What do you think?
Rate this book
Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life
From acclaimed cultural and film historian James Curtis--a major biography, the first in more than two decades, of the legendary comedian and filmmaker who elevated physical comedy to the highest of arts and whose ingenious films remain as startling, innovative, modern--and irresistible--today as they were when they beguiled audiences almost a century ago.
It was James Agee who christened Buster Keaton "The Great Stone Face." Keaton's face, Agee wrote, ranked almost with Lincoln's as an early American archetype; it was haunting, handsome, almost beautiful, yet it was also irreducibly funny. Keaton was the only major comedian who kept sentiment almost entirely out of his work and . . . he brought pure physical comedy to its greatest heights."
Mel Brooks: "A lot of my daring came from Keaton."
Martin Scorsese, influenced by Keaton's pictures in the making of Raging Bull: "The only person who had the right attitude about boxing in the movies for me," Scorsese said, "was Buster Keaton."
Keaton's deadpan stare in a porkpie hat was as recognizable as Charlie Chaplin's tramp and Harold Lloyd's straw boater and spectacles, and, with W. C. Fields, the four were each considered a comedy king--but Keaton was, and still is, considered to be the greatest of them all.
His iconic look and acrobatic brilliance obscured the fact that behind the camera Keaton was one of our most gifted filmmakers. Through nineteen short comedies and twelve magnificent features, he distinguished himself with such seminal works as Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Cameraman, and his masterpiece, The General.
Now James Curtis, admired biographer of Preston Sturges ("definitive"--Variety), W. C. Fields ("by far the fullest, fairest and most touching account we have yet had. Or are likely to have"--Richard Schickel, front page of The New York Times Book Review), and Spencer Tracy ("monumental; definitive"--Kirkus Reviews), gives us the richest, most comprehensive life to date of the legendary actor, stunt artist, screenwriter, director--master.
It was James Agee who christened Buster Keaton "The Great Stone Face." Keaton's face, Agee wrote, ranked almost with Lincoln's as an early American archetype; it was haunting, handsome, almost beautiful, yet it was also irreducibly funny. Keaton was the only major comedian who kept sentiment almost entirely out of his work and . . . he brought pure physical comedy to its greatest heights."
Mel Brooks: "A lot of my daring came from Keaton."
Martin Scorsese, influenced by Keaton's pictures in the making of Raging Bull: "The only person who had the right attitude about boxing in the movies for me," Scorsese said, "was Buster Keaton."
Keaton's deadpan stare in a porkpie hat was as recognizable as Charlie Chaplin's tramp and Harold Lloyd's straw boater and spectacles, and, with W. C. Fields, the four were each considered a comedy king--but Keaton was, and still is, considered to be the greatest of them all.
His iconic look and acrobatic brilliance obscured the fact that behind the camera Keaton was one of our most gifted filmmakers. Through nineteen short comedies and twelve magnificent features, he distinguished himself with such seminal works as Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Cameraman, and his masterpiece, The General.
Now James Curtis, admired biographer of Preston Sturges ("definitive"--Variety), W. C. Fields ("by far the fullest, fairest and most touching account we have yet had. Or are likely to have"--Richard Schickel, front page of The New York Times Book Review), and Spencer Tracy ("monumental; definitive"--Kirkus Reviews), gives us the richest, most comprehensive life to date of the legendary actor, stunt artist, screenwriter, director--master.
810 pages, Hardcover
First published February 15, 2022
129 people are currently reading
861 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
April 28, 2022
Always been fascinated by this man, but boy this was one huge, dense, fact-laden read.
The story of Mr. Keaton's life, from birth through childhood, all the way through to his death. In exacting, excruciating and meticulously-researched detail. A heavy, heavy read. (Drop this book on your foot and you'll know it!)
But, not only about the actor's life, but the history of the early 1900's, and of movie-making, including innovations in the silent film era all the way through to the talkies. Add in the juxtaposition of world events from the late 1800's, up through the Depression, two world wars and into the early 1960's, and it's a historical read, as well. But mostly, this book is about a uniquely creative man talented in so many arenas: physical comedy and slapstick, movie direction and production, and the use of any new technology that sprung up which could enhance the films he acted in, directed and produced.
For Keaton, in the silent era, it was all about the 'gag,' the central idea, the thing which would get the audience roaring. Timing was all important and surprise - even shock. The correct settings, backdrops, scenery and props, as well as having the correct actors in place - Keaton had an eye on everything. What was surprising was that he seldom wrote things down, and didn't see himself as a 'writer.' His ideas sprang out of his head and from meetings with other comics, actors, even friends and family. (Keaton included many of his family members in his projects, most notably his father, a long-time star of vaudeville and from whom Buster got his start.)
And did you know a 'buster' was something small - the old definition of it in the mid-1800's? He got this nickname from a family friend who called Keaton, 'a little buster' when he was just a toddler. From there the name stuck. I was also surprised to read about his very early start, at just age two or three, when he would upstage his father on stage. His father's reaction - to 'toss' or kick Buster out of the way, which made the audience roar. This became a shtick, or part of his father's routine and by doing so he taught Buster how to roll and tumble, fall and collide, thereby developing the many physical skills he'd used in his own productions years later.
(And I, from my 21st century POV, was unbelievable at first that audiences found a small child being thrown around to be so amusing. But Keaton insisted his father wasn't out to hurt him, and he got few bumps and bruises when they did this. This part of the act continued until Keaton was quite a bit older.)
But still, the detail in the book is nothing short of astounding. Names, dates, places, technical information, locations - the writer can pinpoint where Keaton was at almost any time, on any date, and what he was working on, finishing, or preparing for his next project.
(Some of the silent films mentioned I looked up online and I watched a few. I'll be honest; I didn't laugh out loud at any of them, but I was appreciative of the skill which went into them. Maybe if I'd been born in 1900 or so I'd have had a different reaction.)
All in all a good, long read. Eye-opening in many ways.
Five stars
The story of Mr. Keaton's life, from birth through childhood, all the way through to his death. In exacting, excruciating and meticulously-researched detail. A heavy, heavy read. (Drop this book on your foot and you'll know it!)
But, not only about the actor's life, but the history of the early 1900's, and of movie-making, including innovations in the silent film era all the way through to the talkies. Add in the juxtaposition of world events from the late 1800's, up through the Depression, two world wars and into the early 1960's, and it's a historical read, as well. But mostly, this book is about a uniquely creative man talented in so many arenas: physical comedy and slapstick, movie direction and production, and the use of any new technology that sprung up which could enhance the films he acted in, directed and produced.
For Keaton, in the silent era, it was all about the 'gag,' the central idea, the thing which would get the audience roaring. Timing was all important and surprise - even shock. The correct settings, backdrops, scenery and props, as well as having the correct actors in place - Keaton had an eye on everything. What was surprising was that he seldom wrote things down, and didn't see himself as a 'writer.' His ideas sprang out of his head and from meetings with other comics, actors, even friends and family. (Keaton included many of his family members in his projects, most notably his father, a long-time star of vaudeville and from whom Buster got his start.)
And did you know a 'buster' was something small - the old definition of it in the mid-1800's? He got this nickname from a family friend who called Keaton, 'a little buster' when he was just a toddler. From there the name stuck. I was also surprised to read about his very early start, at just age two or three, when he would upstage his father on stage. His father's reaction - to 'toss' or kick Buster out of the way, which made the audience roar. This became a shtick, or part of his father's routine and by doing so he taught Buster how to roll and tumble, fall and collide, thereby developing the many physical skills he'd used in his own productions years later.
(And I, from my 21st century POV, was unbelievable at first that audiences found a small child being thrown around to be so amusing. But Keaton insisted his father wasn't out to hurt him, and he got few bumps and bruises when they did this. This part of the act continued until Keaton was quite a bit older.)
But still, the detail in the book is nothing short of astounding. Names, dates, places, technical information, locations - the writer can pinpoint where Keaton was at almost any time, on any date, and what he was working on, finishing, or preparing for his next project.
