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He had no promoter, no one to show him how
To make his little speech, or to take his little bow
But a kind of inspiration that seemed to hold sway
Just a natural born talent you can't take away.— Joe Keaton
Buster's father, on his son's work on the vaudeville stage at the turn of the 19th Century.
Press Release
Deadline Set for
2009 Porkpie Scholar Grant Applications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Patricia Eliot Tobias, 310-547-2207/keatongrant@gmail.com
The deadline for applications for the 2009 Porkpie Scholar grant is Dec. 15, 2009. Author Eileen Whitfield received last year’s grant, the first to be awarded by the International Buster Keaton Society, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
The Porkpie Scholar Grant Program was established in 2008 with a substantial gift from a member of the International Buster Keaton Society who wishes to remain anonymous. The organization matched that gift to create the seed money for this grant program, which offers grants to authors, artists, film preservationists, filmmakers, composers and others who are contributing to the ongoing understanding and appreciation of the life and work of comedian/filmmaker Buster Keaton.
The International Buster Keaton Society, Inc. , was founded in 1992 with the purpose of fostering understanding and perpetuating appreciation of the life, career and films of Buster Keaton. The group advocates for historical accuracy about Keaton’s life and work, encourages dissemination of information and research about Keaton, and endorses preservation and restoration of Keaton’s films and performances. The International Buster Keaton Society Porkpie Scholar Grant Program issues grants of $350 annually to one or two recipients (“Porkpie Scholars”) per year.
The grant is awarded on a reimbursement basis. Recipients must provide receipts for costs associated with the grant project or activity, and the International Buster Keaton Society will reimburse up to the limit of the grant awarded. In rare cases, advances of grant funds may be made if deemed necessary to the project.
2009 Deadline: Grant applications are due online Dec. 15, 2009.
Eligibility: Grant projects should relate in some shape or form to the goals of the International Buster Keaton Society. Types of projects may include (but are not restricted to): articles or books, film restoration, musical scores, documentary films about Keaton, plays and art exhibits.
Application Process: Applications and grant guidelines can be downloaded from www.busterkeaton.com or requested by email at keatongrant@gmail.com.
For More Information
For more information about the grant program and possible eligible projects, please send an email to keatongrant@gmail.com (include “Porkpie Scholar Grant Program” in the subject line) or download the grant guidelines on the NEWS page at www.busterkeaton.com. (See below):
2009 Porkpie Scholar
Grant Guidelines & Application Form
The International Buster Keaton Society Grant Program issues grants of $350 annually to one or two recipients per year.
Deadline: Grant applications are due online December 15, 2009.
Who Can Apply: Individuals or organizations.
Eligibility: Grant projects should relate in some shape or form to the goals of the International Buster Keaton Society. Types of projects may include (but are not restricted to): articles or books, film restoration, musical scores, documentary films about Keaton, and art exhibits. If you have a somewhat different project you think is worthy of a grant, we are open to considering this as well.
Application Process: Applications can be downloaded here, along with Grant Guidelines, or requested by email at keatongrant@gmail.com.
With the Damfinos having jugglers, clowns, comedians and other performers in their ranks it's no surprise that stunt performer / Variety artist Cynthia Morrison aka The Great Cindini of West Palm Beach, FL is a huge Buster fan!
She writes to us to say: "I am performing this Saturday (Halloween) and will present for the first time the "Human Firecracker". I will have 1,000 Firecrackers attached to me and set off by a running fuse. I have taken all safety measures for the process. But most importantly I have chosen to make the stunt a tribute to Buster Keaton and will wear one of my Pork Pie Hats during the process!
I am excited about the event and wanted to share this adventure with other Keaton Fans. Thanks for your consideration. You can learn more about myself and what I do at my website:
Bless you All for keeping Mr. Keaton in the forefront on the WWW!"
Thanks, Cindini! And please send us photos for an update on the event.
Cindini will also be interviewed Ripley Radio on Monday Nov. 2nd
at 1pm EST, and plans to mention Buster.
Click here: http://www.ripleyoddcast.com/
The event was also announced in the local online paper: http://www.browardpalmbeach.
