Talk:Buster Keaton/Archive 1

His Last Movie

His last movie was made in Italy in 1966, "Due marines e un generale" (literally: Two marines and one general). Buster Keaton worked with the Italian troupe, especially Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia, two Sicilian artists. For the 1st time, Buster Keaton spoke in front of the cine-camera. He was no more a silent actor. That was his last appearance. Giorgio 20:30, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Is not true, Keaton played one movie in Italy, "Due marines e un generale" , voyaged to Venice and after to Madrid por played erronius in "A funny thing...". The last movie is "The scribe", in Canada. --Carrasclet 10:17, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

"...He was no more a silent actor..."

He had not been a silent actor since 1929, when he made his first talkie, Free and Easy.IanThal 13:51, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

picture

picture is god awful, should be changed to one with him staring impassively at the camera

The Name "Buster"

The article claims that the name Buster originated with Keaton - is there any citation for this? Because according to the Baby Name Voyager (http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html), Buster was the 596th most popular male name in 1880, with about 50 instances per million people. Considering that Keaton wasn't born until 1895, it seems rather unlikely that he was the originator, rather than the popularizer of the name (although this probably isn't true - the name peaked in 1900). Chris Edgemon 06:09, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Keaton's father did not coin the name "Buster," but he did popularize it by giving it to him as a nickname early in his vaudeville career. Joe Keaton invented stories about his son to get additional publicity for their vaudeville act. In newspaper accounts from their touring days, Joe variously attributed the nickname "Buster" to several different vaudeville stars, changing the star to whoever was most popular in the city in which they were performing. When Houdini became world famous, Joe Keaton began to attribute Buster's nickname to Houdini, who was the most famous performer The Three Keatons had performed with, though they toured together in a medicine show well before Buster was born (see *The Theater and Cinema of Buster Keaton* by Robert Knopf, Princeton University Press, 1999, citing Buster Keaton's vaudeville scrapbooks, American Academy of Motion Pictures library). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rknopf (talk • contribs) 21:28, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Several biographies of Keaton include the story that fellow vaudvillian Harry Houdini named the child Buster after seeing him take a header down a staircase and emerge unscathed.Jim Stinson (talk) 18:36, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Bias

Keaton starred in a wonderful, short SILENT film. Probably wonderful needs to be ditched there.

Keaton was undoubtedly the most innovative filmmaker of the three, although Keaton never made such comparisons. He enjoyed Lloyd's films highly and often praised Chaplin for his genius. The first sentence is very biased and the last one needs a citation.

Go ahead, be bold is the wikipedia motto.

Date of Death

OK, when did Keaton die? The only book I have to hand says Jan 31, but we have it on the February 1 and the February 6 pages as well. Or maybe he died three times, he was a comedian after all. --Camembert

Googling seems to suggest that February 6 is definitely wrong, so I'm removing that link. Some pages have Jan 31, but more have Feb 1, so that's what I'm putting. If anybody knows better, please change. --Camembert

IMDB has February 1. So does http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=565, but the photo of his gravestone only has the year. -- Zoe

This should clear everything up. Here is a link to a jpg of his death certificate, from the Find-A-Death website.

http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/k/Buster%20Keaton/Keaton%20DC.JPG

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What do we do with trivia like: the windscene of Steamboat Bill was imitated in Witches of Eastwick, with the actual film playing on one of the TVs at the end. Cartoon Cluseau and Pink Panther also do the falling-wall bit in PP Strikes Again, arguably embedded within a doff to Sherlock Jr. (Cluseau stuck w/in the screen).

References?

The new content is good, but really needs some references. Proteus71, can you please provide some? - jredmond 20:35, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Birth; Pique,KS; plaque info: "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow" plus the site/museum itself

Vadueville: "Hard Act to Follow", 2002 Buster Keaton Celebration, Iola, KS, & Keaton autobiography

Marriages: "Hard Act to Follow" & autobiography

Death & Legacy: "Hard Act to Follow" & "Buster Keaton Rides Again"

Anything else: "Hard Act to Follow"

How should they be inserted into the text? Is there a reference-heavy Wiki page that you could point me to? (I haven't done this before, so my apologies if I'm using an idiosynchratic/inappropriate style here.) --Proteus71 22:25, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

That list is a good start, but needs more details — author/publication info on the books would be best. As for inserting into the text, your best source for details should be Wikipedia:Cite sources. (Finally, if you want to indent text, start that paragraph with a colon — if you start with a space then the paragraph gets rendered in a rather ugly fashion.) - jredmond 21:50, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

This requires more info than Wikipedia:Cite sources currently has. "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow" was aired in three parts over a decade ago, and the videos are no longer for sale. "Buster Keaton Rides Again" is a documentary on the "Railrodder" DVD. As for info cited two years ago now in Iola, or info I obtained first-hand, does that need a reference? If so, what kind? --Proteus71 22:44, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Chaplin vs. Keaton: Transition to Sound

The comparison in this article seems to be one of pure opinion; I found Chaplin/the Tramp's voice to be pleasant enough in "The Great Dictator." Chaplin's resistance to sound film was his own decision, not the result of anything like box office returns. Unless the author uses some sort of objective source to back up this statement, I am going to remove it. Minaker

