The General

A southern engineer has two passions in life: his sweetheart and his prided eponymous train. Thoroughly dejected and humiliated after being spurned, first by the Confederate Army, then by his Annabelle Lee he seizes upon an opportunity to serve the Rebel cause and win her back when Union troops pilfer his second love. Buster Keaton's The General has been roundly heralded as the silent master's greatest work, and his creative genius and belabored craftsmanship are certainly on display as he plays defense and then offense while chasing and retrieving his locomotive, but to pigeonhole the movie (even in its category as an all time great), I think, has the result of placing his other superlative films on the back burner. That being said, this is a marvelously funny film with seemingly impossible and purportedly authentic stunts. The cinematography is also noteworthy, having been modeled on Matthew Brady's Civil War photographs and hailed by historians as the best of its kind.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

When a bawdy and conniving Roman slave (Zero Mostel) realizes that his master's son pines for the beautiful young woman next door, he sees an opportunity to secure his freedom and works to secure a courtship between the two. After a prominent Roman soldier beats him to the punch and arranges to purchase the girl, he concocts a more outrageous plot. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" is an amusing adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical and features his great raunchy songs, a hilarious performance from  the inimitable Mostel, and funny supporting roles from Jack Gilford and the great Buster Keaton in what proved to be his final film.

Around the World in Eighty Days

British cad Phileas Fogg (David Niven) bets the other stuffed shirts at his social club that, due to the rapid advances in transportation of the time, he can traverse the globe in no more than eighty days. Travelling with his servant (Cantinflas), he begins a raucous journey that takes him in a hot air ballon,  to a Spanish bullfight, through the jungles of India, and the streets of Hong Kong and San Francisco, before engaging marauding Indians on a passenger train in the Wild West. Michael Todd's "Around the World in 80 Days", a grand but fundamentally empty spectacle he was able to march all the way to a Best Picture Oscar, you can see a lot of today's big budget dreck stemming from this film. In an overlongh adaptation of Jules Verne's 1873 novel directed by Michael Anderson, you never get the sense the characters are partaking in an arduous journey. Rather, you get a lighthearted romp, stretched out to three hours featuring a slew of impressive (Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Buster Keaton, Peter Lorre to name a few), but sidetracking cameos.

A Southern Yankee

A maladroit, idiotic Missourian hotel clerk desperately wants to be useful towards the Union cause and constantly nags the residing Northern soldiers in his place of work. When he accidentally unhands a notorious Southern spy whose identity is scarcely known, his wish finally comes true. Now, posing as the Rebel spy, the cowardly bellboy must go behind enemy lines to relay a crucial message to another infiltrator. "A Southern Yankee" is another riotous laugh-a-minute vehicle for Red Skelton, a hilarious comedian who sadly has gone forgotten by recent generations. Skelton's one liners are consistently funny and the gags I was pleased to discover, but not totally surprised due to their quality, were developed by the legendary Buster Keaton. "A Southern Yankee" is an entertaining, and even occasionally brilliant romp.

Limelight

In 1914 London, a drunken and forgotten comedian stumbles his way into his apartment when he begins to smell gas emanating from one of the flats. Breaking the door down, he rescues a suicidal dancer and afterwards begins to nurse her back to health. Raising her spirits and devoting himself to her, the clown begins a revival in order to raise money for her revue, but fails miserably leading to a role reversal with the dancer championing his spirits. All results in a grand finale with the two artists performing in a grand production. "Limelight" is Charlie Chaplin's tribute to his life's work. While overindulgent and overly sentimental, the film is deeply moving and stylistically superior. Hearing Chaplin speak, which he had done before on film, is a great surprise as his voice is elegant, well-spoken, and not at all a letdown compared to his silent tramp. His performance is wonderful as well, incorporating many of his silent gags into the spoken role. Clare Bloom is really fine as well, even though her character is overly mawkish. While the best parts, in my opinion, occur in the smaller moments in Chaplin's flat with Bloom, the culmination song and dance routine between Charlie and fellow silent great Buster Keaton is the highlight of the movie. "Limelight" is a deservedly indulgent self-tribute by and to the greatest clown of the cinema.

The Boat

Having just finished building his new boat, the aptly named Damfino, Buster, his wife, and two boys trail the vessel to be launched at sea, dismantling their house and sinking their car in the process. While out on the open waters (after raising the sunken ship) a major storm hits causing Buster and his family to abandon ship and high tail in back to shore. "The Boat", an early Buster Keaton short, contains some fine sequences including a desperate SOS call to a confused radio operator and an incredible scene where Buster tries to maintain his balance on the rolling ship.

The Play House

Buster is a stagehand who doses off backstage, where he dreams he is every member present at a symphony including the band members, conductor, and the audience members. He awakens to engage in vaudevillian zaniness which includes impersonating a missing monkey and rescuing his sweetheart when her water submersion trick goes wrong. This early Buster Keaton short is whimsical and funny, again showing the wide range of the master's talents.