And here is an update: (don't try this at home!) The Great Cindini (aka stunt woman/actress Cynthia Morrison) prepared for her 1,000 firecracker stunt by
soaking a jumpsuit in water (as a Fire Performer, burn safety is her first concern)
before donning a leather outergarment to which the firecrackers were attached, all topped off by the porkpie hat with Buster's photo (see the red circle in the photo).
This stunt was performed on a stage ten feet off the ground, and the gunpowder
fumes given off by the firecrackers she found almost overwhelming. Cynthia
plans to wear a respirator mask as well as her other protective gear next time, in
which she will be using 5,000 firecrackers! The stunt is also cathartic for her, as
when she was a child, she experienced a traumatic event--being in a tunnel when
boys were throwing lit firecrackers into it (they were unaware anyone was there)
one Fourth of July.
She has now overcome her fears by becoming an accomplished
fire performer, and finds pyrotechnics more exhilarating than frightening.
Cynthia with her mentor and Showcase acting instructor,
Mr. Burt Reynolds, who says: "Buster Keaton is my hero!"
It's That Time Again!
The 15th Annual Damfinos Convention
October 2 & 3, 2009
Muskegon, Michigan
Register for this and other super-fun events like our Speakeasy by
going to our special Convention site run by Damfino David B. Pearson:
http://silent-movies.com/Damfinos/
or, just click on the Convention button in the Navigation menu.
This will be a once-in-a-lifetime event! Don't miss it!
Convention Update 8/10/09:
Chicago-area theater organist Dennis Scott will return to Muskegon on Saturday, Oct. 3, to play his own score for Buster Keaton’s classic 1926 film comedy The General at the historic Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, 425 W. Western Ave., in Muskegon, Michigan. He will be preceded by the popular Chicago-area group the West End Jazz Band, which will perform before the screening. The program, sponsored by the International Buster Keaton Society, begins at 8 p.m.
This will be the 15th year the International Buster Keaton Society has sponsored an open-to-the-public Buster Keaton film festival for the people of Muskegon. The festival is part of the group’s annual convention, which takes place Oct. 2 and 3, to celebrate the life and work of filmmaker/comedian Buster Keaton, who is considered by many to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
For more information about the convention: http://silent-movies.com/
Damfinos/ .
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The 17th Annual Keaton Celebration September 25 & 26, 2009 Bowlus Fine Arts Center WWI, Dark Comedy Click here for more details |
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| KINO Presents Buster Keaton Theater | |
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Press Release
Canadian Author Eileen Whitfield ~ Recipient of First-Ever Porkpie Scholar Grant
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Patricia Eliot Tobias, 310-547-2207/keatongrant@gmail.com
Author EILEEN WHITFIELD is the recipient of the first-ever Porkpie Scholar Grant awarded by the International Buster Keaton Society, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Whitfield is a graduate of the University of Windsor's School of Dramatic Art, and spent the first ten years of her career as a stage and television actress in Toronto and New York. In the 1980s, she began writing plays (several of which were produced across Canada), and throughout the '90s wrote and edited at Canada's Saturday Night and Toronto Life magazines. In 1997, her biography of Mary Pickford (Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood) was co-published by Macfarlane, Walter & Ross in Canada and the University Press of Kentucky in the United States. Since then, Whitfield has written book reviews and film columns for Canada's two national newspapers, The Globe and Mail and the National Post, and is now at work on a definitive biography of Buster Keaton for Knopf.
The Porkpie Scholar Grant Program was established in 2008 with a substantial gift from a member of the International Buster Keaton Society who wishes to remain anonymous. The organization matched that gift to create the seed money for this grant program, which offers grants to authors, artists, film preservationists, filmmakers, composers and others who are contributing to the ongoing understanding and appreciation of the life and work of comedian/filmmaker Buster Keaton.
The International Buster Keaton Society, Inc., was established in 1992 with the purpose of fostering understanding and perpetuating appreciation of the life, career and films of Buster Keaton. The group advocates for historical accuracy about Keaton’s life and work, encourages dissemination of information and research about Keaton, and endorses preservation and restoration of Keaton’s films and performances. The International Buster Keaton Society Porkpie Scholar Grant Program issues grants of $350 annually to one or two recipients (“Porkpie Scholars”) per year.
