Thank You, Fellow Bloggers!

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Lea S.

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!

—

Buster And “Big” Joe Roberts, A Lasting Friendship

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Lea S.

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.

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The Ninth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Lea S.

*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

Buster Blogathon 9 Is A Week Away!

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Lea S.

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

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Ninth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon!

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Lea S.

Were you waiting for it? At last, I’m making the official announcement that our great Busterthon is returning for a ninth–ninth!–time! Almost a decade of our annual Buster celebration, folks. Isn’t that amazing?

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Salvador Dali, Buster Keaton Fan

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Lea S.

When we read about history, it’s easy to forget how often various worlds would collide. For example, Harold Lloyd’s Speedy and Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc came out the same year, and Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford once had Albert Einstein over for dinner (Chaplin was invited too, and Pickford remembered him and Doug listening to the famed professor in awed “befuddlement”). And an artist like, say, the iconic Salvador Dalí would have grown up with silent comedies, and would’ve had his favorite comedians like everyone else.

It’s fairly common knowledge among classic comedy fans that Dalí was a Marx Brothers fan–or rather, fanatic. Once he gifted Harpo a custom-made harp with barbed wire strings, covered with spoons (as historian Joe Adamson humorously explained, Harpo “didn’t drop spoons, he dropped knives, that’s why Dalí used spoons”). He also presented the Marx Brothers with a screenplay called Giraffes on Horseback Salad, basically a living series of his paintings but with Marx Brothers. (They somewhat respectfully declined.) But not everyone knows that Dalí was a Buster Keaton fan, too.

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Book Review: “Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life” By James Curtis

Posted on March 28, 2022 by Lea S.

It was late last year when I first heard the welcome news that a new Buster Keaton biography was on the way. And not only that, but it was going to be a very long, detailed, and thoroughly professional biography by James Curtis, author of acclaimed books such as Spencer Tracey: A Biography and William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come. It was going to be An Event, you might say, the first truly major biography on Buster in years. And, it would be ready to go in February 2022, sooner than I expected!

And now, having carefully waded my way through its 800 pages (yes, this is a substantial tome!) I can say that Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life was not only worth waiting for, but it’s the kind of book that Buster fans needed–indeed that anyone interested in film history needed.

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THANK YOU Fellow Bloggers!

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Lea S.

The last two days have flown by (I’m still working my way through all your pieces) and the Eighth Annual Buster Keaton blogathon is officially a wrap! So to all the participants, I wanted to say a heartfelt…

…from Buster and from Silent-ology, too! (And from Alice Mann–hey, she’s been enjoying the posts too. 😉 ) And many thanks to all you fine readers who took the time to stop by, I hope you’ve had fun reading through all the posts and maybe you discovered some thoughtful new blogs to follow, too!

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Reviewing All Of Buster’s MGM Features

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Lea S.

This is my own entry for the Eighth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon. I hope you enjoy!

When Buster Keaton went through the transition from silents to talkies, as all fans know it wasn’t smooth–he was talked into giving up his studio and moving to the fancy megastudio MGM, and basically had to adapt to being treated as an actor, not a filmmaker. His personal battles behind the scenes with alcoholism and his failing marriage are also well known to fans, and it’s safe to say that all of the above can…color our opinions of his MGM films (to put it mildly). Of the nine features Buster starred in from 1928-1933, the seven talkies in particular are often dismissed as inept embarrassments for someone who made so many silent classics.

So I guess this is my segue into saying: I’m now going to give mini reviews of all his MGMs!

To be clear, I’m going to examine some of the differences between the MGMs and his independent films but I’m also going to try to review them more objectively. Too often we Buster fans seek out the MGMs just to scrutinize every frame for evidence of inferiority to his silent pictures, gawking at the sad beatdown of our creative genius and basically wallowing in whatever misery we feel we can detect onscreen–not really watching them just as movies. This mindset’s hard to escape, it’s true, but it doesn’t hurt to look at the MGMs for what they were–popular films that were pretty similar to other popular films from the time.

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The Eighth Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Lea S.

UPDATE: Day 2 of the blogathon has begun! Be sure to check out any new posts, more are trickling in!

And just like that, our annual Busterthon is back–for year eight!!

And I’m proud to say that we have a great turnout this year and a wide range of topics–participants always do an amazing job, and this year’s no exception. So find your coziest chair, make a pot of your favorite tea, and please enjoy!

Bloggers: Please send me the link to your post whenever it’s ready today or tomorrow. (Many thanks if you already have!) I’ll be updating periodically throughout the blogathon. Don’t forget that I’ll be holding a drawing for all participants, the winner receiving a copy of the fabulous new James Curtis biography Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life. The drawing is scheduled for March 16.

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

Wondering what the previous ‘thons were like? Here are the links to the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Annual Buster Blogathons–whew! Just in case you were hoping to find something to read about Buster…!

The Roster:

Silent-ology | Reviewing All of Buster’s MGM Features

Cinematica | The Scarecrow (1920)

University of Iowa Libraries blog | Article on the Marion Meade research paper collection

La Pantalla Enmudecida | “Buster and My Nieces: A Personal Story” essay

Silver Screenings | The Haunted House (1921)

Realweegiemidget Reviews | Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

dream in dizzy sunlight | Go West (1925)

The Thoughts of One Truly Loved | “How I Fell For Buster Keaton” essay

Taking Up Room | College (1927)

Way Too Damn Lazy to Write a Blog | “Mr. Keaton Goes to the Columbia Shorts Department” article

Big V Riot Squad | “Buster’s Silent Shorts–Reel 2” article