One Week

Buster and his new wife have received a plot of land and a ready-to-assemble house as a gift from his uncle. Little do they know that her jilted lover has changed the numbers on the boxes, resulting in the construction of one of the damnedest most backwards looking structures ever conceived. "One Week" was Buster Keaton's directorial debut and contained all the wit and physical gags that he would come to be known for throughout his career in the 1920s.

The Scarecrow

Buster Keaton plays a farmhand living with a coworker in one small room filled with multipurpose contraptions. Both men are vying for the farmer's daughter, and after being chased by an overzealous dog and having his mistaken marriage proposal accepted, he now tries to flee and marry the girl while fleeing from his rival and the farmer while pretending to be a scarecrow. "The Scarecrow" is one of Keaton's early and most fun short films containing several riotous and intricate sequences such as the kitchen sequence where every item doubles for another, the scene where a dog chases Buster around the edges of an unfinished brick house, and the scene where the farmer fights the rival and Buster keeps it going while pretending to be a scarecrow. "The Scarecrow" is another example of Buster Keaton's comedic genius.

Go West

The aptly named Friendless sells his grocery store in Indiana for $1.60 (and has to spend the money to buy supplies in the same store!) and hops a train to New York City where he gets lost in the shuffle. Inspired by the title call of Horace Greeley, he finds a miniature hand gun in a lost purse and heads to New Mexico where he tries his hand at ranching and falls in love with the big brown eyed cow! "Go West" is one of the most touching films Buster Keaton made and still contains all the wonderful physical gags that make his films so memorable. There are many funny scenes involving Buster's attempts to acclimate to cowboy life and his friendship with the cow is actually quite affecting (I adored the scene where Buster uses the cow's milk for shaving cream, and shaves the brand into his hide so can forgo the branding process). The ending is classic as well as the herd of cattle parade through downtown L.A. and Buster comes up with the ideal costume to lead them to their destination. "Go West" along with the rest of the Keaton's films, are the kinds of art that you embrace and whose spirit you wish could be replicated in today's movies.

The Paleface

A group of evil oil barons have cheated a peaceful Indian tribe of their land and have told them to vacate the premises. In response, the chief instructs his tribe to shoot the next white man to come through the gate, and who do you think comes next, while its Buster Keaton with his butterfly catcher. After chasing him around a bit, the tribe members burn him at the stake which he survives thanks to his flame retardant suit. Amazed by his survival, they induct him into his tribe as together they make a bid to take back their land. "The Paleface" is classic laugh out loud Keaton containing a string of inspired hilarious silent gags. This short film could be construed as insensitive by some, but it was made in a different time and is all in good humor. Here Buster demonstrates his gifts for physical comedy and why he is one of the foremost clowns of the cinema.

The Cameraman

A man who sells tinted photographs on a New York City street corner comes across a young woman during a ticker tape and is immediately smitten. After learning she works as a secretary for MGM's newsreel department, he trades his camera for a moving one and begins shooting footage in an attempt to woo her. The Cameraman was the first studio film for the great silent clown Buster Keaton who worked independently up until this point. It is considered his last great film before studio interference, and probably foremost the talkies, stifled his career. It is not his finest work, but it is still a delightful film containing much of the great Stoneface's grace and wit. I really liked particular segments involving Keaton's attempts to open a piggy bank, his difficulties during a date on a packed double decker bus, and his exploits involving a dead monkey he is forced into buying that miraculously comes back to life. A friend recently said that Keaton was superior to Chaplin, and it is a popular sentiment among more than a few critics, but I feel that without taking anything away from Charlie, both men deserve to sit on the same pedestal as two of the foremost comics, not only of the silent era, but of the history of the cinema.

Seven Chances

Jimmie is having trouble telling his sweetheart that he loves her and the brokerage firm he works at is in dire straits. Then one day an attorney informs him that he has inherited seven million dollars on the condition that he marries before 7pm on the day of his 27th birthday which happens to be today. Now Jimmie is in a race with time to marry his girl or any other suitable woman so he can collect his inheritance. "Seven Chances" is one of Buster Keaton's finest works, starting as an amusing comedy of misunderstanding and culminating in one of the finest chase scenes committed to film. After Keaton gets denied by his girlfriend and is unable to secure a bride, his business partner places an ad in the evening paper telling the whole town the stakes. Now, as Keaton gets word that his girl will marry him, he must make his way back to her as he dodges trains, cranes, rivers, cars, boulders, bees, and hundreds of would be brides. It is truly a remarkable and innovative sequence and serves to confirm his status not only as a great physical comedian but also as one of the movie's foremost comics.

