The Buster Keaton Story

Donald O'Connor does an amazing job recreating Buster Keaton's style and routines in this otherwise dreadful script, credited to Sidney Sheldon and Robert Smith. Buster was arguably a finer comedian than Chaplin, but fell into alcoholism for a number of reasons. This script has so little to do with his life it should never have been titled as it was. Read a real biography, and watch some of Buster's many wonderful movies, including his last, "The Railrodder". I remember watching "Waterworld (1995)", and thinking how poorly it compared to "Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)", not least on value for the money expended on making it. And don't watch another movie until you have seen "The General (1927)". His movies are his biography, not this rotten script.

Donald O'Connor plays Buster Keaton in this flick. It follows him mostly from his arriving in Hollywood, becoming a star, hitting doldrums in his career as well as alcohol problems...especially alcohol problems.

"The Buster Keaton Story" is a bio-pic which represents the worst sort of thing that Hollywood could do. Why? Well, despite Keaton being a real person, so much of the film is completely wrong and the writers didn't even consult with Buster to make sure they got his life story right...presumably because they just didn't care. Too often bio-pics do this...and I wonder why...especially because Keaton DID have an interesting life and while he did have troubles with alcohol, it was way overblown for the movie. My advice is to read up on the man...you'll likely enjoy learning about him...much more than you'd learn in the film.

The weird thing about this film is it's NOT the Buster Keaton story at all. The main character is a fictional studio executive named Gloria who falls in love with Buster (inexplicably, as he's portrayed as a graceless, unattractive slob) and puts her happiness and career on the line in order to nurture and protect him as he chases another woman, blows all his money and drinks himself silly. The surprisingly faithful recreations of classic Keaton routines dropped in awkwardly here and there do nothing to relieve the tedium of this glum, sour women's picture masquerading as a biopic.

While you might not immediately think Donald O'Connor would be the perfect choice to play Buster Keaton, after you watch The Buster Keaton Story, you'll change your mind. Buster was a trained stuntman and Donald was a trained dancer; they each have incredible control over their bodies. After all, if someone's going to portray Buster, it would be sacrilegious for him to use a stunt double, wouldn't it?

There are so many wonderful elements to this movie. If you know and love silent film legend Buster Keaton's stunt sequences, you'll get to relive his glory by watching Donald O'Connor recreate some of his most famous film scenes. Not only is this a treat because this movie was made at a time before audiences could rent or own their favorite films-they hadn't been able to watch these snippets in thirty years-but it's touching to see someone who was in diapers during Buster's heyday give such a tribute to his talent and legacy. Also, if you know anything about Buster Keaton's real life, you'll recognize that this Hollywood recreation is very sugarcoated. If you love Buster, you'll like seeing things turn out better for him, and that he could live out a do-over on the screen. And if you need one more reason to love this movie, here it is: Buster in real life didn't adjust well to talking pictures, and as his career ended, his bank account dwindled. By selling the rights to his life story for this film, Buster was able to live comfortably for the rest of his life. Isn't that heartwarming?

Having subjected myself to this film again, I found it was possible to find some small enjoyment in it by seeing it all as a big put-on, where the utter falsity of everything presented was itself a joke of sorts (whatever the filmmakers' actual intentions were, which I don't really care to know).

O'Connor was no slouch when it came to physical comedy, so he was a natural choice to play the part and does well in the scenes that recreate authentic Keaton gags, redeeming the film somewhat. Even so, these recreated gags don't always make sense in the context in which they're presented, and in any case, there are not enough of them to make up for all the other nonsense.