The grant is awarded on a reimbursement basis. Recipients must provide receipts for costs associated with the grant project or activity, and the International Buster Keaton Society will reimburse up to the limit of the grant awarded. In rare cases, advances of grant funds may be made if deemed necessary to the project.
2009 Deadline: Grant applications are due online Dec. 15, 2009.
Eligibility: Grant projects should relate in some shape or form to the goals of the International Buster Keaton Society. Types of projects may include (but are not restricted to): articles or books, film restoration, musical scores, documentary films about Keaton, plays and art exhibits.
Application Process: Applications and grant guidelines can be downloaded here or requested by email at keatongrant@gmail.com.
For More Information: For more information about the grant program and possible eligible projects, please send an email to keatongrant@gmail.com (include “Porkpie Scholar Grant Program” in the subject line) or download the grant guidelines on the NEWS page.
Silents Under the Stars
For the 22nd consecutive year, The Silent Society of Hollywood Heritage, in association with the National Parks Service will be presenting its "Silents Under the Stars" series. The series is a screening of some of Hollywood's best silent films in the wonderful outdoor setting of the Paramount Movie Ranch in Agoura.
Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 8pm
with live musical accompaniment by Michael Mortilla!
Tickets: $6 general adult, $5 for members, $3 for kids and kids under age 3 are free!
The Cameraman (1929) Starring Buster Keaton and Marceline Day. Directed by Edward Sedgwick. Buster trades in his still camera for an antiquated movie camera in an attempt to gain a job with the MGM Newsreel to impress his girlfriend who works there as a secretary. Partially filmed on Catalina Island.
Please visit http://www.nps.gov/samo/
Click to enlarge!
Silent Film Star Buster Keaton to Make an Appearance
at 2009 Red Carpet Ready Gala Celebration
February 22, 2009
1920s Themed Fundraiser Benefits West Michigan Film Industry
(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich) – Silent film star Buster Keaton* – who summered in the Lake Michigan shoreline community of Bluffton (near Muskegon) during the 1920s – will be one of the featured guests at the Red Carpet Ready gala celebration on Sunday, February 22. Other invited celebrities include the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Babe Ruth, Al Capone, Coco Chanel, Judy Garland and Little Orphan Annie.**
The 1920s themed fundraiser will be held from 8 o’clock pm until Midnight in the Pantlind Ballroom at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Downtown Grand Rapids and is sponsored by the West Michigan Film Video Alliance.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening is Stephanie Webb, WZZM 13 – Take 5 Co-Host and member of the Broadcast Association of Film Critics. The Oscars® are broadcast live on ABC – WZZM 13, locally.
“It will be a roaring good time as we roll out the red carpet for a night on the town with a 1920s theme gala fundraiser,” says Hilary Mills, Project Manager. “We invite attendees to dress the part – flapper dresses and gangster suits – as we celebrate the grandness of the era. We expect this to be the party of the year, with the ‘who’s who’ in the local film industry.”
All guests walk the red carpet filled with paparazzi – an exciting entrance with dazzling flash-bulb-popping ambiance. Fashion critiques and special Red Carpet interviews conducted by West Michigan’s own by West Michigan’s own “Jane Rivers,” portrayed by Mary Jane Pories of Fishladder, a take-off on Academy Awards Red Carpet hostess Joan Rivers.
Each guest receives a gift bag with a variety of Red Carpet items and a glass of champagne to toast the Oscar ® event. Scrumptious appetizers and a cash bar will also be available.
Among the featured activities are a Roaring 20s costume and celebrity look alike contests, as well as a movie-themed silent auction, live mannequins, and an Oscar® themed fashion show designed by Grand Rapids’ own Pamella DeVos Roland of New York.
Tickets are available online at www.RedCarpetReady.org and are priced as follows:
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WMFVA Members: $75 per member / $125 per member couple
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Non-Members: $100 per person / $150 per couple
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Students: $40 (with valid student ID)
The West Michigan Film Video Alliance’s mission is to promote a thriving film and video production community in West Michigan.
