The Books on Keaton
Think Before You Read
Reviews by
Patricia Eliot Tobias &
David B. Pearson
Many
books have been written about Buster Keaton, beginning with his
autobiography in 1960. Some are excellent, others are mediocre, and a
few are downright bad. Some are still in print; others are harder to
find. Caveat Emptor. Let the buyer beware.
My Wonderful World of Slapstick
by Buster Keaton and Charlie Samuels. 1960.In the style of the other show business autobiographies of the time, Buster tells his story. This is no kiss-and-tell book--in fact, Buster never even mentions his second marriage. But there are vaudeville anecdotes and Buster's own interpretation of the facts of his life. Samuels cleaned up Keaton's grammar, but kept his style, tone and humor. A paperback edition of the book was in print until recently and may still be found in some bookstores.
Keaton by Rudi Blesh. 1966.
Blesh, best known as a writer about jazz, spent several years researching this book, even living with the Keatons for a while. It is widely considered to be the best biography of Keaton to date--as far as it goes. Beautifully written, it tells of Keaton's life up until the MGM debacle. It does have its flaws, however, and has contributed to some of the myths surrounding Keaton's life. Blesh completed his book in 1955, but was unable to find a publisher until Keaton's death in 1966. Therefore the second half of Keaton's life is given short shrift, leaving many to believe he did virtually nothing after MGM, and that he spent his remaining years battling alcohol. In addition, Blesh describes the silent films in glowing terms, but unfortunately, many of his facts are wrong; he was describing the films from memory. Out of print.
Buster Keaton by J.P. Lebel. 1967.
Translated from the French. Pretentious early book on Keaton films presents a convoluted series of "over-the-top" theories, including the one that says when Buster gets drenched by water in his movies it is a Freudian attempt to reenter the womb. A hoot to read, if it weren't so long-winded. Out of print.
Buster Keaton by David Robinson. 1969.
Robinson's small paperback book is one of the best analyses of Keaton's work to date. Out of print.
FILM. Complete Scenario, Illustrations, Production Shots.
Samuel Beckett
The complete screenplay for the 1965 movie, the only one made by the great playwright Samuel Beckett. Plus an essay on the making of Film by Alan Schneider. 1969.Schneider's essay displays appalling ignorance of Keaton's talent and career, and is written in a condescending tone. The book is a curiosity. Out of print.
The Silent Clowns by Walter Kerr. 1975.
The single best book on silent film comedy ever written, with special emphasis on Keaton, whom Kerr claimed as his favorite. A superbly written book that analyzes Keaton's films and his comedy style better than any book before or since, The Silent Clowns also places Keaton's movies in their proper historical context. In print and highly recommended.
Keaton: The Features Close-Up by Daniel Moews. 1977.
An academic analysis of Keaton's silent features. Writing in often obtuse film-school jargon, Moews presents many interesting theories about the structure of Keaton's feature films, some of which he supports well; others not so much. An important book for the person who wants to delve deeply into Keaton's story construction, but should be read thoughtfully, as Moews doesn't always make a good case for his ideas. Reads like a doctoral dissertation, rather than a commercial book. In print.
Buster Keaton: The Man Who Wouldn't Lie Down
by Tom Dardis. 1979.Dardis fills in some of the blanks left by Blesh, but falls into the common trap of confusing Keaton's on-screen image with his real life, creating a portrait of a sad clown who had a pathetic life after his great success--something Keaton clearly didn't see in his own view of himself. Dardis often interprets that "Great Stone Face" from photographs, describing what he imagines to be Keaton's feelings as explanation for his behavior in later years--an approach that doesn't hold up, given Keaton's public persona and his insistence on maintaining it for the camera. Dardis does make a concerted effort to examine exactly what happened at MGM, and makes a good case for MGM keeping Keaton in second-rate productions--those films made a lot of money for the studio. Still in print, but not necessarily the best book to read first. A caution: It's full of factual errors.
The Look of Buster Keaton
by Robert Benayoun. 1984.Translated from the French. This pretentious photo-oriented book, badly translated from the original French, is pretty to look at, but proposes a convoluted philosophical treatise. Benayoun compares Keaton to the great surrealists, existentialists and dada-ists. Buster would have laughed. Out of print, but a favorite with many.
