An american icon, joseph frank buster keaton is easily. A biography and millions of other books are available. Buster keaton, who died yesterday in hollywood, was something of a genius, and even today there are men who spend hours arguing whether charlie chaplin or. In 1995, draggas filmography of buster keaton, the most complete filmography to date, was published in buster keaton. After 15 years, the advent of sound and his personal troubles with alcohol and interference from the studio caused the swift and sudden crash of his career and personal life. In 1862, after spies steal his locomotive, the general, he wages a oneman battle to recover it. With buster keaton, iris adrian, harold goodwin, eleanor keaton. Pittenger had written a popular account of the story in 1863 called the great locomotive chase.
He was born in piqua, kansas, not far from oklahoma which was then still officially called indian territory. She has written biographies of victoria woodhull free woman, eleanor of aquitaine, madame blavatsky, buster keaton cut to the chase, woody allen the unruly life of woody. The conspirators were caught and later hanged by the southern army. About the book buster keaton can impress a weary world with the vitally important fact that life, after all, is a foolishly inconsequential affair, wrote critic robert sherwood in 1918. With his wide, open face and famous stoic placidity it was kind of genius for buster to play indians, although silent ones would have been better. Beyond the laughter 1996 southern illinois university press. It was inspired by the great locomotive chase, a true story of an event that occurred during the american civil war. The copies previously uploaded here were either incomplete or too blurry.
The general was based upon a true story of a daring union raid on a confederate train led by a civilian, james andrews. Buster keaton was a master silent film comedian in the 1920s comparable to charlie chaplin. The navigator is a 1924 comedy directed by and starring buster keaton. The true story of how he bounced back to become an icon in film history is the beautifully written and thoroughly researched tale lovingly crafted in buster keaton. A biobibliography 1995 greenwood press oldham, gabriella, keatons silent shorts.
K4 a3 camera canon eos 5d mark ii foldoutcount 0 identifier mywonderfulworld00bust identifierark. Its not surprising native american indians would be a recurring theme in buster keatons comedy. The film stars buster keaton who codirected it with clyde bruckman. Title is a direct quote from marion meade, a buster keaton biographer cut to the chase from timelife magazine, august 1999. A century later keaton, with his darkly comic theater of the absurd, speaks to audiences like no other silent comedian. Nov 19, 20 in the sound era, buster would don eagle feathers himself a couple of times in a couple of odd but notable projects. Silent film star buster keaton 18951966 developed his trademark deadpan expression and acrobatic artistry, according to the author, as a result of the abuse he received from his father, joe. An american icon, joseph frank buster keaton is easily acknowledged as one of the greatest filmmakers in early cinema. Nov 01, 2005 as a huge fan of buster keaton, this book met my high expectations. Cut to the chase recorded the journey of keaton from a kansas medicine show to vaudeville headliner to.
Cut to the chase, biographer marion meade seamlessly lays out the life and works of this comedy genius who lacked any formal education. Pittenger the original book can now be freely downloaded as part of the gutenberg project. The general is a 1926 american silent comedy film released by united artists. When buster keaton showed guests around his grand spanishstyle mansion on a three and one halfacre estate a block behind the beverly hills hotel, he sometimes joked, i took a lot of pratfalls to build that dump.
Buster keaton 18951966 was a brilliant comedian and filmmaker who conceived, wrote, directed, acted, and even edited most of his ten feature films and nineteen. A biobibliography 1995 greenwood press scott, oliver lindsey, buster keaton. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being culturally, historically, or. Buster keaton, baseball player society for american baseball. Marion meade born january 7, 1934 is an american biographer and novelist. Buster keaton by marion meade overdrive rakuten overdrive. Joseph frank buster keaton, one of the most distinguished filmmakers in cinematic history, was a brilliant comedian whose films seem untouched by time. Quotes from jim carrey, kevin spacey, geena davis, billy crystal, and richard dryfus are from the american film industrys afis top 100 actors special shown in 1999. Busters misadventures in his sporting goods shop and his theatre company. This is basically a rehash of information widely available in books like marion meade s excellent buster keaton. Cut to the chase is a startling and moving account of the troubled life of a cinematic genius. Please, no hate emails about the dardis and meade books.
His parents and grandparents toured the midwest in medicine shows. If you love buster keatons silent comedies this book is for you. Cut to the chase by marion meade follows one of the greatest comedic actors from his meager beginnings in vaudeville, his friendship and pairing with roscoe fatty arbuckle, through the hight of his early career in the 1920s and 1930s, his failed marriages, damaged reputation and unwillingness to stay sober, to his third act. This is basically a rehash of information widely available in books like marion meades excellent buster keaton. How to be a working actor 5th edition book pdf download. Joseph francis keaton in piqua, kansas, 4 october 1895. Pamela drive buster keaton the legendary estates of. Born into a family of vaudevillians, buster keaton made his first film appearance in 1917 at the age of 21. With his trademark porkpie hat, floppy shoes, and deadpan facial expression, buster keaton 18951966 is one of the most iconic stars of hollywoods silent and early sound eras. Cut to the chase, by marion meade out of print keaton is my hero and i think ive read everything that has ever been printed about him. Cut to the chase first edition 2nd impression by meade, marion isbn. Heres another post in honor of native american heritage month. Marion meade is currently considered a single author. Foote has done an impressive amount of homeworkthis is scholarship at its finestthis book is an important addition to the keaton bookshelf leonard.
Bobbed hair and bathtub gin book site marion meadebuster keaton research files university of iowa libraries. The film was written by clyde bruckman and codirected by donald crisp. Buster keaton 27 books meet your next favorite book. Caryn james wrote in the new york times, keaton s television appearances are warm and enduring. Keaton had two shows of his own, including the buster keaton comedy show 1949 and the buster keaton show from 1950 until 1951. The story was adapted from the memoir the great locomotive chase by william pittenger.
Marion meade is the author of several biographies, including dorothy parker. Buster keaton david robinson national library of australia. Bengtsons enthusiasm for his subject is contagious. General information buster keaton the general angelfire. Feb 02, 2018 buster keaton, who died yesterday in hollywood, was something of a genius, and even today there are men who spend hours arguing whether charlie chaplin or harry langdon or buster keaton was the.
If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Buster made his name as a child of vaudeville, thrown around the stage by his father in a cartoon pantomime of very real abuse. Cut to the chase is a startling and moving account of the troubled life of a. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read buster keaton. When we made pictures, we ate, slept and dreamed them. By the early 1920s, he had established himself as one of the geniuses of silent cinema with such films as sherlock, jr. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Buster keaton and the dynamics of visual wit george wead. His elaborate sets, careful camerawork, and risky pratfalls have been mimicked by film comedians for generations.
Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Buster keaton 18951966 was a brilliant comedian and filmmaker who. The general buster keaton film analysis senses of cinema. Mcpherson puts forth very little effort in analyzing keaton s genius and, when he does, is often trite and unconvincing e. Based on four years of research and more than 200 interviews with notables such as billy wilder, leni riefenstahl, gene kelly, douglas fairbanks, jr. Married 1 natalie talmadge, 1921 divorced 1933, sons. Mcpherson puts forth very little effort in analyzing keatons genius and, when he does, is often trite and unconvincing e. Cut to the chase 1995 harpercollins rapf, joanna e. A film comedy is assembled with the same precision as the inner working of a watch.
Divuses the garza rebellion on the texasmexico border to analyze economic and social change in this region, internationalizing u. Meade has written novels, biographies, and nonfiction books. Download one of the free kindle apps to start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, and computer. The persistence of comedy by film analyst and writer, imogen sara smith.
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