Buster Keaton

There's a terrific venue here in Salt Lake, called The Organ Loft, that regularly plays silent movies.  Not only that, but the movies are accompanied by their very own Wurlitzer Organ, and there's always a session on the history of the movie being presented.  I generally attend a couple of the movies each season, and this weekend they played one with Buster Keaton.

Whenever anyone talks about silent movie comedy, Buster Keaton is usually one of the three names at the top of the list.  Along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, they set a standard for film comedy that everyone else has been trying to reach ever since.  Like Lloyd, Keaton usually did his own stunts, and was a master of physical comedy.  But his trademark was his perpetually straight face and large sad eyes.

Keaton didn't make many feature-length movies, and so it was a real treat to see one, this one being called "College".  In it, Keaton plays a brilliant student who is unable to win the heart of the girl he loves, because of his lack of athletic prowess.  So he follows her to college, where in attempting to woo and win her, he goes out for every sport there is, and fails miserably, all to hilarious effect.

For those of you who think a silent picture might be boring, think again.  The house was packed that night, and Keaton had the entire audience roaring with laughter from beginning to end.  Even though he's been gone for many years now, I say long live silent comedy and long live Buster Keaton!