#James curtis

[friendlessghoul]

"I’m just a farmer now,” Keaton told Mel Heimer. “I’ve got this little farm in San Fernando Valley with nine walnut trees...” And as he trailed off, he leaned back comfortably and he smiled.

A Filmmaker’s Life by James Curtis [page 588]

[capturecharlesau]

And ever…

(Flashback/Burt)

WARNING ⚠️ A LITTLE BIT VIOLENT AND GOREY! SKIP IF YOU DON’T WANNA SEE!!

(Bit of lore on what happened to Burt’s poor parents :( …)

[busterkeatonsociety]

#MovieMonday Buster Keaton accidentally marries Kate Price in “My Wife’s Relations,” 1922, but he manages to make a great escape…

[justbusterkeaton]

In December 1951, Chaplin sent for him to discuss a scene in his new film, a drama of the English music halls called Limelight. The two men embraced; there was always great affection between them.

“That sequence was a very, very difficult sequence to do, the two of them together,” said Jerry Epstein (Chaplin’s assistant) “Buster came on the first day wearing his Buster Keaton hat, ready to go, and Charlie took him aside and said, ‘Buster, this is not that kind of picture. We’re playing different parts now. We’re not playing the old thing.’ And he said, ‘Yes, Charlie, of course. Sure. Of course. Anything you want.’ Which is what was sweet about him. It was like his first picture. He had all this enthusiasm of starting in pictures again, and that was terribly endearing….The crew just loved it, seeing Keaton and Chaplin working together.”

There was this kind of unconscious communication that went on,” said Norman Lloyd. “Not much talk. They would look and do something, then do it again. No talk. There was a kind of communication between them that was unspoken. But it happened as they would adjust the routine—maybe more music or maybe Charlie wanted to pull the pants up higher or whatever. But then—‘No, we’ll do it again.’ And Buster would keep adding stuff at the piano with having more music falling all over the place.”

The routine ends in applause and death, Calvero working himself into such a lather he tumbles off the edge of the stage and lands in a bass drum, from which he continues to play. They haul him up and carry him off, drum and all, to the laughs and the cheers of the audience. He has hurt his back, he thinks, but as he lies on a couch in his dressing room, the doctor determines he’s had a heart attack. While an ambulance is summoned, he asks to be carried to the wings to watch the performance of a ballerina he’s mentored. And there he dies. As the body is covered with a sheet, the camera pulls back to include those surrounding him, principally Keaton, Sydney Chaplin, Norman Lloyd, and Nigel Bruce. It continues out onto the stage where Claire Bloom, in mid-performance, twirls into the shot.

It was a deceptively complicated movement that momentarily summoned the filmmaker in Keaton. “The camera,” said Lloyd, “was on Charlie—centered on him—and, as we were going backwards, with no dialogue, just music, I heard a voice, very quiet, just above a whisper, saying, ‘It’s okay, Charlie. You’re right in the center of the shot. Yeah, you’re fine, Charlie. It’s perfect. Right in the shot. Right in there…” That was Buster. He just volunteered that. He had nothing to do with the making of the shot at all, but he was directing that scene. He wanted to make sure that camera never got off Charlie. And he’s making certain that Charlie gets his shot.”

Excerpts taken from - Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life by James Curtis 2022

[sistercelluloid]

The Buster Keaton Biopic Starring Rami Malek: All the Latest from the Man Who Wrote the Source Material!

[a-life-in-books]

James Curtis (4 July 1907 – 1977)

"Arthur could have his undivided attention. Tommy jumped at him and jerked him to his feet. He stood there, blubbering and slobbering. With his left hand clutching the back of Arthur's neck Tommy hit six times hard into the blood bespattered mask. His knuckles were sore. Arthur's eyes were closed now.

'Stop!' Shouted Dot. 'You're killing him.'

'Bleeding good job too. Poncefied son of a bitch. This'll teach him to ponce on girls and fix fights. I'm fighting bloody straight now.'

There Ain't No Justice

[busterverse]

GOOD BIO.

Yes, I know it’s not new.  I skimmed it the first time, now giving the book a more thorough reading.  Get it.   Deep research, good attribution.

(We will not even show a pic of the Bad Bio.  You know the one.  Characterizes Keaton as a sub-literate bumbler.)

Woebegone Wednesday.

[silentlondon]

The Silent London Poll of 2022: And the winners are …

Well done everyone! The Silent London Poll of 2022 had a record-breaking number of votes, and the winners reflect a thriving, international silent film scene. Congratulations to all the people mentioned below, some of these categories were bursting with great nominations. Thank you for all your votes. And for making me blub a little when I was typing this up. Without further ado, let me open…

[jacksoncrabb]

Where Have You Been?

gone fishing… went on a road trip… gave up 5:05am alarm clocks… stopped the gym before work… walked away from person 2023… i gave up on, well, EVERYTHING! But Where Have You Been? to be perfectly honest… i went away, and i might not return someday. my current path is unclear. its been colliding with this thing called humanity or was it called “reality”. i’m tired of being its…

[the-bluespirit]

THE CAST OF EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE wins Cast in a Motion Picture at the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards

[mostbelovednjpwtournament]

Most Beloved WWE Wrestler Tournament

[friendlessghoul]

“Keaton was a very quiet guy,” Collier said. “He loved the outdoors and loved the barbecue and loved the home and loved the kids.... Natalie was a very good mother, and the two kids were very well brought up. But Buster never stayed home very much. He was always out playing ball, or hunting, or fishing. He wasn’t a family man, particularly. Natalie had no personality, but I liked her very much.” 

- Buster Collier (Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life, James Curtis. pg.363)

[capturecharlesau]

So did Terrence kill Burt's parents first in a car crash and adopted Burt after or did he choose to adopt Burt first and killed his parents to get them out of the way?

No Terrence first paid some of his Suave extremists to kidnap Burt FIRST when he was a baby and James and Leni were HORRIFIED that someone stole their kid and they have been putting missing posters and call the authorities to find him!

And Terrence lied to Burt saying that HE was his father…

When Terrence realized that Burt’s real parents were looking for him… he went to Las Vegas got in his yellow car and RAMMED Burt’s real parents into a wall as they were putting missing posters of their son…

[busterkeatonsociety]

This Day in Buster…November 20, 1921 

“The Boat” premieres in Ohio.  Have a quote on “The Boat” from James Curtis’ biography, “Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life.”

[justbusterkeaton]

“Buster was assigned an office next to mine,” editor Gene Fowler, Jr., remembered. “One day, I heard such a commotion I went next door to see what it was. Buster was repeatedly throwing himself against our common wall. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘I’m writing!’ ”

- Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life by James Curtis

[theartofjoekim]

Everything Everywhere All at Once.