(Some of the silent films mentioned I looked up online and I watched a few. I'll be honest; I didn't laugh out loud at any of them, but I was appreciative of the skill which went into them. Maybe if I'd been born in 1900 or so I'd have had a different reaction.)
All in all a good, long read. Eye-opening in many ways.
Five stars
December 19, 2022
I remember the first time I saw a Buster Keaton performance. It was in a rerun of the Twilight Zone episode “Once Upon a Time,” in which Keaton plays Woodrow Mulligan, a janitor in the 1890s who is unexpectedly transported to 1961 by a time travel device invented by the scientist for whom he works. Written by Richard Matheson as an homage to the comedies of the silent era, it features Keaton in full slapstick mode as he dodges police officers and searches for a pair of pants, all while trying to get back to his own time with the help of a scientist from the present.
This proved my initiation into the works of one of the greats of the silent film era. Occasionally in the years that followed I would come across another guest appearance in an old show or a broadcast of one of his films on cable television. When I began exploring film history in earnest, I made it a point to include his 1926 classic The General among the works that I saw, not least because of its reputation as one of the greatest movies of the silent era. Through it all I came to know the Keaton persona: the poker-faced everyman striving to overcome challenges with pluck and not a little ingenuity. It was only when I read James Curtis’s biography, however that I came to appreciate how close that was to the character of the man himself, as Curtis shows how Keaton similarly surmounted a series of obstacles to attain his status as a legend of the silver screen.
Keaton was one of those who was born into the business. The son of traveling medicine show and vaudeville performers, at an early age he was incorporated into their act, which soon attained fame as the Three Keatons. By 1917 his father’s alcoholism prompted young Buster to strike out on his own, and he was preparing for a solo career in vaudeville when a chance encounter redirected him towards the movies. Working with the legendary film comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle gave Keaton his initial opportunity to shine, as from the start Keaton demonstrated in Arbuckle’s films the talent for visual comedy which he had cultivated during his years on stage. Thanks to it, by his mid-twenties Keaton had become a star in his own right, one featured in a succession of highly successful two-reel comedies.
The 1920s were Keaton’s heyday as a movie star. Having learned from Arbuckle the importance of mastering the minutiae of film production, Keaton was involved at nearly every level in the creation of his movies, from scenario design to the editing process. Curtis’s coverage of these years takes up nearly half of his hefty book, as he takes readers through the development of the shorts and the five-reel comedies that Keaton transitioned into making as the decade wore on. Not only does this allow him to recount the very different ways in which films were made at that time, it provides insights into Keaton’s filmmaking process and details his inventiveness as an actor, scenarist, director, and editor. Curtis also describes the reception his films received, demonstrating the stature he earned over the decade as one of the cinematic greats of his era, one admired for his gifts and highly sought after for his popular and profitable works.
This changed with the arrival of sound. Though Keaton’s baritone voice surmounted easily the obstacle that inhibited many silent stars’ transition to the new format, what proved more difficult was adapting to the changes sound wrought on the genre itself. Studios now wanted comedies with jokes and banter rather than the visual gags that were Keaton’s forte. This required a closer adherence to a detailed script than he was comfortable with, which disrupted what had been a highly successful process for producing the films that had made his name. Keaton struggled to match his previous success, and with his marriage to his first wife Natalie falling apart the reserved Keaton increasingly turned to the bottle for solace. The result was a steady decline over the course of the 1930s, one exacerbated by a disastrous second marriage. By the end of the decade, Keaton was reduced to working mainly as a gag writer for scripts intended for more popular performers.
Keaton’s life stabilized in 1940 with his third marriage, this one to an MGM dancer named Eleanor Norris. Despite the 23-year age difference between them, theirs was a happy union that was of immeasurable benefit to Keaton emotionally. While Keaton made cameos in a number of films throughout the 1940s, it was thanks mainly to television that his career enjoyed an overdue revival. As a frequent guest star on the variety shows of the 1950s, he was introduced to a new audience in a medium that better suited his style. Keaton’s surviving silent films were also aired on content-starved local channels, contributing to the revival of the genre in the postwar era. Though Keaton never fully overcame his alcoholism, in the last 15 years of his life he found happiness as a venerated icon of a golden era of comedy, one whose adaptability and professionalism ensured him numerous roles on both the big and small screen, right up to his death from cancer in 1966.
While Keaton frequently mentioned retirement in interviews during this final period of his life, Curtis’s book demonstrates why he never did so for very long. The challenge of making people laugh drove Keaton throughout his life, and few equaled his gift for doing so. Among the great strengths of Curtis’s book is its evocative recounting of Keaton’s visually-driven humor, which helps the reader to understand better why his films were so popular. Yet this is just one of his achievements, as he succeeds in capturing the span of a life lived in an era of enormous change for mass entertainment. While the sheer mass of detail can serve at times as a drag on the book, overall it provides a highly readable account of the life and career of a legend of American cinema that everyone interested in Keaton himself or in filmmaking in the silent era should read.
This proved my initiation into the works of one of the greats of the silent film era. Occasionally in the years that followed I would come across another guest appearance in an old show or a broadcast of one of his films on cable television. When I began exploring film history in earnest, I made it a point to include his 1926 classic The General among the works that I saw, not least because of its reputation as one of the greatest movies of the silent era. Through it all I came to know the Keaton persona: the poker-faced everyman striving to overcome challenges with pluck and not a little ingenuity. It was only when I read James Curtis’s biography, however that I came to appreciate how close that was to the character of the man himself, as Curtis shows how Keaton similarly surmounted a series of obstacles to attain his status as a legend of the silver screen.
Keaton was one of those who was born into the business. The son of traveling medicine show and vaudeville performers, at an early age he was incorporated into their act, which soon attained fame as the Three Keatons. By 1917 his father’s alcoholism prompted young Buster to strike out on his own, and he was preparing for a solo career in vaudeville when a chance encounter redirected him towards the movies. Working with the legendary film comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle gave Keaton his initial opportunity to shine, as from the start Keaton demonstrated in Arbuckle’s films the talent for visual comedy which he had cultivated during his years on stage. Thanks to it, by his mid-twenties Keaton had become a star in his own right, one featured in a succession of highly successful two-reel comedies.
The 1920s were Keaton’s heyday as a movie star. Having learned from Arbuckle the importance of mastering the minutiae of film production, Keaton was involved at nearly every level in the creation of his movies, from scenario design to the editing process. Curtis’s coverage of these years takes up nearly half of his hefty book, as he takes readers through the development of the shorts and the five-reel comedies that Keaton transitioned into making as the decade wore on. Not only does this allow him to recount the very different ways in which films were made at that time, it provides insights into Keaton’s filmmaking process and details his inventiveness as an actor, scenarist, director, and editor. Curtis also describes the reception his films received, demonstrating the stature he earned over the decade as one of the cinematic greats of his era, one admired for his gifts and highly sought after for his popular and profitable works.
This changed with the arrival of sound. Though Keaton’s baritone voice surmounted easily the obstacle that inhibited many silent stars’ transition to the new format, what proved more difficult was adapting to the changes sound wrought on the genre itself. Studios now wanted comedies with jokes and banter rather than the visual gags that were Keaton’s forte. This required a closer adherence to a detailed script than he was comfortable with, which disrupted what had been a highly successful process for producing the films that had made his name. Keaton struggled to match his previous success, and with his marriage to his first wife Natalie falling apart the reserved Keaton increasingly turned to the bottle for solace. The result was a steady decline over the course of the 1930s, one exacerbated by a disastrous second marriage. By the end of the decade, Keaton was reduced to working mainly as a gag writer for scripts intended for more popular performers.
