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| marantzo |
 Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:18 pm |
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| I watched a number of Keaton's yesterday too. He really was great/hilarious. The comic actors were so acrobatic in those days. Keaton, Chaplin, Lloyd, Fields etc. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:31 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Watching some of those Keaton stunts made me wonder how he survived to live to a ripe old age. (Most of those agile comics did, though.) |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 3:53 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| I generally prefer Keaton to Chaplin and--except for City Lights--I'd rather see one of Buster's movies (my favorites are The General and Steamboat Bill Jr.) to Chaplin's. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 6:46 pm |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:25 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| I'm pretty sure Keaton permanently injured his back in the silent days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 12:45 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| He fractured a neck bone during Sherlock, Jr. in the scene where the water rushes from the pipe and throws him onto the track. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:17 am |
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billyweeds wrote: I generally prefer Keaton to Chaplin and--except for City Lights--I'd rather see one of Buster's movies (my favorites are The General and Steamboat Bill Jr.) to Chaplin's. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:54 am |
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Syd wrote: He fractured a neck bone during Sherlock, Jr. in the scene where the water rushes from the pipe and throws him onto the track.
I think that was the scene that made me think, Somebody could really get hurt that way. But then he got up and ran off. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 1:00 pm |
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Location: Shanghai
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whiskeypriest wrote: In the great silent comic dichotomy, I am a committed Keatonian as well.
I like both.
But to me, Keaton's films are mostly stunts, while Chaplin's contain so much more.
But if we're talking about short films, then it's much closer. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 1:31 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| The General IMO has as much substance as any of Chaplin's movies. It just manifests in a less manipulative way, which makes it better. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:41 am |
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Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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billyweeds wrote: The General IMO has as much substance as any of Chaplin's movies. It just manifests in a less manipulative way, which makes it better. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:05 am |
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whiskeypriest wrote: billyweeds wrote: The General IMO has as much substance as any of Chaplin's movies. It just manifests in a less manipulative way, which makes it better. is one of the handful of truly grreat films, silent or talkie, comedy or drama. Better than anything Chaplin did. But then I admit to finding much of Chaplin unduly mawkish.
Another of those posts with whose every syllable I agree. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:20 am |
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| Keaton's stone faced blinking when the box car that had just miraculously disappeared from the tracks in front of him just as miraculously reappears when his back is turned in The General is perhaps the single funniest thing I have ever seen in movies. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:30 am |
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whiskeypriest wrote: Keaton's stone faced blinking when the box car that had just miraculously disappeared from the tracks in front of him just as miraculously reappears when his back is turned in The General is perhaps the single funniest thing I have ever seen in movies.
The most amazing thing about The General to me is the way it is simultaneously 1) a very funny comedy; 2) an adrenaline-pumping action tale; 3) a charming romance; and 4) a relatively realistic Civil War time capsule. Four genres have never been so ingeniously combined. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:58 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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I think The General is overpraised.
Watched Splendor in the Grass.
The weedy guy was grassing about this recently.
It's a good film, though all the drama is Amped Up, reflecting its stage origins and Inge's MO.
I didn't know that that was Warren Beatty, in his film debut, til after the movie ended and I checked the dvd cover. But it's more Natalie Wood's film and she's quite good. I also didn't know that that was Barbara Loden in the role of Beatty's wild flapper sister. I quite liked her 1970 film Wanda, which she wrote/directed/starred in. Sandy Dennis is in there as one of the high school friends. Even Phyllis Diller pops up later on.
Of course, everyone looks mighty old to be in high school, more like college seniors, but I guess such casting was somewhat common back then, and I had to keep pushing my doubts back down.
The film is a little long, but Kazan smartly picks up the pace towards the end so that it seems about right.
Kazan's films always seem worthwhile.
I caught America, America earlier this year.
And hope that Wild River turns up here soon. |
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