The Ninth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon

*Checks calendar* What, it’s that time of the year already? Why yes! It’s time for:

If you told me back in 2015 that this blogathon would be going strong almost a decade later…well, I would’ve been darn pleased!

I’m excited about the variety of topics our participants chose this year (not that every year isn’t exciting) and I hope you are, too! My fellow bloggers always do a lovely job and I know our readers appreciate it. So let’s get to it!

Bloggers: Please send me the link to your post whenever it’s ready today or tomorrow! I’ll be updating the roster throughout the blogathon. Don’t forget that I’ll be holding a drawing for all participants, the winner receiving a copy of Buster’s talkie Doughboys (1930). The drawing is scheduled for March 15.

Readers: Drop by periodically to see the latest posts–and don’t forget that we bloggers love to read comments!

Wondering what the previous ‘thons were like? Here are the links to the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh aaaaand Eighth Annual Buster Blogathons–okay, I should really start a BK Blogathon Library page at this point!

The Roster:

Silent-ology | “Buster and ‘Big’ Joe Roberts, a Lasting Friendship” essay

Classic Film and TV Corner | Sherlock Jr (1924)

Silver Screenings | One Week (1920)

Cinematica | The Cook (1918)

Nitrateglow | “A Spotlight on Kathryn McGuire” essay

The Thoughts of One Truly Loved | “Inaudible Melodies” tribute video

Welcome to My Magick Theatre | Our Hospitality (1923)

Big V Riot Squad | “Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts–Reel Two and a Half” essay

Taking Up Room | Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931)

Whimsically Classic | “Buster Keaton’s Influence on Lucille Ball” essay

The Inimitable BK | “Natalie Talmadge: The Early Years” essay

Thank You, Fellow Bloggers!

And once again, another successful Buster Keaton Blogathon has come to a close! To everyone who stopped by to read the posts, and especially to my fellow bloggers who took the time and care to contribute:

Some of you have shared with me that you look forward to this celebration of Buster’s work every year. So do I, and I can’t believe it’s been almost a decade! We might look at it as our own small way of helping share Buster’s legacy. You never know how many readers around the world may have been introduced to his work over the years, or inspired to see more.

And now it’s time to pull out my handy cloche-style hat for our annual drawing for blogathon participants! This year I’m giving away a copy of Doughboys (1930), one of Buster’s better MGMs. Drumroll, please…

And the winner is:

Congratulations to Carrie-Anne of Welcome To My Magick Theatre! We’ll be in touch.

Alrighty everyone, thank you again! And I look forward to seeing you next March for the blogathon’s ten-year anniversary–it’s going to be an epic Busterthon ’24!

He’s already studying up for it!

—

Buster And “Big” Joe Roberts, A Lasting Friendship

This is my own post for the Ninth Buster Keaton Blogathon. Please enjoy, and don’t forget to check out all the other wonderful posts, too!

If there was an official “gentle giant” of silent comedy, in my book it would have to be “Big” Joe Roberts, of Buster Keaton film fame. The jowly, 6-foot-3-inches performer played a number of intimidating “heavies”–and at least one bashful farm hand–in nearly twenty of the famed (and more diminutive) comedian’s films.

But Buster and Big Joe weren’t just coworkers but long-time pals, vaudeville veterans who spent their summers in the same quiet neighborhood of Muskegon, Michigan and shared countless memories of lakeside fun and hijinks. In fact, Big Joe’s house was just down the hill from the Keaton family.

Buster Blogathon 9 Is A Week Away!

Attention all readers! The Ninth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon is only a week away–man, how time flies. I’m looking forward to another great selection of thoughtful posts, and I’m sure you readers are too!

If you’re a blogger who hasn’t signed up and are interested in joining, jump on in! I’ll even accept new participants during the blogathon itself, because why not. The more the merrier!

Update: As many of you know, every year I hold a little drawing for blogathon participants (using my handy 1920s-style cloche hat) as a thank you. This year I’ve decided to give away a DVD of Doughboys (1930), one of Buster’s early MGM features and his second talkie overall. While many fans aren’t wild about his MGMs, most look kindly upon Doughboys and Buster himself was pleased with it, too. It’s also interesting to see Buster drawing on his real-life experiences in WWI.

So here’s what we have to look forward to next week!

The Roster:

Silent-ology | Big Joe Roberts and his friendship with Buster

Whimsically Classic | Buster’s influence on Lucille Ball

Taking Up Room | Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931)

Nitrateglow | Buster’s leading lady Kathryn McGuire

Welcome to My Magick Theatre | Our Hospitality (1923)

Silver Screenings | One Week (1920)

The Thoughts of One Truly Loved | “Buster Melodies” tribute video

Classic Film and TV Corner | Sherlock Jr (1924)

Cinematica | The Cook (1918)

Inimitable BK | Article on Natalie Talmadge

Big V Riot Squad | “Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts–Reel Two and a Half” essay

Thoughts On: “Underworld” (1927)

Better late than never, here’s the last post of Gangster Month! And the best film was saved for last, she declared. I always enjoy doing these theme months, and I hope you’ve enjoyed following along!