Keaton’s life stabilized in 1940 with his third marriage, this one to an MGM dancer named Eleanor Norris. Despite the 23-year age difference between them, theirs was a happy union that was of immeasurable benefit to Keaton emotionally. While Keaton made cameos in a number of films throughout the 1940s, it was thanks mainly to television that his career enjoyed an overdue revival. As a frequent guest star on the variety shows of the 1950s, he was introduced to a new audience in a medium that better suited his style. Keaton’s surviving silent films were also aired on content-starved local channels, contributing to the revival of the genre in the postwar era. Though Keaton never fully overcame his alcoholism, in the last 15 years of his life he found happiness as a venerated icon of a golden era of comedy, one whose adaptability and professionalism ensured him numerous roles on both the big and small screen, right up to his death from cancer in 1966.
While Keaton frequently mentioned retirement in interviews during this final period of his life, Curtis’s book demonstrates why he never did so for very long. The challenge of making people laugh drove Keaton throughout his life, and few equaled his gift for doing so. Among the great strengths of Curtis’s book is its evocative recounting of Keaton’s visually-driven humor, which helps the reader to understand better why his films were so popular. Yet this is just one of his achievements, as he succeeds in capturing the span of a life lived in an era of enormous change for mass entertainment. While the sheer mass of detail can serve at times as a drag on the book, overall it provides a highly readable account of the life and career of a legend of American cinema that everyone interested in Keaton himself or in filmmaking in the silent era should read.
June 28, 2023
The story of a genius beginning with his childhood in Vaudeville. Such a gentle man, so admired especially in North America and Europe.
February 15, 2022
As his previous biographies of W.C. Fields, Spencer Tracy and Preston Sturges attest, film historian James Curtis doesn't write inconsequential profiles, he writes definitive biographies. Curtis's BUSTER KEATON: A FILMMAKER'S LIFE is the masterclass biography fans of the "Great Stone Face" comedian have been hoping for. This hefty, swift-moving book is both a superbly researched and fascinating account of the star's life and an astute, articulate and informed look at the many classic films and shorts he wrote, directed and starred in.
Buster Keaton (1895-1966) was only a toddler when he joined his parents as "The Three Keatons" in a comedic/acrobatic vaudeville act. The team found great success until Keaton's father's alcoholism broke up the act in 1917. Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle recruited Buster Keaton to appear in a series of short film comedies. With Arbuckle as his mentor, Keaton was soon directing, writing and starring in his own films. Between 1920 and 1929, Keaton created 32 classic film comedies (19 shorts and 13 features), mostly made for his own company. In 1928, Keaton made the colossal mistake of signing with MGM, a studio that stripped him of his writing and directing roles and wanted him only as an actor. His films declined at the same time his marital woes and alcoholism increased. MGM fired him in 1933. He continued to work as a supporting actor (and uncredited gag writer) until his films were revived in the 1950s, which brought a heralded career resurgence.
Film buffs will cherish this monumental biography of a phenomenally talented but troubled comic filmmaker.
This monumental, definitive biography offers a masterclass on Buster Keaton's life and films.
Buster Keaton (1895-1966) was only a toddler when he joined his parents as "The Three Keatons" in a comedic/acrobatic vaudeville act. The team found great success until Keaton's father's alcoholism broke up the act in 1917. Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle recruited Buster Keaton to appear in a series of short film comedies. With Arbuckle as his mentor, Keaton was soon directing, writing and starring in his own films. Between 1920 and 1929, Keaton created 32 classic film comedies (19 shorts and 13 features), mostly made for his own company. In 1928, Keaton made the colossal mistake of signing with MGM, a studio that stripped him of his writing and directing roles and wanted him only as an actor. His films declined at the same time his marital woes and alcoholism increased. MGM fired him in 1933. He continued to work as a supporting actor (and uncredited gag writer) until his films were revived in the 1950s, which brought a heralded career resurgence.
Film buffs will cherish this monumental biography of a phenomenally talented but troubled comic filmmaker.
This monumental, definitive biography offers a masterclass on Buster Keaton's life and films.
September 12, 2024
I waffled between four and five stars on this one. The only problem I had with it is that it is far too dense, and most of that comes from scene-by-scene breakdowns of Keaton's work, which takes up a big part of the first half of the book. Unless you haven't seen Keaton's movies and shorts (and if you haven't I don't know why you would be interested in this brick) a lot of this felt unnecessary.
In the end, however, I feel that this book probably deserves five stars. At over 800 pages this is an exhaustive biography and I can't imagine anyone wanting more out of a discussion of Keaton's life.
In the end, however, I feel that this book probably deserves five stars. At over 800 pages this is an exhaustive biography and I can't imagine anyone wanting more out of a discussion of Keaton's life.
February 20, 2022
Yes, this very much feels like the definitive Keaton biography has finally arrived. And yet I felt mildly dissatisfied. By now between the fandom and the Keaton Society, I know enough to know when certain things are omitted and when a different interpretation is put on certain events and certain personalities. In that respect, Curtis comes across as an old school biographer, the kind who strives to keep himself out of the narrative and present the facts in some sort of Objective Fashion. Which is complete rubbish because his subjectivity shows in what he emphasises and what he doesn't.
And perhaps my dissatisfaction wouldn't be as obvious if I hadn't read Dana Stevens' book immediately before which is incredibly lively and engaged and defiantly subjective and fully of this moment. Curtis makes no mention of the race issues in a couple of Keaton's films, and acknowledges through Keaton's own quotes the attitude towards women. There's a general sense of neutrality, like this biography exists in its own self-contained bubble which okay, I kinda like and also annoys me a little.
What really startled me was how the tone changes so much in Keaton's darkest years. Before it's quite clinical and matter-of-fact. But when everything goes to shit, Curtis' tone becomes almost salacious. Or do I feel that because the events themselves are so unsavoury yet still not as bad as they could be? The first time Curtis allows himself to openly speculate is with the Kathleen Key incident (which goddamnit happened on my birthday and so did Keaton's funeral, ugh), posing questions which I entirely agreed with. Cos really, it seems impossible that Keaton slept around as much as he did in the Thirties without impregnating some girl.
And the way Curtis writes about Mae Scriven is with a kind of awful fascination that's totally absent with Natalie who was apparently so dull, and absent with Eleanor because well, frankly the Keaton fandom and cohort would lynch him if he spoke of her with anything less than respect. And yet Curtis doesn't go as far in talking about Scriven as Dana did which shocked the hell out of me. Nevertheless again at the end, Curtis speculates about Mae instead of dispensing coolly with her.
I did find it interesting how Curtis explains away the teenage incident that Dana says was probably an STD. It's really illustrative of how the two books work in a sort of dialogue, from approach to tone to detail. It feels like an embarrassment of riches to be a Damfino at this point in time, and I'm alternately grateful and exhausted by the emotion of being steeped in a life that is not my own, a life so removed in time and space from mine. The detail of his last day upset me so much cos I didn't know about it until Dana told me. So here I was braced for the same upset but Curtis' measured distance helped in that regard. This time I realised how typically Keatonian that reaction was, to fight at the very end against indifferent fate.
It's in those last few chapters that Curtis' regard and affection for his subject actually comes through, the gladness that Keaton finally got the appreciation he deserved, and that he got it in his lifetime. And as tedious as it was, I'm glad Curtis spent that last bit on how Keaton's legacy was secured, reassuring us as fans that everything's okay now. I particularly loved the moving through technology which Keaton himself would have loved, that his films have gone from the big screen to television through all the various modes of home release and now are all on YouTube. I loved that throughline right to my moment in time. Even though I got most of my Keaton films off ok.ru and now a few through the Society because damnit, I need exceptional file quality.
The choice of pictures was so clever and perfectly placed, especially that final one that connected so beautifully to the text about Eleanor.
Keaton prolly wouldn't like me very much. I'd talk too much at too much depth for him. But we'd get along on pure sarcasm and sweetness. Dearest Keaton, that beautiful reticent ridiculously talented Libran.
