five Keatons" with addition of a little brother and sister). Each of Keaton's silent films is delightfully detailed - the on-set games of baseball when Buster and his gagmen team were stymied over how to work out a particular stunt; the precision and total devotion to Buster's craft reflected in the dedication of his regular "crew"; and the often quite dangerous stunts Buster executed with flawless timing and no small amount of courage. There was no stunt double: Keaton was his own double.

So, new to Keaton? Start here. You'll be swept along by McPherson's obvious enthusiasm for his awesome subject. The book is a loving portrait of a great artist who, along with contemporaries Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin, dominated a glorious, freewheeling period in silent movie history. Ultimately, though this unbridled period of independent creative freedom was crushed by the advent of sound and the "studio system", with its worship of tight budgets, box office takes and ruthless conformity, Buster Keaton's grace, precision, athleticism and brilliance are all still here, waiting to be experienced by new generations of movie fans.

[Matt]

A solid look into the genius of cinema's life and craft. There were some lovely passages that reflected on Buster's unique approach to comic philosophy and marveled and his superhuman feats captured on film. The majority of the book focuses on Buster's golden days, the first half of his life, when he and his crew were shooting whatever he dreamed up and pushing the movie-making conventions of the day. The author was mercifully brief when it came to his decline in the second half of his life that came with the advent of sound and the studio system. It was a lovely ode to a master of the medium.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indulging my love of early Hollywood history, it was an enjoyable biography. Since I know so little about Keaton, I found it fascinating, but I have a feeling if I knew more about that era that it wouldn't have been near as engaging. But it was good enough to make me add some of his movies to my netflix queue.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a strictly academic biography as the author admits to being a committed fan and writes as one. So, brilliant on the great films and historical context but a little light on the more human details of Keaton's life. That's a minor criticism though - if you have any interest in Keaton or early cinema this is a great read.

[Andrewh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Buster's life, this book starts off interestingly, and then tails off badly after the release of the legendary film The General - in fact, the last forty years of his life are dealt with in perfunctory fashion, and I think that Stone Face probably deserves a better biography.

[George Paterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive bio of the silent master. Really got a feel for the man and his craft but felt that the latter part of his life and career - and the subsequent fall then re-evaluation of his talents - wasn't given the same time as the earlier years.

Still recommend it though.

[Pamela Mikita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll never forget the first time I saw The Navigator, we watched it as a family and laughing so hard. Buster Keaton was brilliant and I really enjoyed learning about him. Kinda have a little crush going on. I am going to put his autobiography on my reading list.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice biography that tells stories and walks you through a most extraordinary life.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this book. I did not know much about Buster or his films. The author did a very good job in explaining how movies worked back then...very insightful.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed and poignant biography of Buster Keaton, an early comedy genius of silent films. I like him and Harold Lloyd just as much as Charlie Chaplin!

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good until the ending, which seemed VERY rushed.

[Drahcir10001 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you've seen a Keaton feature or short on the big screen there's a chance you'll want to learn more about him. My recommendation is to watch 3 or 4 of his features and as many of his shorts before diving into any of the biographies. Some of them cloud or obfuscate. None of them 'correctly' describe or recommend every single feature and short, and none quite prepare you for the creative athletic balletic majesty of the films when seen on the big screen.

In order I suggest: Ed McPherson (fan's gentle overview), Buster Keaton Remembered (beautiful large format illustrated memoir by Buster's wife Eleanour), My Wonderful World of Slapstick (Keaton's autobiography), Rudi Blesh (good biog up to 1929), Kevin Sweeney's 'Interviews' compendium (fascinating detail on the film making) and finally, if you must, Tom Dardis (downbeat, depressing, alternative biog which refreshingly contains uncomfortable truths but so completely removes rose-tinting it quickly sours into a dull and cold-hearted economic, pragmatic assessment of a creative and athletic life).
Recommended films: http://imdb.com/list/NzLZZFMp3pA

[Tommy Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward McPherson delves mostly into the years when Buster Keaton was the head of his own production team, when they were making some of the most enjoyable movies ever made. The publicity photos from this time period are great as are some of McPherson's descriptions of the stories and gags from the films.
After Keaton's core team split up and he lost creative control, the book becomes a masterfully compact review of the rest of Keaton's life. It's incredibly well done, although it left me wanting to know more about the older Keaton. How happy he seemed to just be working in whatever way he could in TV and the movies, and how much happier he seemed living on a modest ranch instead of the ridiculous palace he build for his wife (oddly enough, I couldn't help but think of Hulk Hogan whining about trying to keep his unsatisfiable wife happy in his autobiography). By the 1950's he couldn't even relate to his peers from the silent movie days; Harold Lloyd didn't even listen to rock 'n roll! I wanted to spend more time with this later Buster, even if we wasn't putting out anything particularly memorable.

[Kim Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy books about the artists who have entertained us over the years, and Keaton, in spite of the demons which did find him at moments in his life, comes across as one of the more psychologically stable and healthy ones. Compared to a contemporary like Chaplin, Keaton seems like someone we would like to spend time, even work, with. A bit more analysis of his emotional life would have benefited the book, but Keaton seems to have had a selflessness and humility that makes him easy to identify with. His genius lay in his ability to collaborate and create exciting, amazing moments of complex cinematic sequences and gags. He was largely denied the recognition and esteem while he was producing movies that only later were seen for what they were. It is indeed a gigantic plus that his work is generally available for us to enjoy on YouTube, and I spent a lot of time checking out some of his movies, especially yet early two-reeders.

[Mike]

I loved this book, as much for its biographical information about Keaton and his life, and for his approaches to movie-making, as for the detailed analysis of most of his movies. It makes you want to see some of these probably-impossible-to find old films just to see what McPherson enjoyed about them so much.

Keaton's life was full of highs and lows: one minute touted as one of the top Hollywood screen comedy artists, the next all but forgotten. Or dealing with a wife and her family who in many ways rejected him.

[OK Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another hand-me-down from my teacher/mentor Dr. J. He also included a dvd of some of Buster's work, which he "had" to buy after reading the book.

Scanned through the last 100 pages and it was becoming rather redundant in it's description of his films. Found the last 25 pages utterly fascinating, as Keaton finds himself working up to the end of his life.

Having the DVD of his work to refer to as I read the book was most helpful.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My true rating of this would be 3.5 stars. It was a great introduction to Buster Keaton, and at its core was a detailed filmography. With that knowledge, I’ve now started to watch some of the mentioned films and know I wouldn’t have come across them without reading this first. For the most part it’s dry and can be slow, but I would recommend anyone with an interest in old Hollywood to acquaint themselves with Buster Keaton.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was good. It was thorough to the point of exhaustion, with scarcely any repetition in information.
Definitely a must read if you love the early era of filmmaking.
This chronicle of the life and career of probably the best film comedian to ever exist is, like Buster himself, exciting, humorous and sometimes sad. Check it out.

[Morrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally sat down and read the crap out of this to finish it. BOY, was that little coda whimsical. Until you read this book you will not grasp the importance of Buster in film and comedy. He is literally everywhere in the entertainment business, and it makes perfect sense. A freaking genius laugh-riot of a dude. I want to read this all over again.