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Review
"Tracing Keaton's beginnings in vaudeville and how he eventually applied that form's traits to cinema, McPherson creates an excellent portrait of a formidable talent, also addressing the private demons that accelerated his eventual slide.' Empire 'The author, rather like his subject, has the knack of sketching a poignant moment using a minimum of sentimental flannel.' Sunday Telegraph 'McPherson wins one over because of his loving fan's attention to, and lively evocation of, the core of Keaton's achievement.' Daily Telegraph 'Graceful and charming... McPherson's account is animated by the same sort of colour and vitality as Buster's best work.' Scotsman"
Product Description
'Tracing Keaton's beginnings in vaudeville and how he eventually applied that form's traits to cinema, McPherson creates an excellent portrait of a formidable talent, also addressing the private demons that accelerated his eventual slide.' Empire
'The author, rather like his subject, has the knack of sketching a poignant moment using minimum of sentimental flannel.' Sunday Telegraph
'McPherson wins one over because of his loving fan's attention to, and lively evocation of, the core of Keaton's achievement.' Telegraph
'Graceful and charming... McPherson's account is animated by the same sort of colour and vitality as Buster's best work.' Scotsman
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am not a silent film scholar (or even enthusiastic) and I only had a vague idea of who Buster Keaton was when I was given this book, so I had no real incentive to bother reading it. I looked up some reviews online, though, and it had been very well-received, so I figured I'd give it a try. By the time I'd finished with the prologue, I was already a fan -- both of Buster and the author. The writing is so alive, so intimate and engaging, that I couldn't help but rent some movies to see what the fuss was all about. And, having now watched my fair share of Buster features and shorts, I can say that the prose in this book replicates the vigor -- the fun! -- of the films. So glad I took the time, as this book actually inspired a new passion in me... (Now when is it going to come out in the US?)
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Please note: this is a paperback with inferior paper and photographic quality (as often found in paperbacks). This is, however, reflected in the modest price.
However, the content was interesting in the way the author integrated Buster's personal life with the themes and styles of his films. The earlier part of his life was fascinating - I loved the collapsing outside toilet a teenage Buster rigged up for a neighbor - anticipating the famous scene in Mash by more than half a century.
It was also fun to read of the various practical jokes and antics that went on both in the studio and on location.
Altogether a good introduction to the man and his comedy.
However, the content was interesting in the way the author integrated Buster's personal life with the themes and styles of his films. The earlier part of his life was fascinating - I loved the collapsing outside toilet a teenage Buster rigged up for a neighbor - anticipating the famous scene in Mash by more than half a century.
It was also fun to read of the various practical jokes and antics that went on both in the studio and on location.
Altogether a good introduction to the man and his comedy.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
20 reviews
24 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Admiration for a Silent Giant
25 May 2005
Format:Hardcover
Almost forty years after his death, Buster Keaton is increasingly appreciated as a comic artist. The movies of his only real competitor for silent film clown, Charlie Chaplin, are usually marred by sentimentality, but Keaton was having none of that. As Edward McPherson writes, in _Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat_ (Newmarket Press), "Keaton's films are witty, beautiful, unsentimental, moving, and - most of all - funny." McPherson writes that his book is "merely a fan's notes," a celebration of Keaton's work. As such, almost all its pages are lovingly devoted to Keaton's films of the twenties. There was a Keaton after the silent film days were over, and he did make a triumph over various adversities, but his silent shorts and full-length films are wonderful, and are still being mined as examples of timing and technical wizardry. This is not a full biography, but a celebration, and it is all the better for that.
Young Keaton joined his parents in vaudeville performances. He literally joined them by wandering onstage; the parents tried tying him offstage or putting him into a trunk, but it turned out that the best way to keep an eye on him was to bring him into the act. The usual skit involved Joe's helter-skelter efforts to discipline his son, and Keaton simply was tossed around on the stage, thrown into the orchestra pit, or used as a mop. It sounds rough, but Keaton was a ham and loved it, and always denied that he had anything to complain about. Fatty Arbuckle was a fan of the Keatons' act, and had already "borrowed" some of their gags for celluloid. When Keaton wandered into Arbuckle's studio in New York in 1917, he was invited to take part in a scene involving a mess of gooey molasses and being knocked for a backwards summersault from a store out into the street. Arbuckle recognized a movie natural immediately, and Buster signed on to the company. Arbuckle's collaborative and freeform way of making gags was just what Keaton wanted, and what he instituted when he started making his own movies in Hollywood. McPherson describes all of the great films here, with descriptions of how the stunts and the accomplished trick photography were done. It all ground down when Keaton lost his independent studio and went to work for MGM, which wanted scripts, budgets, and shooting schedules; the jolly, funny atmosphere of a team intoxicated by making comic movies evaporated. The other great impediment to Keaton's way of working was sound. The days of hooking the camera to a boat, car, or train and letting it go were over. Keaton was shoe-horned into drawing-room, all-talking productions.
McPherson describes but does not detail the years thereafter, when Keaton had embarrassing journeyman jobs as his only outlet, and then cameos in such films as _Sunset Boulevard_, and even in beach blanket movies. His troubles with alcoholism (eventually conquered) and two difficult marriages (the third one was charmed) are here. Here also, however, is mention of his lucrative career making guest spots and commercials on television, a medium that many moviemakers hated or dreaded but which he appreciated as the latest technology. Collectors ensured that his films were seen again in the fifties and sixties, and he got lifetime honors from the Academy and other appreciative organizations, so that when he died in 1966, he knew that his astonishing output from the twenties was going to be appreciated by every subsequent generation. As a appreciation of Keaton's work, McPherson's book is sweet and generous, and will send readers out to the video store to do their own appreciating.
