Buster Keaton, Part 2

Buster didn't try to tackle the industry on his own.  He took on a team of writers, actors and producers that were multi-talented like himself.  He also took over Chaplin's old studio while Chaplin went off to make features.  It was on Keaton Studios' lot that Chaplin first saw Jackie Coogan and whisked him away to play in his feature The Kid.

Keaton surrounded himself with multi-talented people like himself.  On the one hand, they wanted to sell films and make money.  On the other, they wanted to develop as professionals.  They quickly recognized that nearly every comedy was merely a high speed chase.  Chaplin, Sennet and Roach saw "Comedy as tragedy speeded up."  Keaton was astute enough to see that this would play itself out.  He decided to develop his character.

He already had a great start--the stoneface.  It had an empathetic effect on the audience in a couple of ways.  One could project whatever emotion he wanted onto the hole in the donut left by Keaton's face.  Or it made him appear the stoic, calmly taking all of the cruelties life dished out.  He was a walking posterchild for the existentialists (who all admitted a certain affinity for Keaton, along with the surrealists--and later, the absurdists).

Keaton then added to this stonefaced character something that he held in his backpocket in spades, incredible athletic skill or prowess.  Like Astaire or Kelly, he made it look like it was nothing, but few could master the moves that he did.  Nobody fell like Keaton.  There was a story in every slip or trip.  Even the pie-throwing skill:  he is arguably the best at both throwing and taking a pie because of both his athletic skill and his depth of character.

As Keaton made the jump from shorts to features, he made sure his developing character grew in dimension.  Now, if his character began with a problem or lack or need, he would undergo enough change and growth throughout the arc of the picture to develop skill to overcome by the end.  This was extremely influential on other film makers of the time and later.  For example, Buster borrows many things from the stage act and films of Houdini, but he adds his own character and character development to make his films immensely more watchable.  This is to take nothing away from Houdini.  He's a giant, with his own unique brand of films, who's shoulders Buster stands on.

Buster was aware that what he was doing was giving his films "The Keaton Touch," and when MGM took this dimension away from him and just asked him to play clowns, he had a great line for him:  "You warped my character."  The Keaton touch was gone.