Buster Keaton and Film Appreciation

I just started teaching a film class again for the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School this year. Last year I did the class to fill in for my pal Andy Fish. It should be said, Andy has terrific taste in film. Although, our tastes may differ (he likes the Universal Monster Movies while I prefer the Gothic Hammer Horror movies) we both have an appreciation for movies from the 1930's and 1940's. So it made filling in for him all the more comfortable knowing most of the movies he liked I would enjoy. And I was even able to slide in a couple of my own selection for the end of the year. Because of the snowstorm we had a few extra days left of class so Andy's list was a few classes short.

And I enjoyed the class so much last year that I decided to do it again.

I decided to start off with Buster Keaton's film Steamboat Bill Jr. this year. One of the reasons is I've found a great number of students in my class have never seen a silent movie. Or even heard of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.

Which I think is two-fold. Most of the movies I watched like Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel and Hardy as a kid were movies my parents watched because they were films their parents (my grandparents) watched. Most of the people who are Grandparents now are my parents age. As a matter of fact, my parents are grandparents. Many of those grandparents didn't necessarily grow up watching movies from the silent era.

Before I totally lose my train of thought, since they don't watch those films, their children didn't watch those films. So, although, many people still know who the Three Stooges are thanks in part to them still rerunning the shorts on television or the New Years Marathon. Quite a few of these their children have never seen a Marx Brothers film.

Simply because they did not grow up with it.

Another problem is a great number of films from the silent era are lost forever due to the fact that the nitrate the films were printed on are or have deteriorated over time. Film preservationists have tried desperately (and sometimes successfully) to save and restore films over the years. But there is only so much we can do against time.

Apparently, my train of thought just derailed...

...well, I never know if students really appreciate a film or not. With a silent film I can understand with students in the Jr. High School age group it might be a bit too slow and the lack of sound might be a bit hard to follow.

I just try to explain the technology just was not available at the time concerning sounds or special effects. So I have to explain to the class that movie makers had to be clever and inventive with the way they both had to make up with the limitations of both sound and the special effects, which were pretty much non-existent, at the time. Primarily I wanted to show them this film for this scene in particular:

Explaining since there was no CGI in 1928, this is what makes the scene above all the more amazing. How close to tragedy Buster Keaton came for the sake of achieving a really funny (and amazing) gag. I also explained how Buster Keaton influenced much of the physical comedy for years to come as well as actors like Jackie Chan who cite Keaton as an influence.

In Keaton's instance, he HAD TO BE physical to tell a story and a joke. Mainly because he didn't have a sound to work with. And you couldn't keep putting up Dialogue Cards throughout the entire film because it would break too much of the momentum of the storytelling.

But even as talking pictures came into being merely a year after this film was made, physical humor never went out of style. Something about a character getting hit with a pie in the face or an anvil in the head just resonates with an audience.

Even 84 years later after this film was made, my students were chucking at the more physical comedy.

Next week I'm going to be showing them the Charlie Chaplin film Limelight. This was one of Chaplin's later films because this is the only time Chaplin and Keaton appear in the same film. Although, it is only a small scene at the end, it's the most memorable scene of the film.