I agree that Chaplin chose not to convert to sound, but that does not mean that mention of Keaton's vocal qualities and stage experience should get the axe also, or that many others could not make the transition. Where's the best place to include that information? --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 10:28, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Chaplin's reluctance to make the transition to sound had nothing to do with his voice quality-- it had to do with his style. His filmed physical comedy was very dependent on the technique of "undercranking"-- sped up movement. This would be incompatable with the technology of the talkie. The other issue was that the Tramp character was conceived as a silent character-- and there was a question of what would happen the Tramp spoke. Note that the Tramp speaks (actually sings) only once-- at the end of Modern Times" and that the Jewish barber of Chaplin's first talkie, The Great Dictator is not the Tramp (though he shares many qualities with the Tramp.)

Keaton, on the other hand, was quick to embrace new technologies, generally filmed at natural speed, and was not so bound to playing the same character in every film (despite the near ubiquous pork-pie hat.)IanThal 13:45, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Latest edit, regarding his name

Where does the "VI" come from? I have never heard that before, only the "Jr." that it replaced. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 13:03, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

I have removed this suspicious alteration. If I'm in the wrong, please cite a source. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 13:52, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Yet the VI remains in the caption of his picture. Brief research seems to indicate that Buster's grandfather was Joseph Francis Keaton IV, which implies there was an uncle numbered V. Does some avid Keaton fan have access to primary information? The University of Iowa has a collection of Keaton material: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Msc/ToMsc550/MsC512/MsC512.htm Snezzy (talk) 02:43, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

I have read in several locations that Francis was not his middle name but rather Frank. I see there is no citation on the name and am wondering which is really correct. [1]All I seem to find are conflicting stories.Chryslerfan (talk) 07:41, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Spanish Book

Exist one book in Spain dedicated to Buster Keaton with many photos and information. BUSTER KEATON. Salvador Sáinz (Royal Books, 1994) This is a truly encyclopaedia about Keaton.

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Salvador Sainz, the author of the book, is the person that write the last message.(Estruch) --Britzingen 18:17, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

This a good book. This boys only dedicated to insult at your author in all the wikis. --Carrasclet 14:32, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Particularly Interesting, Somewhat Unrelated

The use of Buster Keaton's name in Stephen King's book Needful Things is perhaps unrelated to Buster Keaton at all. King chose to name his character Danforth Keeton (with the slight misspelling), the selectman of the small town of Castle Rock, who gained the nickname "Buster". Buster Keaton may have only been inspiration for the character's name, as Danforth "Buster" Keeton shows no trait which is similar to Buster Keaton, or any of his characters, in anyway. Nevertheless, Needful Things is a good read, and although cliché (perhaps it only seems this way because it was written 15+ years ago), delves into human nature quite nicely. A worthy novel for a rainy day. Nidht 13:17, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

And of course the surname was later plagiarised by Diane Keaton. --Rodhullandemu (talk - contribs) 19:17, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

Spanish Movies

This article forgotten two movies MGM where Keaton speak in Spanisk. "Estrellados" (free and Easy) and "De frente...marchen" (Doughboys), never released in video or DVD. --Carrasclet 10:20, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, Thelma Todd, Charley Chase and Buster Keaton starring movies in Spanish. But never realased this in DVD. The Laurel and Hardy movies amusing me very much. Keaton have problems with the Spanish but Laurel and Hardy no, this speaking very well my language. --Estruch 22:03, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Bad manner when eating.

I think many has seen a scene with the hidden camera with a man with extremely bad manners at the table. It's extremely funny to see how the rest of the guests react. However, few know that the actor with the bad manners is Buster Keaton. I think it would be worth mentioning in the text. I would write it myself, if I just knew what exactly what the program was called and exactly when it was broadcasted. Please add it, if you have this information. --Smallchanges 16:03, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

This is a famous bit from Allen Funt's (original) Candid Camera, shot at a cafe/lunch counter in the late 1950s. I would think this falls more under the heading of ineptness than bad manners... --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 14:30, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Template deletion

Template:Buster Keaton has been nominated for deletion, as far as I can understand it, on the grounds that actors don't influence their films that much. Please have your say over here before this Wednesday (I think). Esn (talk) 09:07, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

WP:WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers priority assessment

Per debate and discussion re: assessment of the approximate 100 top priority articles of the project, this article has been included as a top priority article. Wildhartlivie (talk) 06:45, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Actor or comedian infobox?

I just reverted somebody's well-intentioned edit which changed the infobox from actor-based to comedian-based. I think of Keaton as an actor primarily because he didn't do any standup comedy... nearly all his fame was from acting in films. Yes, he was comical in his films, but he also evoked sympathy and other emotions. My idea of "actor" includes the comedy aspect along with a full palette of thespian skills. If any editor feels differently; if any editor prefers the comedian infobox, speak up. Binksternet (talk) 08:17, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Years active

Someone edited 1917-1966 into 1896-1966 a few weeks ago. Depends, I guess, on whether you're talking about stage and film, or just film. Any thoughts? Snezzy (talk) 12:59, 14 May 2009 (UTC)