7/27/2019 Buster Keaton: Interviews with his widow, with Raymond
Rohauer and with Kevin Brownlow
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mfilt$YilBy Fronk LoveceDespite Renewed Interest, OnlyA Handful
Of Buster Keaton'sClassic Comedies Are On Tape^q harlie Chaplin Fay
be the quintessential silent film comedi-J an, but Buster Keaton is
the silents'consummate clown.tt Il,: ffiX'
.,'':Tlx?il:t.;:'"",Titr? YWEh:::;,Slterlock, Jr., The Naaigator
and otheimasterpieces, Keaton is an in-nocent in a mechanical
universe---often in universe-like mechanisms.
Unlike slapstick's otler geat clowns-Laurel & Hardy, the
Key-stone Kops, Fatty fubuckle-Keaton is not a buffoon. And unlike
theeternal freshman Harold Lloyd (who with Keaton and Chaplin
com-prised the box-office power trio of silent comedy), Keaton
portrayscharacters whose travails and triumphs result less from
nature'sbenevolence than its miraculous clockwork
construction.Keaton's long career peaked in the 1920s, withered in
the '30s,then experienced a renewal that lasted until his death in
1966. Now hemay be about to regain his rightfin place next to
Chaplin in silentcomedy's pantieon. This summer, PBS plans to
broadcast a Keatondocumentary produced by Kevin Brownlow and David
Gill, who al.somade The Unknoum Chaplin. Raymond Rohauer, the
controversialfilm archivist and distributor who controls the rights
to virtually all ofKeaton's movies, has just uncovered what he
describes as Keaton'sremaining lost film, the 1921 short Hard
lac&. Rohauer'slong-in-progress Keaton biography, a major film
retrospective, andpossible video releases are also in the works.Yet
despite the hints of a revival, Keaton's video legacy is
unfortu-nately incomplete. Only four of his thirteen features from
the 1920sand a handful of his shorts from 1917 to 1923 appear on
video. VCRowners can also see him in his later years, as a
supporting player ineverything ftom Sunset Bouleuard to Be&
Blanket Bingo. Keatonvideo odds-and-ends also include a 1965
Canadian short and a fascina-tingly awful local TV show made in the
'50s. Regarding the videofuture of what's not presently in
circulation, Rohauer says tantalizing-ly, "We're in no mad rush.
Timing is everything. ""Raymond doesn't want them out and around on
videotape," ex-The Ereal Sione Face in'The Navigatol
Ndo-J6at=zFo=-
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marked that, "perhaps, judged byother standards, it is a fine
andsubtle thing with 'epic qualities'. "The relative failure of The
Gen-ersl did not derail Buster's career;the funny College (1927)
andSteamboat Bill, tr. (1928) fol-lowed. But when Schenck left in-,
dependent production, Bustersigned with MGM as a star
and,tragcally, gave up creative controlof his films. Neither The
Camera-man (1928) nor Spite Maniage-(1929) matched his
previouswork.Compounding matters, Busterbegan developing a serious
drink-ing problem in 1925. His populari-ty continued to decline
throughFree and Easy, Doughbols (1930)and Parlor, Bedroom and
Bathand S idzw a lk s of N ew York (193I).MGM teamed the
increasinglyalcoholic Buster with Jimmy Du-rante, and they made
three filmstogether: The Passionate Plumb-er, Speah Easily (1932)
andWhat,No Beer? (1933). Ironically theselame efforts were sizable
hits.
and opened L.A.'s Coronet as anart-house/retrospective
theater.The Coronet's bill mixed every-thing from classic silents
to thehomoerotic works of Kenneth An-ger. One day in 1954, The
Gencralwas the libn du jour."Buster hadn't seen The Gencr-a/ in
years, " says Eleanor, "and hewanted me to see it. Raymond
rec-ognized Busterand their friendshipstarted. ""I was in the
projection room, "Rohauer remembers. "l got a ringthat Buster
Keaton was in the lob-by. I go down and there he is withEleanor.
The next day I met withhim at his home. I didn't realize wewere
going to join forces. But Irealized he had this I-don't-care
at-titude about his stuff. He said, 'It'svalueless. I don't own the
rights'. "Rohauer, who has amassed ahuge library of both silent
andsound films, decided to mount a
Keaton crusade, collecting andsaving from decay as many films
ashe could find. Keaton himself hadprints of at least six films:
TfuBuster grew increasingly unreliable.During the shooting of.
What, No Beer?Keaton, in an alcoholic stupor, flew with hisnurse,
Mae Scribbens Hawley, to Mexico,where they married. Finally, in
1933, witha few months left on his seven-year con-tract, MGM fired
him. Keaton was out ofwork. It was a hell of a year. Arbucklepassed
away; Keaton was so out ofit, re-ports author Tom Dardis n Keaton:
TheMan Who Wouldn't Lic Down, that Maesometimes turned courtesan to
raise cash.The only viable job offer was from Educa-tional Filrns.