And perhaps my dissatisfaction wouldn't be as obvious if I hadn't read Dana Stevens' book immediately before which is incredibly lively and engaged and defiantly subjective and fully of this moment. Curtis makes no mention of the race issues in a couple of Keaton's films, and acknowledges through Keaton's own quotes the attitude towards women. There's a general sense of neutrality, like this biography exists in its own self-contained bubble which okay, I kinda like and also annoys me a little.
What really startled me was how the tone changes so much in Keaton's darkest years. Before it's quite clinical and matter-of-fact. But when everything goes to shit, Curtis' tone becomes almost salacious. Or do I feel that because the events themselves are so unsavoury yet still not as bad as they could be? The first time Curtis allows himself to openly speculate is with the Kathleen Key incident (which goddamnit happened on my birthday and so did Keaton's funeral, ugh), posing questions which I entirely agreed with. Cos really, it seems impossible that Keaton slept around as much as he did in the Thirties without impregnating some girl.
And the way Curtis writes about Mae Scriven is with a kind of awful fascination that's totally absent with Natalie who was apparently so dull, and absent with Eleanor because well, frankly the Keaton fandom and cohort would lynch him if he spoke of her with anything less than respect. And yet Curtis doesn't go as far in talking about Scriven as Dana did which shocked the hell out of me. Nevertheless again at the end, Curtis speculates about Mae instead of dispensing coolly with her.
I did find it interesting how Curtis explains away the teenage incident that Dana says was probably an STD. It's really illustrative of how the two books work in a sort of dialogue, from approach to tone to detail. It feels like an embarrassment of riches to be a Damfino at this point in time, and I'm alternately grateful and exhausted by the emotion of being steeped in a life that is not my own, a life so removed in time and space from mine. The detail of his last day upset me so much cos I didn't know about it until Dana told me. So here I was braced for the same upset but Curtis' measured distance helped in that regard. This time I realised how typically Keatonian that reaction was, to fight at the very end against indifferent fate.
It's in those last few chapters that Curtis' regard and affection for his subject actually comes through, the gladness that Keaton finally got the appreciation he deserved, and that he got it in his lifetime. And as tedious as it was, I'm glad Curtis spent that last bit on how Keaton's legacy was secured, reassuring us as fans that everything's okay now. I particularly loved the moving through technology which Keaton himself would have loved, that his films have gone from the big screen to television through all the various modes of home release and now are all on YouTube. I loved that throughline right to my moment in time. Even though I got most of my Keaton films off ok.ru and now a few through the Society because damnit, I need exceptional file quality.
The choice of pictures was so clever and perfectly placed, especially that final one that connected so beautifully to the text about Eleanor.
Keaton prolly wouldn't like me very much. I'd talk too much at too much depth for him. But we'd get along on pure sarcasm and sweetness. Dearest Keaton, that beautiful reticent ridiculously talented Libran.
December 23, 2024
‘We Londoners can be proud of our hospitality,’ he told Pamela, and she, giggling helplessly, took him to see the Buster Keaton movie of that name, in which the comedian, arriving at the end of an absurd railway line, gets a murderous reception.Our Hospitality may well be my favorite Buster Keaton movie. Actually, depending on which I’m watching at the time, any of his silent films are. Charlie Chaplin was a pioneer. Harold Lloyd a master technician. Laurel and Hardy refined bumbling slapstick to an artform. Keaton’s magic worked its way into our souls.
~ Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses
As something of a Turner Classic Movies (TCM) junky, I enjoy watching the silent movies that are featured occasionally, probably more out of historical or intellectual interest. But when Buster Keaton films come on, even his less-than-stellar early talkies, it’s a passion, a true anticipatory joy and celebration. There’s some undefined immediacy about his best work that transcends time and technology.
Should that same emotion resonate with you, then this is a book worth seeking out. It’s meant for Keaton addicts. For those with a passing interest or curiosity, it might be a bit much; the details of Keaton’s life and synopses of every film he made have an academic-like thoroughness that even lost my interest at times. But the overall impression is one that confirms and deepens an understanding of why Keaton’s aura endures. Curtis explains how Keaton’s genius was rooted in authenticity. He was not an intellectual, but had an instinctive intellect; he was not a great writer, he worked out genius gags and storylines on the set; he could easily convey a certain complex, eternal simplicity; he was not emotional, but could simultaneously draw them out and instill them in his audiences.
Keaton was also disarmingly decent and naïve, which let people take advantage of him, especially the first two of his three wives. The last one was a keeper who protected and looked out for him. Perhaps that’s because Keaton literally grew up on the stage, born to two vaudeville entertainers who incorporated him into their act while he was a toddler. His father, Joe, literally used to throw the young Keaton across the stage, teaching him how to fall and roll to not hurt himself – or, at least minimize any damage. He had little formal schooling since they were constantly on the road.
He started out in the early days of film near the top, working with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, one of the first bona fide stars of the silver screen. When Arbuckle had legal problems that derailed his career, Keaton tried his best to help. His generosity and penchant to look out for others eventually drained his finances, as did some bad contract choices when talkies came into being. He worked right until the end because he needed the money, and because making films was pretty much all he could do. The exhaustion – and his age – of working on his last two films, The Railrodder, a Canadian tourist board film he acted in for a former colleague, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, contributed greatly to his death. But the sadness is tempered somewhat because he probably wouldn’t have had it any other way.
January 4, 2023
When I was 14 years old, my dad and I watched a documentary on PBS called "A Hard Act to Follow," a three-part series on film legend Buster Keaton. I had grown up watching silent movies by Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd and Mary Pickford, but somehow Keaton had escaped my notice, until watching this show. From that point on, convinced he might have been the greatest comedian of the big screen, I watched every feature and two-reeler I could get my hands on. Where Chaplin was all about pathos, the little tramp who wins over the world through love, Keaton's character was a small man facing every hardship with an impassive, emotionless face, one that never changed from a love scene to an action sequence to a pratfall. To this day his movies remain objectively funny and astonishing, 100 years after they were made. For years I've been waiting for a good biography of Keaton—there are plenty of books on him, but none are particularly comprehensive—and this one is extraordinary. I recommend it to anyone who loves the work of Keaton, or the silent era, or Hollywood in general. Author James Curtis begins with the stories of Keaton's parents, when they meet, marry, begin a vaudeville act, and then incorporate little Buster into it, introducing him to the stage when he is 11 months old. He quickly learns as a child that if you don't land on your neck, spine, or elbows, you can make it through any pratfall unharmed, and he maintains that outlook well into his sixties, when he is STILL doing them. The book cuts between a chronological telling of his life and a description of the making of The Railrodder—the NFB film that every Canadian has seen countless times on our stations. In doing so, Curtis shows how the clown of the 1910s and 1920s was still pulling off these stunts just over a year before he passed away in 1966, still thinking of what gag would make the audience laugh, still weathering falls and frustrations with his typical good humour, and still charming everyone around him. I actually cried when he was gone from the pages, so invested was I in the world of this very, very great man, and what makes his life so beautiful is that the last decade or so of his life he toured around the world and faced ovations and accolades and love and praise wherever he went, showing him again and again that he'd lived a life well lived. I'm so thrilled that this book was the first one I read this year.
January 11, 2022
This is an exhaustively and definitively researched and told biography of the great Buster Keaton, whose astonishing physicality in film can be still be seen today influencing stars like Jackie Chan and Jim Carrey. The book is a fascinating tour not only through Keaton's life but the early years of film in general. By the time Keaton was four years old, he was a professional acrobat, touring the vaudeville circuit with his performer parents. I found the most fascinating part of the book the first third, which deals with his childhood, and his time being a child stage performer. Unlike a lot of child stars, Buster was temperamentally and physically suited to the performing life, and it doesn't seem that = despite being regularly tossed around on stage in the extreme physical stunts that were popular at the time- he was ever harmed beyond a few bumps and bruises. However, there was already at least one one child welfare group out to stop child performing like this - with good reason - and his father was constantly battling the founder of the group. The fact that Buster was never seriously hurt seems more chance than skill.