The organization has worked since forming in 2005 to generate a new creative and economic force by building a regional crew base, dedicated to the art and business of filmmaking and video production. The WMFVA provides programs, resources,
networking, and support to filmmakers while promoting West Michigan as vital and influential in this industry.
On this Valentine's Day, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival is presenting Buster Keaton
in "Our Hospitality", a film that also features his then-wife, Natalie Talmadge,
and his little son, "Buster, Jr." as well as Buster's father Joe Keaton.
As our Valentine to you, look for our flyers on the outreach table at the theater, as we
are offering a $5 discount to membership in the Damfinos
(The International Buster Keaton Society)
to Festival attendees!
Here is the schedule, but please visit http://www.silentfilm.org for complete information:
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Our Hospitality 12 noon
A Kiss from Mary Pickford 2:40PM
Sunrise 6:30PM
Underwritten by McRoskey Mattress Company
The Cat and the Canary 9:30PM
Discounted Admission: 4-SHOW PASS (good for one admission to all films)
All program introductions ASL interpreted.
Wheelchair seating available.
The event takes place at the Castro Theatre, originally built in 1922 to show silent films.
The theater is located at:
429 Castro Street (between Market and 18th Streets)
San Francisco, CA 94114
415-621-6120
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Featuring : Ms. Deana Barone, Mr. Doug Burch, Mr. Grayson DeJesus, Mr. Carl J. Johnson, What: Film Written by Patrick McGowan
*(Special performance, Thursday, 2/26, 8pm) Admission: $22.00 (Seniors, students: $18.00) Where: Theatre of NOTE Reservations/Information: Online: www.theatreofnote.com By Phone (subject to availability): 323.856.8611 Discount group rates available for Damfinos! Special thanks to: Patrick McGowan (playwright) and Ezra Buzzington (Rialto PR) for the great photos. Please visit Theatre of NOTE's website for more information: www.theatreofnote.com |
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One Week Joins the Registry!
One of Buster's most intriguing and original shorts has been added to the
National Film Registry for 2008. Something to celebrate!
http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2008/08-237.html
Read film historian and author Leonard Maltin's journal about this event
at his website "Movie Crazy":
http://www.leonardmaltin.com/
Thanks to Patty Tobias of The Damfinos for the tip!
Buster on CBC
Many thanks to TV Researcher, John Corcelli of the Digital Archives in the Toronto Broadcast Center
for the great link below. Enjoy this 1964 interview with Buster Keaton from CBC television,
originally broadcast on a show called Telescope.
...and more...
The Hollywood Time Machine has video interview clips with Eleanor Keaton (Buster's widow)
discussing everything from Chaplin to Film, and three clips with Bartine Burkett
(Buster's leading lady in "The High Sign" talking about socializing with Buster, working with
Roscoe Arbuckle, and being defended stoutly by Oliver Hardy. Direct links below:
Interview with Eleanor Keaton Part I
Interview with Eleanor Keaton Part II
Bartine Burkett: Buster Keaton
Bartine Burkett: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Thanks to Patty Tobias of The Damfinos for the tip!
Film at Eleven
Enjoy these beautiful color candids of Buster during the making of Samuel Beckett's "Film"
at the Live Journal of cartoonist Alex Robinson, along with a short clip from the movie:
http://alexbot3000.livejournal.com/127734.html
Thanks to Gordon Kent via Patrica Tobias for the link!
Don't Miss - A Special Appearance by Lorna Gray!
(aka Adrian Booth)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
7:30 pm
The Hollywood Heritage Museum
in the Lasky-DeMille Barn
2100 North Highland Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90078
(323) 874-4005
(Across from the Hollywood Bowl)
Free Parking, Refreshments availableIn addition to our annual membership meeting, we will have an in-person appearance by former Columbia and Republic Pictures serial queen, comedienne and Western star Lorna Gray (aka Adrian Booth). Ms. Gray/Booth, whose remarkable career included appearances with W. C. Fields, Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, the Three Stooges, Boris Karloff and John Wayne, will discuss and show clips of her films. We will be screening the 1939 Three Stooges short Three Slappy People. Memorabilia signing to follow.
