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Buster Keaton was one of the most prolific filmmakers of the silent era, comparable only to his contemporaries Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. Unlike Lloyd with his distinctive spectacles or Chaplin with his signature stache, Keaton was identified by the emotionless expression he wore while enduring some of the most painful, dangerous, and hilarious bits of physical comedy the world has ever seen.

The filmmaker grew up as a vaudeville actor and took the stage as early as age four, where he first honed his slapstick skills in an act with his father. He was always known for taking hard falls without so much as a wince, which is how he earned his nickname, Buster, as an infant. As Keaton told it, legendary illusionist Harry Houdini gave him the nickname after an infant Keaton fell down a full flight of stairs without crying (a "buster" was a slang term for...

It's astonishing to see how the roster of silent clowns are still influencing how an entire medium is portrayed. From Charlie Chaplin to Harold Lloyd, each of them played an integral part in the pantheon of comedy in the silent era. The stone-faced Buster Keaton always ended up being my favorite. No one could replicate the dispirited look in his eyes, which usually hoodwinked anyone who came across his path.

Buster's experience on the vaudeville stage would ultimately prepare him for one of the most illustrious runs of the silent era. His brand of expressionless deadpan usually kept you at arm's length. You wouldn't know quite what he was thinking until he showed you with the kind of body language only he could pull off. He wasn't the only silent clown that got into stunt escapades. Out of all their daredevil exploits, however, Keaton's were among some of the most insane.

Buster Keaton’s first full feature is a real accomplishment, a little masterpiece that deftly balances comedy and drama. Buster’s star appeal is on full display as an 1830 lad who returns to the hill country to resettle the old homestead and lands in the middle of a murderous feud — with the girl he loves on the other side. It’s an historically sensitive, hilarious comedy, with a hair-raising waterfall stunt set-piece for a finale.

Our Hospitality

Blu-ray

Kino Classics

1923 / B&w / 1:33 Silent Ap. / 75 min. / Street Date October 15, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, Joe Roberts, Monte Collins, Kitty Bradbury, Joe Keaton.

Cinematography: Gordon Jennings, Elgin Lessley

2019 Music Score by: Robert Israel

Written by Jean C. Havez, Clyde Bruckman, Joseph A. Mitchell

Produced by Joseph M. Schenck

Directed by Jack Blystone, Buster Keaton

Our Hospitality shows Buster Keaton coming into his own, as a comic genius...

Legend has it that Buster Keaton got his nickname from Harry Houdini after the magician saw him tumble down a flight of stairs as an infant and not shed a tear. "Boy, that was sure a buster!" Harry allegedly declared, using the parlance of the day for a fall. That was far from the only hard-knock Buster endured in his life. Incorporated into his parents' vaudeville act as a baby, he was tossed around the stage like a slapstick prop. "It wasn't really child abuse," Peter Bogdanovich, director of the new documentary The Great Buster, exclusively told Closer Weekly in the magazine's latest issue, on newsstands now. "It was comedy." (Photo Credit: Getty Images) Buster went out on his own as a silent-film comic and became a superstar, earning the moniker "The Great Stone Face" for his deadpan gags. His love life didn't make him smile, either. His first marriage,...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Robert Capron

Sucker Punch – Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm

Movie of the Week

Sucker Punch

The Stars: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm

The Plot: A young girl (Browning) is institutionalized by her wicked stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the facility.

The Buzz: It’s certainly a great time to be a fifteen-year-old boy, isn’t it? It’s a shame I’m twenty years past my prime – Sucker Punch would have been 100% pure Pavlovian arousal for me back then. The batch of battling bombshells cartwheeling in all their gorgeously rendered video-game glory, coupled with the film’s flawless focus on, and impenetrable belief in, the great escape that can...