As an adult, Buster moves on to the new fad at the time - movies. He is ushered in by another physical comic, "Fatty" Arbuckle, who was the John Belushi or Chris Farley of his time. The two pair up for several films before Buster goes out on his own. Here is where I took off a star, because often the narrative was only rehashes of the plots of these films, and I lost some interest. The book took me a long time to read as I kept stopping to watch YouTube videos of Buster, many of which will make your jaw drop. No CGI then remember - and the stunts he did were supremely dangerous and highly impressive.
If you're a fan of Keaton, early films, early Hollywood, or even are curious to know the man who was the major influencer on someone like Jackie Chan, check out this book.
Thank you to #NetGalley #JamesCurtis and the publisher for this honest review in exchange for an ARC of Buster Keaton.
As an adult, Buster moves on to the new fad at the time - movies. He is ushered in by another physical comic, "Fatty" Arbuckle, who was the John Belushi or Chris Farley of his time. The two pair up for several films before Buster goes out on his own. Here is where I took off a star, because often the narrative was only rehashes of the plots of these films, and I lost some interest. The book took me a long time to read as I kept stopping to watch YouTube videos of Buster, many of which will make your jaw drop. No CGI then remember - and the stunts he did were supremely dangerous and highly impressive.
If you're a fan of Keaton, early films, early Hollywood, or even are curious to know the man who was the major influencer on someone like Jackie Chan, check out this book.
Thank you to #NetGalley #JamesCurtis and the publisher for this honest review in exchange for an ARC of Buster Keaton.
December 26, 2021
"Buster Keaton" by James Curtis is, and I predict will be, the go to source for information on the performer, his films, and the legacy he left that is still mined by filmmakers today.
Enough time has passed since Keaton's time on this planet, and death, and history was waiting for an adept biographer, like Curtis who authored other seminal works, including one on W.C. Fields, to pull it all together. Thus, 'Buster Keaton," offers the reader the deepest of deep dives into the artist.
Additionally, whether you are reading as a casual fan or scholar the book will resonate with you. The author goes into fine exquisite detail, but not in a manner that gets in the way of the casual reader. I know that I will keep this one, and refer back to it often, especially when watching silents, shorts, and other films featuring the touch of this fine artist; arguably one of, if not the, greatest silent comedian. Thank you, James Curtis, you do film history a favor via this biography, "Buster Keaton."
Enough time has passed since Keaton's time on this planet, and death, and history was waiting for an adept biographer, like Curtis who authored other seminal works, including one on W.C. Fields, to pull it all together. Thus, 'Buster Keaton," offers the reader the deepest of deep dives into the artist.
Additionally, whether you are reading as a casual fan or scholar the book will resonate with you. The author goes into fine exquisite detail, but not in a manner that gets in the way of the casual reader. I know that I will keep this one, and refer back to it often, especially when watching silents, shorts, and other films featuring the touch of this fine artist; arguably one of, if not the, greatest silent comedian. Thank you, James Curtis, you do film history a favor via this biography, "Buster Keaton."
June 29, 2023
I won this book as a drawing for participating in the 2022 “Buster Keaton Blogathon,” so I have to be nice, don’t I? Actually, it’s a pretty good book, certainly by the standards of a showbiz biography. Biographies of entertainers are generally hampered by the fact that much of the documentary evidence is tailor-made by publicity agents, and it doesn’t help that figures like Keaton were generally more interested in telling good stories than in adhering to the factual truth. Curtis has tried to counter-balance this by wading through as much material as possible, questioning standard myths, and, where possible, contacting surviving contacts of Keaton and conducting new interviews. The result is an impressive narrative of one of the more difficult figures to get right.
Curtis’s subtitle emphasizes that Keaton was more than a mere “slapstick comedian,” or even a “movie star” (whatever those terms may mean), he was an original creator of some of the most lastingly effective and influential films in the history of cinema. To take just one example, arguably his masterwork, “The General” consistently appears on lists of significant American films, including the AFI’s top 100, and generally heads lists of the best silent films ever made, such as the one on “The Silent Era” website. This book discusses the production process, the opportunities Keaton took, and the work of bringing each of these pieces to the screen, as well as their reception by critics and box office successes and failure as they happened. It also discusses the painful downfall of Keaton from a position of controlling his own production facility, to a contracted player, to an increasingly sidelined position in the industry. Some of this can be laid at his own door – Keaton’s alcoholism in the early 30s both fueled and was fueled by his divorce from Natalie Talmadge – but a lot of it was just ill luck combined with bad management decisions by others. A different man, making different decisions, might have avoided the worst results, but nothing could have turned things completely around after 1932 or so.
However, this is not to say that the second half of this book is all bad news. There is a bit of a redemption coming, once Keaton has (mostly) dried out and found a helpmeet (Eleanor) who truly support him – he was surely the longest-and-hardest-working former Silent Clown of the sound era. Not everything he did was good, but he kept at it in movies, live performances, TV appearances, commercials, and even industrial educational shorts right up until the end; working every single year as much as he could. There’s also a sense that he was accessible to and loved by his children and grandchildren, despite the bitterness of his separation. There’s no sense that he spent his declining years in frustration or fruitless nostalgia – he always seems to have been eager for the next new challenge, which is itself a justification for Curtis’s subtitle. A filmmaker may not always be the one sitting in the director’s chair, but they are the one bringing something new to the table. In this telling, at least, Keaton earned that role and that respect, and that’s as happy an ending as anyone gets.
Curtis’s subtitle emphasizes that Keaton was more than a mere “slapstick comedian,” or even a “movie star” (whatever those terms may mean), he was an original creator of some of the most lastingly effective and influential films in the history of cinema. To take just one example, arguably his masterwork, “The General” consistently appears on lists of significant American films, including the AFI’s top 100, and generally heads lists of the best silent films ever made, such as the one on “The Silent Era” website. This book discusses the production process, the opportunities Keaton took, and the work of bringing each of these pieces to the screen, as well as their reception by critics and box office successes and failure as they happened. It also discusses the painful downfall of Keaton from a position of controlling his own production facility, to a contracted player, to an increasingly sidelined position in the industry. Some of this can be laid at his own door – Keaton’s alcoholism in the early 30s both fueled and was fueled by his divorce from Natalie Talmadge – but a lot of it was just ill luck combined with bad management decisions by others. A different man, making different decisions, might have avoided the worst results, but nothing could have turned things completely around after 1932 or so.
However, this is not to say that the second half of this book is all bad news. There is a bit of a redemption coming, once Keaton has (mostly) dried out and found a helpmeet (Eleanor) who truly support him – he was surely the longest-and-hardest-working former Silent Clown of the sound era. Not everything he did was good, but he kept at it in movies, live performances, TV appearances, commercials, and even industrial educational shorts right up until the end; working every single year as much as he could. There’s also a sense that he was accessible to and loved by his children and grandchildren, despite the bitterness of his separation. There’s no sense that he spent his declining years in frustration or fruitless nostalgia – he always seems to have been eager for the next new challenge, which is itself a justification for Curtis’s subtitle. A filmmaker may not always be the one sitting in the director’s chair, but they are the one bringing something new to the table. In this telling, at least, Keaton earned that role and that respect, and that’s as happy an ending as anyone gets.
May 12, 2022
Buster Keaton’s biography is a very in depth and provocative biography that leaves no stone unturned.
This biography is a very interesting read that gives a lot of details from the birth to his death. It includes almost minute by minute details of his films, stage performances and life. It is a very comprehensive read that fully immerses itself into the life of Keaton.
The author has done a phenomenal job giving a comprehensive study of a comic genius from cradle to death and to gather interviews from vaudeville and silent screen is a major feat within itself. The making of the shorts and how each comedy section in the films in great deal is a treasure trove of information. The book does jump from the last film Keaton did and back to his birth and forward, but this is very sporadic and does not take away from the rhythm of the book.
Curtis traces the growth of Keaton and then we get the downward years which are simply heart-breaking. We follow his decline and how a company did not appreciate the genius that they have and how this would lead to drink and a sense of helplessness.