Price:
Hollywood Heritage Members: FREE (donations appreciated)
Non-members $8.00Thanks to Marc Wanamaker and Anne Dawson for the tip!
To learn more about the museum's events, make a donation or become a member, or to sign up for the newsletter, please visit http://www.hollywoodheritage.org/
Once again, the Cottage Grove (Oregon) Historical Society is presenting its annual Buster Keaton Day program, Saturday, October 18, 2008.
This year the Society will be showing:
The Balloonatic, Convict 13, and Battling Butler
Show time is 7:30 p.m. at the
Cottage Grove Community Center
in Historic Downtown Cottage Grove
For many years the Cottage Grove Historical Society has been presenting its annual tribute to the comic genius of Buster Keaton as a reminder to the community of the impact Buster made on Cottage Grove in 1926 when he filmed The General here. Every five years the Society invites the Damfinos to Cottage Grove for special viewings, lectures, discussions, and tours of the various locations Buster used to create his masterpiece.
The next Damfino "Walk in Buster's Footsteps" conference is planned for summer/fall of 2011 (the 85th anniversary of the filming).
For information, you can visit the Cottage Grove Historical Society website: cottagegrovehistoricalsociety.com or you may call Lloyd Williams at (541) 942-1310.
Thanks to Lloyd Williams for the info!
Buster in Lake Magazine
Lake Magazine will feature Buster Keaton and the Damfinos Convention in
the October 2008 issue. Below is a list of places you can pick up an issue,
or order it from lakemagazine.com.
Thanks to Sandi Weindling for contacting us for the article!
Watermark Lofts, 930 Washington Avenue, Muskegon, MI 49441
Muskegon Museum of Art, 296 W. Webster Ave., Muskegon, MI 49440
Tony's Bistro, 211 Seaway Drive, Norton Shores, MI 49444
Lee & Birch, 255 Seminole Road, Muskegon, MI 49444
Art Van Furniture, 630 Seminole Road, Muskegon, MI 49441
Woodland Realty, 131 S. Seaway Drive, Muskegon, MI 49444
Hegg's Gallery of Fine Furniture, 356 West Western Avenue, Muskegon, MI 49440
Sun, Wind & Rain, 477 West Western Ave., Muskegon, MI 49440
Muskegon Convention and Visitor's Bureau, 610 Western Ave., Muskegon, MI 49440
Shoreline Inn and Suites, 650 Terrace Point Blvd., Muskegon, MI 49440
Art Cats Gallery, 1845 Lakeshore Drive, Ste. 1, Muskegon, MI 49441
Lake Express C ar Ferry
, 1918 Lakeshore Drive, Muskegon, MI 49441
Keaton Film Location Tour of Los Angeles
Author of "Silent Echoes" and film historian John Bengtson has kindly
forwarded to us a .pdf copy of his tour of the Keaton
Los Angeles film locations he has discovered in his
extensive research/detective work.
Download your copy here and have fun seeing all the locations for yourself!
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The 16th Annual Buster Keaton Celebration, to be held September 26th & 27th, 2008 in Iola, Kansas, would like to announce its first annual Student Presentation Competition. The winner will receive a spot on the schedule of respected film and cultural authorities who are asked to take part in the celebration each year and will receive a travel
grant of $500 to facilitate his/her attendance. The student presenter
will be expected to present a 30- to 40-minute presentation to the
Celebration audience in PowerPoint format (with images--either still or
moving) and so must be able to attend the conference as scheduled.
Eligibility: Full-time matriculated Undergraduate and Masters
students at any point in their academic career, not affiliated with
any employee or volunteer of the Buster Keaton Celebration, the Kansas Humanities Council or the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
Required:
1. Applicants must complete an application to Frank Scheide
frank.scheide@gmail.com or by sending a letter to Susan Raines, Bowlus Fine Arts Center, 205 East Madison, Iola, KS 66749-0705). Proof of current matriculation will be required as part of this application.