The sophisticated, moodily-lit crime drama Underworld (1927) is recognized by many as the “official” launching point of the gangster genre. But even if you removed it from that context, it would easily be considered a masterpiece all on its own. Funnily enough, director Josef von Sternberg himself would’ve probably appreciated it that way. “When I made Underworld I was not a gangster, nor did I know anything about gangsters,” he stated in Kevin Brownlow’s The Parade’s Gone By. “I do not value the fetish for authenticity. I have no regard for it. On the contrary, the illusion of reality is what I look for, not reality itself.”

But while Von Sternberg may have crafted his film first and foremost as a compelling story, that story melds perfectly with the dark setting of Roaring Twenties gangster culture–dark in both a figurative and literal sense. The opening title card establishes the mood: “A great city in the dead of night…streets lonely…moon clouded…buildings as empty as the cave dwellings of a forgotten age.” Many of Underworld‘s scenes take place at night, often hours after regular folks would’ve gone to bed. This alone helps the viewer sense the subversive nature of the criminal world.

Thoughts On: “Synthetic Sin” (1929)

So I just got back from attending the Kansas Silent Film Festival (for the third time!), and until my post on “Underworld” ready to go I thought I do a repost of this fun flapper feature. Starring the wonderful Colleen Moore, one of my favorite ’20s actresses, “Synthetic Sin” is a light comedy that mixes our lively heroine up with a group of gangsters–at a time when gangsters themselves were all over the papers. Enjoy!

Silent-ology

One of the most delightful things about watching a 1920s flapper film is that it’s always happy to confirm all your expectations about the Jazz Age…or the shined-up Hollywoodland Jazz Age, at any rate. The moment you pop in that DVD or plunk down in your seat in the (independent) theater, the bobbed hair, flasks, short-ish skirts, greased-back hair, Charleston dancing and snappy slang come roaring back to life. And what better way to revisit that exciting, “Ain’t We Got Fun?” era than with the vivacious Colleen Moore?

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Thoughts On: “Regeneration” (1915)

In film history books the year 1915 practically goes hand-in-hand with The Birth of the Nation—not surprising, considering its mega-blockbuster status. But it was also a banner year for many amazingly sophisticated, ground-breaking films, from scandalous dramas like The Cheat to period pieces like The Coward to realistic crime films like Regeneration. The latter was famed director Raoul Walsh’s first feature-length film, and today it’s also considered the first feature-length gangster film. It has those touches of sentiment so common at the time, but also has a surprisingly unflinching portrayal of the grittier side of city life. Somehow, it makes me think of an Edwardian Valentine’s Day postcard plucked gingerly out of a mud puddle.

Elmer Booth, The First Gangster Of The Screen

Actors living during the dividing line of “before” and “after” the emergence of cinema were given a unique gift. Unlike the generations of actors just before them, their performances could be enjoyed years, if not decades, after their deaths–provided their films survived, of course.

While many of these silent film actors have fallen into obscurity, there’s a few who had the good luck to end up in iconic films. One such actor was Elmer Booth, whose tragic early death left us with a comparatively brief filmography, but at least one performance that prophesied dozens of gangster films to come.

Thoughts On: “The Musketeers of Pig Alley” (1912)

It has a brief running time, but this Biograph drama turned out to be far more influential–or perhaps prophetic–than the studio could’ve imagined. Here’s my thoughts on the film with those famous stills from your film history books:

Silent-ology

The first intertitle of The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) starts with four words: “New York’s Other Side.” Director D.W. Griffith wouldn’t have realized it at the time, but these words were ushering in the new genre of the “crime drama”–as well as its offspring, the gangster picture and film noir.

The 18-minute Biograph short wasn’t the first to depict crime, of course (a number of early films did, such as A Desperate Encounter Between Burglars And Police, 1905), but it’s the best and earliest surviving prototype of a gangster film. All the familiar notes are there: the introduction to the “dark underbelly” of a city, the charismatic crime leaders, the tough dames, and the crowded, rundown neighborhoods. The images of hardboiled gang members slinking through deserted alleyways and Lillian Gish’s character giving Elmer Booth a disdainful slap all have their echoes in film noir.

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Before Robinson And Cagney: Gangster Films In The Silent Era

Long before James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson were making a splash in 1930s Hollywood, gangsters had been showing up on the American silent screen. While the “gangster genre” didn’t quite exist until the late 1920s, many of its familiar tropes–slangy dialogue, shootouts, brassy dames, nattily-dressed ring leaders–got their start earlier than the Roaring Twenties itself.

Still from The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912).

In the early 19th century, gangs in major U.S. cities started coming out in force, the result of tensions between large numbers of immigrants. Irish, Italian, and Chinese gangs were particularly well known (if you’ve ever seen silent films reference a “tong wars,” these were essentially battles between Chinese gangs). New York had the Forty Thieves, Bowery Boys, Plug Uglies and Dead Rabbits, Chicago had the Dukies and Shielders. The names may sound quaint today, but these groups’ violent struggles for power and territory were anything but quaint. Some gangs were also in the back pocket of corrupt politicians and police.

By the time the 20th century dawned people were flocking from the country to cities to find work and urban crime was a major issue. It’s thought that in the early 1910s there were more gangs in New York than there were any time before or since. And since public fascination with organized crime long predated “true crime” shows and podcasts, it was soon reflected in motion pictures.