Overall, this is an excellent biography and though it is very lengthy the reader will end up aficionado of all of Keaton work and will start to hunt down his career via his silent films and other work. I know I did. I liked Keaton but because of this book, I am now a true fan and will be doing a Keaton series on my show in the next season to celebrate the man and his work. The only bad thing is because of the in-depth writing, I spent weeks and weeks reading this book which put my other reviews on the side but saying that I am glad I did. Fantastic and a must read.
This biography is a very interesting read that gives a lot of details from the birth to his death. It includes almost minute by minute details of his films, stage performances and life. It is a very comprehensive read that fully immerses itself into the life of Keaton.
The author has done a phenomenal job giving a comprehensive study of a comic genius from cradle to death and to gather interviews from vaudeville and silent screen is a major feat within itself. The making of the shorts and how each comedy section in the films in great deal is a treasure trove of information. The book does jump from the last film Keaton did and back to his birth and forward, but this is very sporadic and does not take away from the rhythm of the book.
Curtis traces the growth of Keaton and then we get the downward years which are simply heart-breaking. We follow his decline and how a company did not appreciate the genius that they have and how this would lead to drink and a sense of helplessness.
Overall, this is an excellent biography and though it is very lengthy the reader will end up aficionado of all of Keaton work and will start to hunt down his career via his silent films and other work. I know I did. I liked Keaton but because of this book, I am now a true fan and will be doing a Keaton series on my show in the next season to celebrate the man and his work. The only bad thing is because of the in-depth writing, I spent weeks and weeks reading this book which put my other reviews on the side but saying that I am glad I did. Fantastic and a must read.
May 21, 2022
I will admit that I found the length of this book daunting, but if you love Buster it's well worth the time. Curtis did an amazing job of research and created a biography that is both exhaustive and quite readable. I think there's a tendency to look on Buster's life as somewhat tragic since he had some bad years and issues with alcohol. Reading this made me think his life was actually pretty darn good. He was a craftsman who was all about the creative process and less concerned with legacy and making money. He also lived long enough to have his reputation restored and celebrated.
I've often lamented the loss of so many early films, but this book helped me realize the why of it. Keaton came from the stage where all art existed for only a moment, and that mindset created surprise that anyone would want to see his films years after they were made.
The chapter on The General also helped clear up something which was bugging me about so many early American films celebrating the Confederacy. Keaton made his character a Reb because he thought it would create more sympathy since you knew ultimately the character would be a loser. I felt like a lightbulb lit up over my head when I read that.
Finally, I love that when they were making films, Buster's dad used to complain about having to take direction since after so many years he knew how to kick his son.
I've often lamented the loss of so many early films, but this book helped me realize the why of it. Keaton came from the stage where all art existed for only a moment, and that mindset created surprise that anyone would want to see his films years after they were made.
The chapter on The General also helped clear up something which was bugging me about so many early American films celebrating the Confederacy. Keaton made his character a Reb because he thought it would create more sympathy since you knew ultimately the character would be a loser. I felt like a lightbulb lit up over my head when I read that.
Finally, I love that when they were making films, Buster's dad used to complain about having to take direction since after so many years he knew how to kick his son.
December 26, 2023
This is good for a Keaton fan, but this feels better served as an AMC mini series bio-pic. Very detailed about scenes and specific films. Also touched on how horrible actresses have things and how nothing really changed, or rather got worse for women.
February 22, 2022
The only biography with a ‘surprise gag’ ending.
James Curtis’ new biography of Buster Keaton is terrific in both senses of the word. It is a terrific correction and updating of all the previous, flawed, books on Buster. It is beautifully written and meticulously researched. Curtis went to original sources and interviews and to trade papers that were difficult to find even twenty years ago. The other books are not remotely comparable although one is still useful. I recommend starting with Rudi Blesh’s KEATON (1966) because it gets the flavor of the era, introduces you to the same stories that Curtis debunks, and gives you Buster’s ‘voice’. Ignore Blesh’s film outlines since most of the films weren’t available for screening when he wrote the book. Then read this one right afterwards, for the real story. Curtis explains and refutes most of the famous legends but the facts are even better. Buster Keaton replaced his injured father for most of a week’s vaudeville run, performing the act from memory…at the age of four years. This is a lot more impressive than the story about riding a nonexistent cyclone. I was also prodigiously impressed by Buster’s directing assignments in the sound era, most of which have never been credited to him. And it was a surprise to read that his sound shorts did considerably better in the box office take and were better reviewed than Blesh indicates.
Buster’s silent films, including THE GENERAL, were successful. The story of its sneak preview, with the audience gradually realizing that they had just seen a work of genius and giving Buster a standing ovation, is moving and powerful. Few other filmmakers ever got their own production company and 12 years to (mostly) make films any way they wanted to. No one got to do it then, or can do it now, for more than one year if a picture flops. Let’s just say that Buster’s films weren’t block ‘busters’. They did well-- but not well enough to justify the high production costs. Even then, the Keaton studio closure and contract to MGM occurred for business reasons that had nothing to do with the films and made me feel a lot better about Buster’s business sense. And he was offered a second chance at MGM, but…Buster was sometimes his own worst enemy. Curtis’ research debunks a LOT of stories.
As a professional animator I literally did a Tex Avery eye pop when I read the quote from a 1965 interview on page 536 where Buster describes one of his stunts as ‘like something off an animation board…the kind of thing an animator would draw-- the four key positions—and leave the rest for the in-betweeners to fill in’. This is a very early and accurate use of professional animator’s terms in an article (published in 1970) intended for a general audience. Mr. Curtis and I both wonder if Buster met Tex Avery when they were at MGM. I believe that Buster may have learned about animation from National Film Board of Canada animator/director Gerald Potterton, when they were making THE RAILRODDER. But Buster was a genius, and loved cartoons, and he would have been a natural to work with Tex Avery!
Curtis’ book is also terrific in the second meaning of the word. I have never read about so many damaged people in such cool, meticulous language…as if terrifying events happened as a matter of course. Perhaps they did. Buster was a kind and sweet person and a wild genius brilliant filmmaker, but addictions of various kinds and possible psychiatric issues were present in some family members and in the families of two of his wives. Thank goodness he finally married a woman who loved him and was a true partner to him in both senses of the word. Buster Keaton lived long enough to see his films appreciated and restored…even if it meant a side trip to shadybusinessville through the ‘good’ offices of the very shady Raymond Rohauer.
(An aside here: In 1974 I was standing, first in line, in front of the box office of the D. W. Griffith theatre in New York City when they ran a double bill of Keaton’s 1924 SHERLOCK JR. with the 1939 Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES for the 1939 price of 25 cents (in 1924 you’d have paid 50 cents)! A heavyset man in black with heavy black horn-rimmed glasses walked ahead of me without so much as an ‘excuse me’ (“the nerve!” I thought) and was admitted to the locked theatre. When I found out that this was Raymond Rohauer and told a friend about it afterwards, the response was, “Why didn’t you KICK?”)
This biography really does have a surprise ending, it’s completely true and accurate, and I laughed, and you will laugh, and Buster and Eleanor are laughing too, wherever they both wound up. (It was definitely in a good place). Thank you, James Curtis, and --God Bless All Clowns.
James Curtis’ new biography of Buster Keaton is terrific in both senses of the word. It is a terrific correction and updating of all the previous, flawed, books on Buster. It is beautifully written and meticulously researched. Curtis went to original sources and interviews and to trade papers that were difficult to find even twenty years ago. The other books are not remotely comparable although one is still useful. I recommend starting with Rudi Blesh’s KEATON (1966) because it gets the flavor of the era, introduces you to the same stories that Curtis debunks, and gives you Buster’s ‘voice’. Ignore Blesh’s film outlines since most of the films weren’t available for screening when he wrote the book. Then read this one right afterwards, for the real story. Curtis explains and refutes most of the famous legends but the facts are even better. Buster Keaton replaced his injured father for most of a week’s vaudeville run, performing the act from memory…at the age of four years. This is a lot more impressive than the story about riding a nonexistent cyclone. I was also prodigiously impressed by Buster’s directing assignments in the sound era, most of which have never been credited to him. And it was a surprise to read that his sound shorts did considerably better in the box office take and were better reviewed than Blesh indicates.