Young Keaton joined his parents in vaudeville performances. He literally joined them by wandering onstage; the parents tried tying him offstage or putting him into a trunk, but it turned out that the best way to keep an eye on him was to bring him into the act. The usual skit involved Joe's helter-skelter efforts to discipline his son, and Keaton simply was tossed around on the stage, thrown into the orchestra pit, or used as a mop. It sounds rough, but Keaton was a ham and loved it, and always denied that he had anything to complain about. Fatty Arbuckle was a fan of the Keatons' act, and had already "borrowed" some of their gags for celluloid. When Keaton wandered into Arbuckle's studio in New York in 1917, he was invited to take part in a scene involving a mess of gooey molasses and being knocked for a backwards summersault from a store out into the street. Arbuckle recognized a movie natural immediately, and Buster signed on to the company. Arbuckle's collaborative and freeform way of making gags was just what Keaton wanted, and what he instituted when he started making his own movies in Hollywood. McPherson describes all of the great films here, with descriptions of how the stunts and the accomplished trick photography were done. It all ground down when Keaton lost his independent studio and went to work for MGM, which wanted scripts, budgets, and shooting schedules; the jolly, funny atmosphere of a team intoxicated by making comic movies evaporated. The other great impediment to Keaton's way of working was sound. The days of hooking the camera to a boat, car, or train and letting it go were over. Keaton was shoe-horned into drawing-room, all-talking productions.
McPherson describes but does not detail the years thereafter, when Keaton had embarrassing journeyman jobs as his only outlet, and then cameos in such films as _Sunset Boulevard_, and even in beach blanket movies. His troubles with alcoholism (eventually conquered) and two difficult marriages (the third one was charmed) are here. Here also, however, is mention of his lucrative career making guest spots and commercials on television, a medium that many moviemakers hated or dreaded but which he appreciated as the latest technology. Collectors ensured that his films were seen again in the fifties and sixties, and he got lifetime honors from the Academy and other appreciative organizations, so that when he died in 1966, he knew that his astonishing output from the twenties was going to be appreciated by every subsequent generation. As a appreciation of Keaton's work, McPherson's book is sweet and generous, and will send readers out to the video store to do their own appreciating.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
A nice little surprise
24 Feb 2006
Format:Hardcover
This book was a "nice little surprise", in that I didn't really expect to enjoy it as much as I did. - I bought it on impulse, in that I always buy books on Buster Keaton, as well as on a number of other subjects that are of great "collectible" interest to me. For the most part, I've enjoyed almost every book on Keaton I've ever purchased, going back to Blesh's "Keaton", which I read when I was 17, way back in 1966. I was burned severly by one purchase, a slight little paperback biography (by an author whose name I can't remember) that was one of the most poorly written, error-strewn messes I've ever seen. I tossed it! But I love Blesh, Bengston, Lebel, Robinson, Moews, Meade, Rapf & Green, Oldham, Dardis, Horton (why does everyone hate this one? I enjoyed it immensly), Knopf, Weed & Lellis, Vance & Keaton, Benayoun, Kline, and of course, Buster's own "World Of Slapstick". To my mind, they all contribute something new to the picture.
When I started reading this new McPherson book, I had a bit of a feeling of "ho-hum". But, surprisingly, I was drawn into it. I found that the author had, indeed, added new insights into Keaton's personal life, a few new facts here & there. Most importantly, his comments regarding the films themselves are lively, insightful, and unique. This is a most welcome addition to my Keaton library, in a plain, unexceptional cover and design that falsely led me to believe that the book would be dull and pedestrian. I'm one Keaton fan who is glad to own this book.
The only reason I've not given the book a fifth star, is that the author rather awkwardly telescopes the last 20 or so years of Buster's life into a rather sketchy summary, somewhat out-of-keeping with the wonderful treatment given the earlier years. For this reason, I would not recommend this as a "starter", or a new Keaton fan's "only" book on the subject. But, to add color and nuance to what is learned in other volumes, this is a fine compliment and a satisfying Keaton read.
When I started reading this new McPherson book, I had a bit of a feeling of "ho-hum". But, surprisingly, I was drawn into it. I found that the author had, indeed, added new insights into Keaton's personal life, a few new facts here & there. Most importantly, his comments regarding the films themselves are lively, insightful, and unique. This is a most welcome addition to my Keaton library, in a plain, unexceptional cover and design that falsely led me to believe that the book would be dull and pedestrian. I'm one Keaton fan who is glad to own this book.
The only reason I've not given the book a fifth star, is that the author rather awkwardly telescopes the last 20 or so years of Buster's life into a rather sketchy summary, somewhat out-of-keeping with the wonderful treatment given the earlier years. For this reason, I would not recommend this as a "starter", or a new Keaton fan's "only" book on the subject. But, to add color and nuance to what is learned in other volumes, this is a fine compliment and a satisfying Keaton read.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Go watch his movies instead...
27 April 2007
Format:Hardcover
I just finished this book and I found little insight to Keaton as a person. I wouldn't really call this book a biography. It's more of a chronological synopsis of each of his films with anecdotes of his life splashed here and there. It's a great book if you really want to know about plot lines and what happened on set. If you want to know about the man, choose another book.
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