Wednesday, February 04, 2009

BUSTER KEATON: Ringling Clown (1948)


Gary Cooper as Robinson Caruso and Buster Keaton as Friday performing a walkaround at a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus benefit show for to St. John's Hospital in Hollywood.

3 comments:

  1. Good old Buster has given us so much to watch and learn from. One of my favorite bits was one he did was for Candid Camera. They just gave him a bowl of soup in a busy diner and let the camera roll; patrons of the restaurant who sat next to Buster were given an up close show of a true master at work. Another gem is a half hour Alfred Hitchcock story involving a time travel helmet. They were both done latter in his life.

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  2. Little John, the time travel helmet story, "Once upon a time", was done for "The Twilight Zone", it aired on December 15 1961. In it Buster is delightful, as usual, but the episode is not very amusing. He did a lot better with "The Railrodder" a 1964 silent comedy made in Canada (his last film, maybe?). Could you post it, Pat?. I agree with you, John, the Candid Camera episode was priceless, the gags with the sandwich and the toupe were incredible. He is great, no doubt.

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  3. Peppo, you are so right, thank you. Yesterday I was unsuccessfully looking for that episode on a DVD treasure that I found in the Wal-Mart bargain bin. I was looking for my Alfred Hitchcock find that I bought on the same day that I bought the Twilight Zone. In my First of May days I had big ideas of clowning like Buster, but soon I realized that you first need to master Watch Repair, Levitation, Sharp Shooter, Dead and alive, and be able to get a laugh with a dumb walk around before you are ready to go for the good stuff. The only tribute to Buster that I was ever able to pull off was a hat that I could not keep on my head.

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