Buster’s silent films, including THE GENERAL, were successful. The story of its sneak preview, with the audience gradually realizing that they had just seen a work of genius and giving Buster a standing ovation, is moving and powerful. Few other filmmakers ever got their own production company and 12 years to (mostly) make films any way they wanted to. No one got to do it then, or can do it now, for more than one year if a picture flops. Let’s just say that Buster’s films weren’t block ‘busters’. They did well-- but not well enough to justify the high production costs. Even then, the Keaton studio closure and contract to MGM occurred for business reasons that had nothing to do with the films and made me feel a lot better about Buster’s business sense. And he was offered a second chance at MGM, but…Buster was sometimes his own worst enemy. Curtis’ research debunks a LOT of stories.
As a professional animator I literally did a Tex Avery eye pop when I read the quote from a 1965 interview on page 536 where Buster describes one of his stunts as ‘like something off an animation board…the kind of thing an animator would draw-- the four key positions—and leave the rest for the in-betweeners to fill in’. This is a very early and accurate use of professional animator’s terms in an article (published in 1970) intended for a general audience. Mr. Curtis and I both wonder if Buster met Tex Avery when they were at MGM. I believe that Buster may have learned about animation from National Film Board of Canada animator/director Gerald Potterton, when they were making THE RAILRODDER. But Buster was a genius, and loved cartoons, and he would have been a natural to work with Tex Avery!
Curtis’ book is also terrific in the second meaning of the word. I have never read about so many damaged people in such cool, meticulous language…as if terrifying events happened as a matter of course. Perhaps they did. Buster was a kind and sweet person and a wild genius brilliant filmmaker, but addictions of various kinds and possible psychiatric issues were present in some family members and in the families of two of his wives. Thank goodness he finally married a woman who loved him and was a true partner to him in both senses of the word. Buster Keaton lived long enough to see his films appreciated and restored…even if it meant a side trip to shadybusinessville through the ‘good’ offices of the very shady Raymond Rohauer.
(An aside here: In 1974 I was standing, first in line, in front of the box office of the D. W. Griffith theatre in New York City when they ran a double bill of Keaton’s 1924 SHERLOCK JR. with the 1939 Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES for the 1939 price of 25 cents (in 1924 you’d have paid 50 cents)! A heavyset man in black with heavy black horn-rimmed glasses walked ahead of me without so much as an ‘excuse me’ (“the nerve!” I thought) and was admitted to the locked theatre. When I found out that this was Raymond Rohauer and told a friend about it afterwards, the response was, “Why didn’t you KICK?”)
This biography really does have a surprise ending, it’s completely true and accurate, and I laughed, and you will laugh, and Buster and Eleanor are laughing too, wherever they both wound up. (It was definitely in a good place). Thank you, James Curtis, and --God Bless All Clowns.
April 24, 2025
Great research and detail, it just seemed like it took the entire book to really get to know Buster. His peak late silent-era period focused so much on his films it comes at the expense of his personality and personal life, which I would have preferred to learn about. The book does demonstrate what a directorial savant he was during that time, learning the basics of filmmaking from Fatty Arbuckle and intuitively expanding on the filmmaking language. I didn’t know that he remained a big star in the 30’s talkie era, just in much worse films in which he had little input. My favorite sections of the book may have been in Buster’s later years, where more first hand accounts of him and his life were available.
June 1, 2022
Being familiar with Keaton’s biography I was anticipating the latter half of the book to be somewhat depressing but the author did a good job chronicling how busy Keaton was during the last third of his life (most of this was for television and, ironically, little of it survives compared to his silent output).
I would be curious if anyone has written a sympathetic portrayal of Natalie Talmidge, Keaton’s first wife. She always comes across as cold and vindictive but I can’t tell if it’s because I usually only read about her in books about her ex-husband.
I would be curious if anyone has written a sympathetic portrayal of Natalie Talmidge, Keaton’s first wife. She always comes across as cold and vindictive but I can’t tell if it’s because I usually only read about her in books about her ex-husband.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2023
I'm FINISHED!!! FINALLY! This book took so long to get through because it's soooo dense. But the reason it's dense is because Curtis leaves no stone unturned. Anyone who ever interacted with Keaton gets a little bio and Curtis not only explores the box office for each film, but also summarizes each film and its gags. As someone who loves Keaton films but didn't really know much about the man himself (and what I thought I knew turned out to be wrong), I found this a satisfyingly comprehensive work.
March 25, 2022
Buster Keaton is one of the great popular artists of the 20th Century. He was known and beloved as a performer for over sixty-five years, excelling on stage in vaudeville and legit theater, in short comedies, feature films, television, industrial films, commercials, etc.
Wherever work was offered, whatever condition his career was in--fully appreciated as a star of the 1920s or half-forgotten in the 40s, he plugged away--acting, gag writing, Summer Stock, variety shows of early network television, etc.
Buster kept going and going, finally getting some due recognition as the great comedian and filmmaker he was in his sixties.
Buster did all of it and did it memorably, and, as a director-star of two-reel masterpieces and feature classics (THE GENERAL, THE NAVIGATOR, THE CAMERAMAN (1928), et al) he established himself as uncompromising and tireless in the art of laughter and truth-telling. (He NEVER faked a gag.)
This biography by James Curtis fully does Buster justice, including the ups and downs he struggled and succeeded in overcoming. (Thanks in no small part to his third wife, the wonderful Eleanor Keaton.)
For long-term fans and those who have only recently found this funny and unique man's work, this is a book to read and cherish.
Wherever work was offered, whatever condition his career was in--fully appreciated as a star of the 1920s or half-forgotten in the 40s, he plugged away--acting, gag writing, Summer Stock, variety shows of early network television, etc.
Buster kept going and going, finally getting some due recognition as the great comedian and filmmaker he was in his sixties.
Buster did all of it and did it memorably, and, as a director-star of two-reel masterpieces and feature classics (THE GENERAL, THE NAVIGATOR, THE CAMERAMAN (1928), et al) he established himself as uncompromising and tireless in the art of laughter and truth-telling. (He NEVER faked a gag.)
This biography by James Curtis fully does Buster justice, including the ups and downs he struggled and succeeded in overcoming. (Thanks in no small part to his third wife, the wonderful Eleanor Keaton.)
For long-term fans and those who have only recently found this funny and unique man's work, this is a book to read and cherish.
April 8, 2022
Of the "modern" biographies of Keaton this is one of the best.
Read
March 22, 2023Read for Booktube Prize 2023
Read
March 30, 2023Read for Octofinals round of BTP. Will review later
March 2, 2022
While it's not as great as his survey of the life of W.C. Fields (peerless, both subject and study), it does open the reader's mind to the vastness of Buster's art and genius in a way that, say, Rudi Blesh's highly sympathetic but limited biography did not.
Seek it out, I say. It might realign your thoughts on the history of the motion picture. Keaton's gravity is that strong.
Seek it out, I say. It might realign your thoughts on the history of the motion picture. Keaton's gravity is that strong.
June 12, 2022
There is much to admire about authors commitment in this 700 hundred page bio about Buster Keaton. Unfortunately, Keaton fans (like myself) won’t find anything new.
The book does expand on Raymond Rohauer underhandedness in acquiring ownership of Kenton’s films. It also describes the depth of Natalie Talmadge’s bitter disdain for Keaton, which is sad and only damaged herself.
But the author’s nine years of research and writing is impressive. From the acknowledgment pages, he continued the project through his own health crisis. So because of this, I happily give the book a high rating.