The Navigator

In a port in the Pacific, two countries are at war. One purchases the title ship and the other plots to cut its lines and set it adrift. Before they do so, a millionaire's son and the ship owner's daughter whom he had just been rejected by are stranded on the ship. Now the hapless couple are in for adventure on the high seas, and must learn to fend for themselves for the first time in their lives. Silent film legend Buster Keaton's The Navigator contains his usual stunts and gags, one involving a picture over a porthole being particularly funny. However, segments in the film seem to stretch out with very little payoff. This however is redeemed by a fantastic finale involving Buster in scuba gear scaring off cannibals who have abducted the girl, retreating to the boat with the girl treating him like a boat, and warding off the attacking natives with roman candles and coconuts. The climax elevates the entire movie and proves what a genius Buster Keaton was at physical comedy.

Neighbors

A boy falls in love with the girl who lives on the other side of the fence of his New York City backyard. However, their hostile families prohibit them from seeing each other. What results is a sight gag filled romp as the boy attempts to court the girl despite their parents' opposition. Neighbors was one of Buster Keaton's solo films after leaving his partnership with Fatty Arbuckle, and plays off one of Keaton's favorite plots being the family feud. Neighbors is a well done slapstick that contains many wonderful stunts including a finale in which three men  stand on each others soldiers, with Keaton on top, to rescue the girl from the top floor of her home, culminating in her being in his arms on the ground level. Buster Keaton's visual stunts must be seen to be believed and his comedies, including this early short, are truly one of a kind.

The Garage

Operating a firehouse and an auto repair shop out of the same building, two men engage in a series of mishaps that range from dirtying a car they were supposed to be destroying to rescuing a young lady trapped in their garage while it is burning to the ground. Before embarking on an extremely successful solo career, Buster Keaton was the sidekick to Fatty Arbuckle, who was the most famous silent comic of his time. The Garage came at a time when Keaton's career was beginning and Arbuckle's was coming to a close (due to being beset by a scandal), and is a slapstick short pulled off in very fine fashion. Demonstrating the visual gags and high risk stunts known to Keaton and Arbuckle I'm sure, The Garage is a fine example of a partnership whose members would produce the best comedies of the 1910s and 1920s.

Steamboat Bill, Jr.

For being one of the titans of the silent comic era, Buster Keaton never looked like he was having much fun. Known as the great Stone Face, Keaton never changed expression in his films while performing dangerous stunts, all without a double. In Steamboat Bill, Jr., he borrowed elements from his previous films, replacing the train from The General with a steamboat and using his family feud storyline from Our Hospitality. Add to this a spectacular hurricane finale and the result is classic silent comedy from one of the masters. The story involves a gruff riverboat captain whose business is dying thanks to his hated rival's majestic new ship. Now his sissy college educated son (Keaton) has come to see him for the first time and the captain must turn him into a man. Yet this proves to be a difficult task and to make matters worse the son has fallen for the daughter of the captain's rival! As things go from bad to worse and it appears nothing can be done for his son, the aforementioned storm strikes the river giving the lad the opportunity to prove his worth after all. Steamboat Bill, Jr. is not the greatest of Keaton's work, but due to some wonderfully inspired gags and some eye-popping visual effects during the storm scene, this film gladly ranks towards the top of the great comic silent films canon.

Sherlock, Jr.

A young projectionist sits in his booth reading a book detailing the craft of detective work, hoping to one day leave his current profession to become a private sleuth. After his shift, he buys some small gifts for his girlfriend. When he arrives at her house, he is soon framed by a rival suitor for stealing a necklace and is prohibited from seeing her again. Returning to his job dejected, he falls asleep during the feature and leaps onto the screen becoming the hero of the detective story in which his dream girl and his rival are players. Sherlock, Jr. showed the genius of the silent clown Buster Keaton where he jammed a narrative full of inspired comic gags into a 45 minute movie. His delightful gem of a movie inspired countless whimsical filmmakers, most clearly Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, and cemented Keaton's status as one of the most talented movie maker of the silent era, even if it is not fully realized today.

Our Hospitality

Buster Keaton was one of the great comics of the silent era of the cinema. Known for his stoneface, his deadpan delivery, and his daring stunts done without doubles (in the climax of this film, he performed a daring waterfall rescue which seems impossible and almost cost him his life). He was beloved by millions, and many current film aficianados claim his skills to be superior to Chaplin's. Yet, somehow he is largely unseen by today's viewers. His Our Hospitality tells of a young man in the early 1800s being informed that he has an inheritance and must travel to his father's southern home to claim it. During the tumultous train ride he falls for a young woman. Upon arriving he has dinner at the girl's home only to realize that he is in the house of a rival family who has engaged in a blood feud with his own family for generations (the family's are the Canfields and McKays like the Hatfields and McCoys). The girl's brothers now intend to kill him, but not while he is a guest in the house, according to their father's insistance on being hospitable. This is a set up for many a gag in which Keaton tries to quietly remove himself from the premisis without garnering attention. Our Hospitality is a delightful silent film depending on superb setup and timing. Film lovers would find it in their interest to check out this or any other Buster Keaton film at their dispense.