A Buster Keaton farce in six reels - and funny practically every inch of the way. Which is an accomplishment, because it isn't easy to be laughable for six thousand feet of film.

— review of "The Navigator",
PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE, 1924.

It's the Bulldozer for Buster's Baseball Field!

American film legend Buster Keaton's childhood baseball field is about to go under the bulldozer to make way for a residential development in Bluffton, Michigan. It's hard to imagine how a little patch of land served as a crucible that helped to shape the direction of cinema history, but this tiny parcel of real estate did just that.

Spearheaded by members of the International Buster Keaton Society, Inc., and legions of Keaton's friends, family and fans - an effort is being mounted to save this historic field from destruction. Please take a moment to read about this historic field, and help our cause by signing our online petition!

http://bustersballfield.wix.com/bustersballfield

Press Release
Deadline Set for
2012 Porkpie Scholar Grant Applications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Patricia Eliot Tobias, 310-547-2207/keatongrant@gmail.com

The deadline for applications for the 2012 Porkpie Scholar grant is Dec. 15, 2012. The grant is 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.

2012 Deadline: Grant applications are due online Dec. 15, 2011.

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

2012 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, 2011.

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 copy/pasted from this link, or requested by email at keatongrant@gmail.com.

Press Release for Immediate Release Filmmaker Jack Dragga Recipient of Second Porkpie Scholar Grant Contact: Patricia Eliot Tobias (310) 547-2207, email keatongrant@gmail.com
	Researcher, Videographer, and Editor JACK DRAGGA is the recipient of the second Porkpie Scholar Grant awarded by the International Buster Keaton Society, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Dragga is a graduate of Ohio University with a BFA in Photography in 1975. In the 1980s, he worked as a researcher and graphic designer with Raymond Rohauer, who preserved many of Buster Keaton’s films. In 1995, Dragga’s filmography of Buster Keaton, the most complete filmography to date, was published in Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase by Marion Meade. In the year 2000, Dragga became a freelance videographer and editor, receiving four Telly Awards for his work. He co-wrote and produced the mini-documentary 1 Parlor, 5 Bedrooms and 6 Baths, an examination of the relationship between Keaton and his 1920s mansion, for the DVD set Industrial Strength Keaton.

As a member of the International Buster Keaton Society, Dragga has been a speaker and has produced video pieces presented at the Damfinos’ annual convention held in early October in Keaton’s hometown of Muskegon, Michigan. His current project, for which he received this grant, “Unfinished Business: The Story Behind Ten Girls Ago”, is currently in the research stage of production.

The Porkpie Scholar Grant Program was established in 2008 with a substantial gift from an anonymous member of the International Buster Keaton Society. 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 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.

2010 Deadline: Grant applications are due online Dec. 15, 2010.

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.

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 and application form on the NEWS page at www.busterkeaton.com. (Please right-mouse and save to your desktop; the PDF is Typewriter Tool enabled; save your PDF and email with any attachments to: keatongrant@gmail.com for consideration. Good luck!!)

The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin
Artistry in Motion (update)

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) tells us his book was printed in 2010, sold out it's hardback edition within a year, and has been expanded and reprinted in paperback, available at amazon.com. 

In further update news, Dan consulted on Chaplin the Musical which is opening on Broadway on Monday, September 10, 2012.  He says: "I trained the actor Rob McClure for his performance as Chaplin and consulted on the script.  Unfortunately, they didn't heed my suggestion to include Buster in the show, but can Buster the Musical be far behind?" 

You can find out lots more by clicking this url: Chaplin on Broadway.

Thanks to Dan Kamin for the tip! Be sure to visit his website at : www.dankamin.com

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/Journal.htm

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!

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!

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&region=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

	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 .

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.!

http://www.looserthanloose.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

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