The book does expand on Raymond Rohauer underhandedness in acquiring ownership of Kenton’s films. It also describes the depth of Natalie Talmadge’s bitter disdain for Keaton, which is sad and only damaged herself.
But the author’s nine years of research and writing is impressive. From the acknowledgment pages, he continued the project through his own health crisis. So because of this, I happily give the book a high rating.
Read
March 1, 2022aight so in the acknowledgments of the book the first thing the author says is that his first exposure to buster was his "strangely unfunny" tv series and later mentions how he had nothing to write about until his agent suggested keaton and he said was "an inspired choice" which like ?? you didn't even want to write about the guy ?? and there just seemed to be a lack of passion and ambition to really get to the heart of buster and his work and his whole deal. like i know he wrote the book but i'm not even sure how much the author enjoys keaton, and while the book is certainly exhaustive and contains a lot of facts, i didn't really walk away knowing bus a whole lot better.
there's some quote out there about how many people don't love buster but people who do love him love him massively, and i just feel like if you want to understand why the man is such a big deal to so many people then you oughta read dana stevens' book, which is so alive and makes bk come alive, too.
feel bad criticizing mr curtis who so nicely signed my copy and set up and introduced a keaton series at the aero but i just had thoughts
there's some quote out there about how many people don't love buster but people who do love him love him massively, and i just feel like if you want to understand why the man is such a big deal to so many people then you oughta read dana stevens' book, which is so alive and makes bk come alive, too.
feel bad criticizing mr curtis who so nicely signed my copy and set up and introduced a keaton series at the aero but i just had thoughts
June 4, 2022
I enjoyed learning about Buster Keaton's colorful life and his incredible talent for movie making. However, I felt this book was a little long at almost 700 pages and went into a greater level of detail than I wanted to know about each one of his movies. Overall, I felt it was an interesting story that was obviously researched extensively and I gained a greater appreciation for the tremendous effort that went into the development of the movie industry.
October 21, 2025
To say that I adored this book and as a result Buster Keaton is a huge understatement. Delightful!
It took me longer to read than it should have because of all my pauses to stop and watch (on YouTube) many of the films mentioned in the book.
I love that there is an appendix of all his films included (by date of release)!
Supposedly in the works is a mini series for HboMax based on this book - with Matt Reeves directing and Rami Malek starring as Buster (excellent casting). I hope this comes to fruition!
It took me longer to read than it should have because of all my pauses to stop and watch (on YouTube) many of the films mentioned in the book.
I love that there is an appendix of all his films included (by date of release)!
Supposedly in the works is a mini series for HboMax based on this book - with Matt Reeves directing and Rami Malek starring as Buster (excellent casting). I hope this comes to fruition!
February 16, 2025
I felt a bit melancholy when I came to the end of this, which is rare. It was as if an old friend had just passed away. It's hard to explain. I love Buster Keaton's movies and loved reading about the man's life.
I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars because to me it's too dense, too many mundane details.
I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars because to me it's too dense, too many mundane details.
May 18, 2024
A true genius. I did not know that much about him, but I do now. Enjoy!
May 18, 2024
This is the fourth biography of Keaton I've read if you count Kevin W. Sweeney's
Interviews
, which- not surprisingly- was a resource for this book. I had already read Dana Stevens'
Camera Man
last year, but it was James Curtis's interview during the annual Keaton convention in October that made me interested in what he had done here. It seemed more definitive and exhaustive, which was what I was looking for at the time.
Even after reading this book I have so many questions about Keaton that will remain unanswered. His marriage to Natalie Talmadge is still one of the strangest (and strained) unions I can think of in Hollywood history, but there is enough info for me to speculate what may have been going on behind the scenes. His recovery from alcoholism (or at the very least keeping his impulses under control) is quite remarkable as well, considering he always had it at home and offered it to guests along with ice cold Coca-Colas delivered by toy train.
What were Keaton's true feelings about the South and the Civil War? His only comments on it was that you had to market films in favor of the South or else Southerners wouldn't attend them. It is disturbing but also kind of silly how he is slotted into the role of a Confederate soldier at least three times that I know of. When it came to politics he was always a "true neutral" for better or for worse. One of his favorite comedians was vaudeville performer Bert Williams, but he also pointed out that the kind of work Williams did was long gone (minstrelsy) and not performed anymore.
So what about racism? That's trickier, but it's clear he didn't harbor any ill will toward anyone, nearly to a fault. He often aligned himself with the underdog*, but didn't seem to question any of the power structures around him, even when they crushed him, others in his field or entire parts of society at large. One of the interesting but unexplored chapters of his life is when he directed two shorts for MGM promoting The Original Swing Band: Hollywood Handicap and Streamlined Swing in the late '30s. I wish there was more information about these productions and how he worked with these performers to get the job done. Did any of these men go on record about this? I haven't found anything online so far, and nearly a hundred years later I doubt that anything new will be surfacing soon.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. I needed to write most of the above to put all of these thoughts and speculations to rest for now, and they're all evidence of how someone in the 21st century would question the thoughts and attitudes of a man born in 1895. In the end, did Curtis succeed in writing what could be regarded the final word on Keaton's life and career? It's definitely the most detailed biography I've read concerning Keaton, but I'm also more than aware that there are so many anecdotes, side stories and relationships that I will stumble on as I learn more about him. He is one of my favorite rabbit holes, and I'm glad that I took the five months to read this 800+ page tome on his life. I'm glad it isn't the final word. There is still so much to explore out there, and that makes being a Keaton fan not only fun, but worth it.
* Although it features redface and a white savior narrative, his turn in The Paleface aligns his character with a tribe of Native Americans, leading to some crazy shenanigans when they confront and attack the oil barons who are stealing their land.
Even after reading this book I have so many questions about Keaton that will remain unanswered. His marriage to Natalie Talmadge is still one of the strangest (and strained) unions I can think of in Hollywood history, but there is enough info for me to speculate what may have been going on behind the scenes. His recovery from alcoholism (or at the very least keeping his impulses under control) is quite remarkable as well, considering he always had it at home and offered it to guests along with ice cold Coca-Colas delivered by toy train.
What were Keaton's true feelings about the South and the Civil War? His only comments on it was that you had to market films in favor of the South or else Southerners wouldn't attend them. It is disturbing but also kind of silly how he is slotted into the role of a Confederate soldier at least three times that I know of. When it came to politics he was always a "true neutral" for better or for worse. One of his favorite comedians was vaudeville performer Bert Williams, but he also pointed out that the kind of work Williams did was long gone (minstrelsy) and not performed anymore.
So what about racism? That's trickier, but it's clear he didn't harbor any ill will toward anyone, nearly to a fault. He often aligned himself with the underdog*, but didn't seem to question any of the power structures around him, even when they crushed him, others in his field or entire parts of society at large. One of the interesting but unexplored chapters of his life is when he directed two shorts for MGM promoting The Original Swing Band: Hollywood Handicap and Streamlined Swing in the late '30s. I wish there was more information about these productions and how he worked with these performers to get the job done. Did any of these men go on record about this? I haven't found anything online so far, and nearly a hundred years later I doubt that anything new will be surfacing soon.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. I needed to write most of the above to put all of these thoughts and speculations to rest for now, and they're all evidence of how someone in the 21st century would question the thoughts and attitudes of a man born in 1895. In the end, did Curtis succeed in writing what could be regarded the final word on Keaton's life and career? It's definitely the most detailed biography I've read concerning Keaton, but I'm also more than aware that there are so many anecdotes, side stories and relationships that I will stumble on as I learn more about him. He is one of my favorite rabbit holes, and I'm glad that I took the five months to read this 800+ page tome on his life. I'm glad it isn't the final word. There is still so much to explore out there, and that makes being a Keaton fan not only fun, but worth it.
* Although it features redface and a white savior narrative, his turn in The Paleface aligns his character with a tribe of Native Americans, leading to some crazy shenanigans when they confront and attack the oil barons who are stealing their land.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews