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Buster Keaton : a filmmaker's life / James Curtis.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2022Copyright date: ©2022Edition: First editionDescription: 810 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780385354219
  • 0385354215
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Rivers, Manitoba -- Low comedy. The smallest comedian ; Keep your eye on the kid ; Big frog in a little puddle ; Not like the old man anymore ; I cast my lot with the pictures ; Getting restless ; Jasper, Alberta --That wonderful spirit of youth. The comedy sensation of the screen world ; The most unique and original comedian ; Spooling comedy ; Our hospitality ; The navigator ; Friendless ; The General ; Steamboat Bill, Jr. ; Giving in ; The cameraman ; Montreal, Quebec -- You studio people warp my character. The gag day is over ; Running around loose ; Crash in to my life ; I've got lots of time ; One of the skeletons in the M-G-M closet ; A comedy sequence here and there ; Diggin' up material ; Montreal, Quebec -- The biggest star in the picture. Along came television ; The worst thing ever made ; Merton of the movies ; Once upon a mattress ; When television was king ; The railrodder ; Something like a genius.
Summary: "A comprehensive account of the life and work of Buster Keaton"-- Provided by publisher.Summary: Keaton's deadpan stare, his iconic look and acrobatic brilliance obscured the fact that behind the camera he was one of our most gifted filmmakers. Through nineteen short comedies and twelve magnificent features, he distinguished himself with such seminal works as Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Cameraman, and his masterpiece, The General. Curtis gives us a comprehensive life of "The Great Stone Face": legendary actor, stunt artist, screenwriter, director. Keaton was a master who beguiled audiences almost a century ago-- and his films remain as innovative, and irresistible to audiences today. -- adapted from jacket
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography KEATON, B. C979 Available 33111010795827
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

**One of Literary Hub's Five "Most Critically Acclaimed" Biographies of 2022**

From acclaimed cultural and film historian James Curtis-a major biography, the first in more than two decades, of the legendary comedian and filmmaker who elevated physical comedy to the highest of arts and whose ingenious films remain as startling, innovative, modern-and irresistible-today as they were when they beguiled audiences almost a century ago.

"It is brilliant-I was totally absorbed, couldn't stop reading it and was very sorry when it ended."-Kevin Brownlow

It wasJames Agee who christenedBuster Keaton "The Great Stone Face." Keaton's face, Agee wrote, "ranked almost with Lincoln's as an early American archetype; it was haunting, handsome, almost beautiful, yet it was also irreducibly funny. Keaton was the only major comedian who kept sentiment almost entirely out of his work and . . . he brought pure physical comedy to its greatest heights."

Mel Brooks- "A lot of my daring came from Keaton."

Martin Scorsese, influenced by Keaton's pictures in the making of Raging Bull- "The only person who had the right attitude about boxing in the movies for me," Scorsese said, "was Buster Keaton."

Keaton's deadpan stare in a porkpie hat was as recognizable as Charlie Chaplin's tramp and Harold Lloyd's straw boater and spectacles, and, with W. C. Fields, the four were each considered a comedy king--but Keaton was, and still is, considered to be the greatest of them all.

His iconic look and acrobatic brilliance obscured the fact that behind the camera Keaton was one of our most gifted filmmakers. Through nineteen short comedies and twelve magnificent features, he distinguished himself with such seminal works as Sherlock Jr. , The Navigator , Steamboat Bill, Jr. , The Cameraman , and his masterpiece, The General .

Now James Curtis, admired biographer of Preston Sturges ("definitive"- Variety ), W. C. Fields ("by far the fullest, fairest and most touching account we have yet had. Or are likely to have"-Richard Schickel, front page of The New York Times Book Review ), and Spencer Tracy ("monumental; definitive"- Kirkus Reviews ), gives us the richest, most comprehensive life to date of the legendary actor, stunt artist, screenwriter, director- master.

"This is a Borzoi book published by Alfred A. Knopf" -- title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references, filmographies, and index.

Rivers, Manitoba -- Low comedy. The smallest comedian ; Keep your eye on the kid ; Big frog in a little puddle ; Not like the old man anymore ; I cast my lot with the pictures ; Getting restless ; Jasper, Alberta --That wonderful spirit of youth. The comedy sensation of the screen world ; The most unique and original comedian ; Spooling comedy ; Our hospitality ; The navigator ; Friendless ; The General ; Steamboat Bill, Jr. ; Giving in ; The cameraman ; Montreal, Quebec -- You studio people warp my character. The gag day is over ; Running around loose ; Crash in to my life ; I've got lots of time ; One of the skeletons in the M-G-M closet ; A comedy sequence here and there ; Diggin' up material ; Montreal, Quebec -- The biggest star in the picture. Along came television ; The worst thing ever made ; Merton of the movies ; Once upon a mattress ; When television was king ; The railrodder ; Something like a genius.

"A comprehensive account of the life and work of Buster Keaton"-- Provided by publisher.

Keaton's deadpan stare, his iconic look and acrobatic brilliance obscured the fact that behind the camera he was one of our most gifted filmmakers. Through nineteen short comedies and twelve magnificent features, he distinguished himself with such seminal works as Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Cameraman, and his masterpiece, The General. Curtis gives us a comprehensive life of "The Great Stone Face": legendary actor, stunt artist, screenwriter, director. Keaton was a master who beguiled audiences almost a century ago-- and his films remain as innovative, and irresistible to audiences today. -- adapted from jacket

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