Buster Keaton again

And also the famous 50...

The VCA is well aware by now that I rank Buster Keaton about as high as a filmmaker can be ranked. This little film essay, with commentary from the recently deceased Andrew Sarris, does a nice job of introducing what it is that Keaton is about, and it shows some good clips.



The article behind this, Video: Andrew Sarris on Buster Keaton, talks a bit about the S&S 50, which RM and I were debating here, and how Keaton and the closely related Chaplin have both fallen in the rankings, and perhaps why. There is no question that Keaton was championed in a great comeback late in his life, when people both rediscovered his original work and, at the same time, realized that he was not only still around but still incredible. But that was long ago, and the past does tend to fade into the past, even when it shouldn't.

I'll try to find some of my favorite later Keaton material and pass it on.