2. Applicants must submit their complete 30- to 40- minute
presentation script for committee review, along with the above
application, by the due date of May 1, 2008 along with images to be
used in the final PowerPoint document. The applicant must also
present evidence that images he or she wishes to use are available and
in the applicant's possession. Scripts must be typed and double-
spaced (they may be in essay format, marked with indications as to
what images will be utilized where in the presentation). Please do
not submit the final PowerPoint demonstration.
To learn more about this year's topic, please read the essay "Buster
Keaton and Will Rogers: American Comic Heroes", which can be found by visiting the Buster Keaton Celebration web site at http://iolakeatoncelebration.org/. Committee members will be looking for original approaches to this topic and are especially interested in papers linking the two performers in some manner.
The Celebration Student Presenter committee will choose one winner and one runner-up, who will serve as an alternate. An announcement of the winner will be made by June 1st. The winner will have until June 30th to accept or decline the award. He or she will then have until July 31st to make his/her travel arrangements (assistance with this
task will be provided by a committee volunteer). The winner will receive a spot on the schedule and a stipend of $200 and travel expenses up to $300 (airfare or mileage) to facilitate his/her attendance. Lodging and a daily food allowance will be provided by the Buster Keaton Celebration from Thursday evening, September 25th, through breakfast on Sunday, September 28th.The chosen Student Presenter will be assigned a Celebration volunteer
to assist with any and all parts of the actual presentation process,
during the two days of the festival, in order to make the experience a
successful and rewarding one for the student--and for the Celebration
attendees!
The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin
Artistry in Motion
Comedian, Damfino and author Dan Kamin (he created the physical comedy sequences for the films Chaplin and Benny and Joon, and trained Robert Downey, Jr. and Johnny Depp for their acclaimed performances) has an upcoming book on the man W.C. Fields referred to as "the best ballet dancer in the world" - Sir Charles Chaplin.
You can pre-order now direct and find out lots more by clicking this url: Dan_Kamin_Chaplin.
Thanks to Dan Kamin for the tip! Be sure to visit his website at : www.dankamin.com
Buster's Italian Villa is again featured in a new design/architecture publication called "Trends" and is available for view online, along with some stunning new photos. The magazine is also available for purchase on their website, click here to view:
http://trendsideas.com/ViewArticle.aspx?article=10823®ion=4
Thanks to Chris Arvin for the info!
(There are some stunning photos also at the Lafia/Arvin website! Click here for a direct link.)
Strade del Cinema, the international silent film festival, organizes the seventh edition of the Young European Musicians Contest in partnership with the Turin National Museum of Cinema. It aims at giving the opportunity to under-35 musicians (solists or bands) to compose the soundtrack of a silent film and to play it live during the festival which takes place in Aosta (Italy) in August. In 2008, the festival will be dedicated to Buster Keaton.
The winner of the contest receives Euro 1,500 to compose the soundtrack of a silent film loaned by the Museum of cinema and the first three classified get the opportunity to record their music on the CD Notes on frames 2008. Registration is open until April 30th.For further information, visit the website www.stradedelcinema.it
(or direct link to the festival and contact page in English at
http://208.106.249.52/concorsi/index.cfm/strade-del-cinema_3-1-0-0.html) and download the contest rules in 3 languages: Italian, French and English.The festival also is sponsoring an Art contest, but this is only open to young Italian students, or foreign artists living in Italy.
Good luck to all contestants, and thanks to Anne Dawson (Damfinos) and to Alexia Zuzaniuk of the Associazione Culturale Strade del Cinema for the tip!
Hollywood Heritage Inc. presents
Buster KeatonPresented by Dale Duffy and Patricia Eliot Tobias
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Thursday, January 17, 2008 7:30 pm The Hollywood Heritage Museum in the Lasky-DeMille Barn 2100 North Highland Avenue (Across from the Hollywood Bowl) Free Parking, Refreshments available |
Screening BUSTER KEATON'S LOST FILM!! …a very short short made for the 1957 stage production of Merton of the Movies and shot by Eleanor Keaton…along with The Frozen North (1922) and The Boat (1921). Featuring rare live theatre ephemera, from this and other productions during the long career of Hollywood theatre producer Henry Duffy (Dale Duffy's father). Other rare images provided by Dale Duffy and Marc Wanamaker .