The Silent Comedians
by Richard Dyer MacCann. 1993.A thoughtful collection of excerpts on the directions of critical thought regarding silent film comedy, highlighted by various essays on (and by!) Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and Langdon. The Keaton section includes essays by David Robinson, Timothy Johnson, Penelope Houston, J.P. Lebel, and Daniel Moews. Other authors include Samuel Gill, Donald McCaffrey, Theodore Huff, Graham Petrie, and Anthony Slide. MacCann 's own essays are beautifully done, and tie the book's various essays together nicely. In short, this small book is an overlooked gem.
The Complete Films of Buster Keaton by Jim Kline. 1994.
Part of Citadel's Complete Films of . . . series, the book valiantly attempts to and nearly succeeds at covering all of Keaton's film work with plot synopses and some background information. Very useful, and still in print--if you can find it.
Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase by Marion Meade. 1995.
The most recent Keaton biography muddies the water even further. Despite copious reference notes and a seemingly extensive acknowledgments section, Meade's scholarship is suspect. Following the Dardis tradition of seeing Keaton as a pathetic figure, she leads the reader down a spiraling path littered with half-truths and ill-conceived conjecture. Partially-told anecdotes are used to support her view of the sad, abused Buster Keaton, and the book includes a new, and completely false, twist: she claims Keaton was illiterate. Because of its many flaws, even the new information she claims to have discovered is suspicious. Among Keaton scholars, this one is considered to be the worst of the major biographies. It does, however, have the best filmography to date, separately copyrighted by Jack Dragga. In print.
Buster Keaton: A Bio-Bibliography
by Joanna Rapf and Gary L. Green. 1995.An academic pass at Keaton's life and career that unfortunately repeats many of the myths. But to its credit, the book does include transcripts of several extended interviews with Keaton, which give the reader the chance to see what Buster said, in his own words.
Buster: A Legend in Laughter by Larry Edwards. 1995.
This slim volume book is well-intentioned, but is neither well-researched nor well-written. It combines unsubstantiated gossip and wild fan enthusiasm. In print.
Buster Keaton's Sound Films by David Macleod. 1995.
Macleod, a continuity announcer for Channel 4 in London and the co-founder of a small London-based Keaton group, the Blinking Buzzards, talks about the work Keaton did after the silent era. Features many rare film performances. An excellent look at Keaton's later years. Self-published. In print.
Buster Keaton, The Little Iron Man by Oliver Scott. 1995.
New Zealander Oliver Scott spent 20 years conducting the research for this in-depth look at Keaton's life and career. Contains extensive interviews with Eleanor Keaton, Buster's widow. Very expensive, and the price is likely to change, depending on the exchange rate. Self-published. In print.
American Silent Film Comedies: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Persons, Studios and Terminology
by Blair Miller. 1995.An expensive, mediocre book. Some entries are well done. Others are not. Many important comedians are not listed at all. The two-page Keaton entry is particularly appalling, with many, many factual errors. For example, Miller has the bridge-playing Buster dying at home, in the middle of a poker game!
Keaton's Silent Shorts: Beyond the Laughter
by Gabriella Oldman. 1996.An interesting analysis of Keaton's silent shorts. A little on the dry, academic side, but an attractive book that makes some good points. In print.
Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.
Edited by Andrew Horton. Cambridge University Press. 1997.Although a couple of the essays are cumbersome, most are thoughtful and interesting, if you enjoy academic analysis.
Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton
by John Bengtson. 1999.Through a magnificent mixture of detective work, keen observation of Keaton's movies, and historical research Bengtson discovers the locations of where Keaton shot many of his silent films, and how those locations look today. Beautifully done, and highly recommended to any fan.
The Theater and Cinema of Buster Keaton
by Robert Knopf. 1999.A peculiar, dry academic book that tries very hard to be superlative, yet flops in the basics. Although the author's bibliographical research looks impressive, the film research is actually sloppy, to the point that it undermines the book. Also, some of the assumptions Knopf puts forward concerning silent comedy are historically inaccurate, putting many of Knopf's theories in doubt.
A-Z of Silent Comedy: An Illustrated Companion
by Glenn Mitchell. 1999.Almost a "Who's Who in Silent Comedy." This well-researched encyclopedia includes material on many (but not quite all) of silent comedy's most important figures. The excellent Keaton entry runs seven pages. Overall, a good companion to Walter Kerr's "The Silent Clowns" (see above).