‘If you lose this war don’t blame me…’
I’m a recent convert to silent cinema and that has mostly been through the prism of Charlie Chaplin and German Expressionism. Aside from the Little Tramp and the work of Fritz Lang and his peers, Buster Keaton is probably the next most well known silent movie star. Indeed, my quest to ‘complete’ the IMDB #250 will see me visit the world of Buster Keaton twice. Starting with…
Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton) is a simple man. He loves his woman (Marion Mack), and he loves his train. When both are stolen from him against the backdrop of the American Civil War, Gray fights back against those that would seek to take from him everything he holds dear.
Whilst Chaplin was a monomaniacal obsessive who took full control over his films, often writing, directing and starring, Keaton shares writing and directing duties with Clyde Bruckman (who would later go on to kill himself with Keaton’s gun), and this more collaborative process frees Keaton up to do what he does best. Batshit crazy stunts. While he doesn’t have Chaplin’s natural star power (nobody does), Keaton was famous for his death defying action set pieces, and for those of you reading this that feel like 80 minutes of a silent movie would be too much, I urge you to look up a YouTube compilation of Keaton’s wildest stunts – you will not be disappointed. The General, for example, mostly takes place on a moving train, with Keaton hopping from carriage to carriage without a care in the world. It really is a sight to behold.
Whilst shot in black and white (the only possible way to shoot anything in 1926), the version of The General that I watched had been restored to full colour, and this only affords the viewer an even greater sense of Keaton’s abilities as both a physical and comedic performer. The supporting cast do a grand job also with Marion Mack suitably bewildered by Johnnie’s actions and Jim Farley channelling all of his inner fury as the indignant General Thatcher.
For those uninitiated into silent cinema, Chaplin should be your starting point, but Keaton should be your next stop. It really was the first golden age of cinema.