| Price: | Hollywood Heritage Members: $5.00 |
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| Non-members $8.00 |
For more info visit this url: http://www.hollywoodheritage.org/events.html
11/18 @ 4pm
Fatty Arbuckle Shorts Matinee
with live appearances by Chris Kattan & Preston Lacy
Presented by Argus Entertainment
In 1920, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was the most popular movie star in the world, rivaled only by Charlie Chaplin. Roscoe signed an exclusive contract with Paramount to create feature–length comedies, becoming Hollywood’s first “Million Dollar Man.” After being scandalized in the unsolved death of actress Virginia Rappe, Arbuckle was banned from Hollywood and a number of his films were destroyed. Today’s generation has rediscovered this comedy legend, and he now enjoys his rightful reputation as one of the four pioneering comedy geniuses, along with Chaplin, Keaton and Harold Lloyd.Presented by Argus Entertainment and featuring live appearances by Chris Kattan & Preston Lacy from the forthcoming filmThe Life of the Party, the screening will include "Fatty and Mabel Adrift", "The Butcher Boy" (Buster Keaton's first film), "Coney Island", "Goodnight Nurse" and "The Garage". An Arbuckle historian will be on-hand for a Q&A session.
Tickets - $12
For more info and to purchase tickets online, please visit their website:
http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/calendar/events.html#fatty
Thanks to Doug Peterson, of Mad Rabbit Films, for the tip!
The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York presents a special showing of
Buster Keaton in "Battling Butler on Friday, November 30th at 7:00 p.m.
The show has live accompaniment by 8-piece chamber ensemble BQE Project
(you can hear and see them at their website, http://thebqeproject.com/thebqeproject_files/default.htm), and
the
accompanying short film is Felix the Cat in Sure-Locked Homes
(
all Keaton fans will recall the comparison between Buster and Felix;
below Felix does Buster's hand-across-the-eyes movement).
You can find out more and purchase tickets online here: http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/battlingbutler.html
By phone (212) 496-3809 or at the Box Office:
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam
Plaza Level, NYC
For automated information, please call: (212) 875-5600
for 24 hour up-to-date schedule and theater information
Thanks to Steve Grenyo, Associate Director of Marketing and NYFF Industry Liaison
at the Film Society of Lincoln Center for telling us about this event.!
Buster's Playhouse
Buster's Italian Villa, built in 1926 to his own specifications, may be one of the last surviving movie sets of Buster's career. It has been appearing regularly in such magazines as The Robb Report and Architectural Digest since its most recent renovation by designers at the artistic firm of Lafia/Arvin. The house was also featured in an upcoming "Best of" of the Robb report Luxury Home magazine. The current issue (March/April 2007) features a 17-page spread as well as featuring the playroom (now the media room) on the cover.
The Villa now houses the work of several surrealist painters
(and in Dali's case, a filmmaker), as well as cubists and Dadaists.
Thanks to Chris Arvin for the info!
(There are some stunning photos also at the Lafia/Arvin website! Click here for a direct link.)
Update: Lake Magazine is no longer publishing, but you can still read this article online at: http://lakemagazine.com/
Thanks to Ron Pesch of Muskegon for the update!
LET'S HELP NEW ORLEANS LAUGH!
To help boost morale and bring some much-needed comedy to the folks in
the New Orleans area,
International Buster Keaton Society member and professional costume designer Peggy Rosefeldt
is asking people to send her short comedy VHS and DVDs.
She and her colleagues will schedule screenings at churches and other public facilities.
It's been more than a year since Katrina, and things are still not easy in the Big Easy.
It's been very hard for the folks down there -- the suicide rate has increased 1,000% --
and this is a way you can help make life a little better for them.
Send VHS and DVDs to:
Peggy Rosefeldt
c/o David B. Pearson
317 Magnolia Drive
Picayune, MS 39466
THANK YOU!!
Fourteen of the sixteen shorts are all new transfers from 16mm original prints in their own collection. The two others are taken from excellent video sources.