For $5,000 a shot, Busterstarred in 16 honendous two-reel come-dies
between 1933 and 1937. (RKO HomeVideo appended two of. them-lail
Baitand Mired Maqrc-to a pair of KatharineHepburn film releases,
Christopher Strongud M omfug Glory, although the packagingdoesn't
specifically mention them.)Between 1939 and 1941, he made tenmore
"cheapies" for Columbia, home of theThree Stooges. He also made a
well-re-ceived French vehicle,the recently redisc-overed,Le Roi dcs
Champs Ebsees (L9M),but it got no U.S. distribution. A Britishfumb
(Thc InuadzilAn Old Spanish Cus-tom) that unfortunately did play
herehelped bury Buster even more.Mae filed for divorce in July
1935. By1937, Keaton was on the MGM payroll as alowly staff writer.
He got g10&a week topen gags for Red Skelton and otiers,
in-cluding the Marx Brothers, who deridedhis routines."l'm always
surprised, " Keaton laterwrote, "when people ask me if it was
acomedown to take a job like that at such asmall salary at the
studio where I'd been a$3,000 a week star. The answer is no. Ihad
not the slightest sense of humiliation.3l Vldoo Junc 1987
For one thing, I'd had ten years to forgetmy old grievances. For
another, I neverhad the sort ofpride other actors are afflict-ed
with."SACK 8'{ TfrACKKeaton's inventive gags soon earnedhim raises;
he also began to lay off thebooze. Occasional acting jobs turned
up;Nelson Eddy once recalled that Buster wasfired from one 1940
film for stealing scenesfrom the stars.While a gagwriter, Keaton
appeared in apardic melodama, The Villain Still Pur-sued Her
(1940), and as the Indian Lone-some Polecat in the 1940 adaptatton
ol Li'lAbncr. He had bits.in other films, includinga memorable
moment in the classic SzzseJBouleaard (1959). Word went around
thatif not the star he once was, Keaton was atleast dependable.
This set the stage for avaunted "comeback" in Charlie
Chaplin'spoignant Line light (1952).
. Keaton was soon deluged with TV offersand more small movie
roles. He even had aweekly half-hour comedy series (1950-1951) on
Los Angeles'KTTV. About 40episodes were broadcast to the WestCoast;
it was reportedly popular, althoughcontemporaneous reyiews and a
viewing ofa surviving example (Life with BusterKeaton, Shokus
Video) confirm howbad-albeit fascinatingly surreal-Bust-er's TV
sojourn was.The strongest impetus for Keaton's re-newal was
undoubtedly his third marriage,to Elebnor, in 1940. Eleanor's love
andsupport solidified Keaton's life. Fourteenyears later, Raymond
Rohauer solidifiedhis past by securing for Keaton and
himselfvirtually all the rights to Keaton's films.Rohauer had
founded a film society
Three Ages, Sherlock, Jr.; Steamboat Bitt,Jr., College (missing
one reel), and shortsTlw Boat (1921) and My Wife's Relations(1922).
"There is no other known print bfTlw Boat," says Rohauer. "And
ttrat onewas rapidly decomposing." Rohauer andKeaton began to
transfer the films fromhighly combustible nitrate stock to
safetynegative stock. (No one knew it at thetime, but MGM,
according to biographerDardis, had saved all of Buster's
1920-26features, as well as his first eight two-reelers. )But
saving a film is not the same asreleasing it on video, and Rohauer
has cho-sen to limit the distribution of the works hecontrols to
film screenings. In addition, thestatus of three Keaton features
and fiveshorts that the U.S. Copyright Office saysare in the public
domain (PD), and whichhave been released by various video labels,is
gray. Rohauer states tlut snce Collegeand,Steamboat Bill, Jr.
opened in England,a country covered by the Berne In-ternational
Copyright Convention, theywere automatically protected here.
KimBrown, an information specialist with theCopyright Office,
asserts that "the meredisplay of works in a foreign country doesnot
in itself constitute protection. " On theother hand, even if a film
is PD, no one cancopy a particular print or negative that youown
without permission. If you possessthe last existing copy of a PD
work, thenthat's that. You contol it.One of Rohauer's harshest
critics is PaulKilliam, a rival film distributor who has liti-gated
at least two suits against Rohauerthat went all the way to the U.S.
SupremeCourt. It is Killiam's copy of The Generalthat Blackhawk
Video distributes. In the
continucd on fage 119
"l never had the pilde olhq actont arc alllicted with."
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Rohauer and with Kevin Brownlow
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WHENE'S BUSTER?continuzd fron fage il
late l970s, at the urging of the AmericanFilm Institute, Rohauer
and Killiam signeda tnrce and have avoided further proceed-ings
against each other. For videophiles,this means the Keaton films
presentlyavailable will probably remain so.The importance of having
ttrem in easyreach of a mass audience is as incalcrdableas being
able to pick up a book and seeMichelangelo's The Last
Judgement.Kevin Brownlow, co-producer of the up-coming Keaton
documentary, reports tlntDonald O'Connor, who played Keaton inthe
horrendous The Buster Keaton Stary,called Keaton "the D.W. Griffith
of come-dy. " "That really sums it up, " says Brown-low. "Keaton
was one of the most remark-ably talented, intuitive filmmakers of
anyperiod, besides being an exceptionally tal-ented comedian. I
think his movies were abit above the heads of some audiences atthat
time. It's only now we're seeing thetrue value of his works."A
lifelong smoker, Buster Keaton diedof lungcanceron Feb. 1, 1966,
afterhavingachieved the critical and commercial reviv-al that had
eluded him for a large portion ofhis life. Dozens of television
commercials,appearances on progmms hke Plqhause90, Twilight Zone,
and, Routt ffi, stageplays, and wonderful small bits in many'60s
movies kept him comfortable throughthe end of his life."Keaton was
very down on himself,"says Rohauer. "You must remember, hedidn't
have any ego. While Charlie Chaplinhad all the ego any man could
ever have,Keaton had none. He always felt that hisfilms could have
been better, and that hewas not successfid. "The poor fool. The
poor clown. We