It doesn't stop there, however, as you'll also get a number of bonus features including: "Way Up Thar" (a Joan Davis and Roy Rogers short costarring the Keaton Family, sans Buster); various Keaton TV performances from the 1950s and '60s; alternate takes from the silent feature "Go West"; a very special color excerpt from the 1965 tribute to Stan Laurel featuring Buster and Lucille Ball and, finally, a number of easter eggs hidden throughout the six-disc set.
The whole package sells for $65 (+$4 s/h), BUT if you pre-order by November 3rd using PayPal they'll give you a special 10% discount! Don't miss out on this special offer. After the release date of the Buster Keaton Educational set the discount will be withdrawn. This set will ship on November 3rd, 2006.
ED HICKMAN's DVD OF THE GENERAL
The DVD of Alabama musician Ed Hickman's original concert band performance to Keaton's 1927 silent film, The General, is now available. The score includes four major marches, jazz, Dixieland, polka, ragtime, and ballads, and was played to the film by the Huntsville area's finest musicians in a concert band on June 22, 2006. Included is Conductor Ed Hickman playing a passage with tenor banjo. The performance was recorded live in front of an enthusiastic audience by Allen Smith of Riverland Recording.
Ed Hickman, MSEd, of Robbins Music Center, Huntsville, AL, was band director at Dothan College (AL) and Navarro College (TX), and has a long-standing interest in music to silent film.
The International Buster Keaton Society helped publicize the June 2006 performance, and thanks Ed Hickman for his music and for the screening of Keaton's film.
The General, 1927, b/w, with original concert band score by Ed Hickman, MSEd., approx. 75 minutes. DVDs $15.00, available now at www.silentmoviemusic.com .
REELING's AWARDS
On Sept., 25, 2006, playwright Barry Kornhauser won the Twin Cities 2006 Ivey Award for Playwriting. This was for Barry's "silent" play, Reeling, which features a Keatonesque "Little Fellow", performed at the Children's Theatre Center in Minneapolis, MN from Jan. 17 - Mar. 4, 2006. Peter Brosius was Artistic Director. Dean Holt, who performed acrobatic physical comedy as the play's "Little Fellow", won the Acting award - "without speaking a line!" Reeling's two awards were among 12 total individual awards presented by 110 judges who saw 168 productions from 53 theatres. Congratulations, Barry and Dean!!
(Above, Lake Michigan Park Theater)
And before you visit Muskegon this year, you can visit the Actor's Colony on the web,
put together by Ron Pesch. Follow the links to see more photos of the Keatons
at play in their summer home and see the historical marker dedicated to
Buster, along with rare photos and posters.
Thanks to Ron Pesch for the info!
http://www.actorscolony.com
The 14th Annual Buster Keaton Celebration
Sept 29-30, 2006, Iola, KS
This year's theme: Buster Keaton & the "Funny Ladies"
as a Mirror of their times
For more info, please visit :
Being There
"Buster Keaton's Italian Villa - Then and Now" is our self-published
collection of anecdotes, articles, and historical information about Buster's
1926 Beverly Hills home.
The booklet also contains many black and white photos from the vaults
showing
Buster at home, along with photos taken at an event attended by members
of the
Keaton and Talmadge families and Damfinos worldwide.
Specially priced at only $10, please contact Graceann Maciolek at gmaciolek@wi.rr.com
for details and payment options.
Our webmistress Victoria Sainte-Claire would like to announce the launch
of Cybertints Curious Goodies, her digital image
collection of high resolution royalty free vintage oddball
photos and illustrations with additional artwork added (so you don't have
to!)
Images are available on the CD (100 300 dpi images) or in
single downloads (150 dpi).
Victoria has done all the art and layout work on this site for the past
five years, and it was her interest in antique images and early color
film that first attracted her to Buster Keaton. She has also designed
a promotional
site for John Bengston's book, "Silent Echoes". She plans to
add new things
to her site soon so have fun browsing around!
Clicking here will take you there:
www.cybertints.com
or visit my new shop at: http://www.cafepress.com/cybertints
DISCLAIMER
The Damfinos: The International Buster Keaton Society
is not responsible for any materials, transactions,
copyright infringements, or correspondence you may enter into
via these links, which we provide for information only.