Hey guys,
If you remember, a while ago I did a report for school on Harold Lloyd. The silent film star. Well this time around I thought I would just do a report for you guys on another silent film star. Buster Keaton, and one of his best movies. Mr Keaton was born right here in the midwest, in Piqua, Kansas. (which I have been though a couple times.) He was born, Joseph Frank Keaton VI and was later given the name "Buster", when at the age of six months he tumbled down some stairs and was unharmed. (Talk about a omen of things to come huh?) Buster, his father and mother all were in Vaudeville, and often shared the stage with such people as Harry Houdini, W C Fields, Mr. Bojangles himself, (Bill Robinson, Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson. They had one of the most dangerous acts ever put on stage, all around pranks Buster would perform and his parents would have to save him from. At the age of twenty one, Buster's father became a alcoholic and they had to stop doing the act.
Buster saw his first movie studio in march of 1917 and by april he made his debut film The Butcher Boy. He stayed making films for the same studio even after returning from the war. In 1928 he sighed on with MGM Studios, they treated him very badly, not letting him make films his way, being very strict on everything he did for them. Which led him to be very said and he got into drinking himself. After a big fight, he was finally fired from the studio, but by this time he was long pass caring. Later he was checked into a mental hospital, having gotten as bad as his father years before. Someone at MGM felt sorry for him and rehired him again in 1937 to be their "gag" man. But they didn't feel too sorry for him, because they only paid him 100.00 a week, and he was making ten time that before.
All that is very sad I know, sorry for that guys, but here is the happy part. Buster Keaton was one of the only silent films stars to survive the time when movies jumped over in the talkies we know today. In fact you can see him in his later years cutting it up in old Beach Blanket movies, still wearing his signature straw hat. He also got into brand new media, television and had his own show at one point. I don't know of any other silent film star to do that, maybe Charlie Chaplin? I have yet to get into him. Oh! They were in a movie together called Limelight, I'll have to look for that one.
Buster Keaton's comedies were a lot like the stage act he performed with his parents as a child, he was always getting knocked around, having to perform incredible stunts, ect. In one of his movies he is caught in a giant wind storm and at one point has a house dropped right on him. He is okay though, because he is standing right where there is a opened window. Simple incredible. And you have to remember, he did his own stunts back in a day when there was no blue screens and no CGI. Everything you see him doing is real.
It wasn't until 1959 that he finally won a Oscar for his life work, something he should have gotten a long time before then.
If you want to see some of his best stunts, including the one I mentioned above; go here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2K9ZeBe-HA&NR=1&feature=fvwpNow on to my review. :)
The General -
"Rejected by the Confederate army as unfit and taken for a coward by his beloved Annabelle Lee (Marian Mac), young Johnie Gray (Keaton) sets out to single handedly win the war with the help of his cherished locomotive. What follows is, without exaggeration, probably the most cleverly choreographed comedy ever recorded. Johnie wages war against hijackers, an errant cannon and the unpredictable hand of fate while roaring along the iron rails, exploiting the the comedic potential of Keaton's favorite props, the train. Insisting on accuracy in ever detail, Keaton created a remarkably authentic historical epic, replete with hundreds of costumed extras, full scale sets and the breath taking plunge of an actual locomotive from burning bridge into a river. "
Buster Keaton always said this was by far his favorite movie, and I can see why. He put so much of himself into it. Building sets that were to scale, not minatures, spending money and getting not one but two real trains, and hiring 500 national guardsmen from Oregon to play both armies. He did all of his own stunts as well, just like always.
The movie itself is based on a true story! In April 1862, Union agent James J. Andrews led a squad of 21 soldiers on a daring secret raid. Dressed in civilian clothes, Andrews and his men traveled by rail into the Southern states. Their mission was to sabotage rail lines and disrupt the Confederate army's supply chain. At the town of Little Shanty, GA, the raiders stole a locomotive known as "The General." They headed north, tearing up track, burning covered bridges and cutting telegraph lines along the way. Just like what happens in the movie. Johnnie sees this and gets in another train, and the race is on. He has to get a head of them and warn the troops as to what has happened, and to prove his bravery to his one true love.
This was a great movie, full is stunts,laughs and some of the funniest sight gags I have seen in a old movie. There is one scene where Annabelle and Johnnie are on the train trying to getaway from the bad guys, Johnnie asks her to help him shovel in more coal. She sits on the floor and hands him pieces of coal one at a time, picking out "the pretty ones" and throwing away the ugly ones. hehehe , too funny. The whole movie is a little over a hour long, but it will have you on the edge of your seats in places and your jaw will drop at some of the stunts. This is really a great movie to watch with the whole family.
So if you are looking for a good family movie to watch, why not go back old school and check this one out. It is considered by a lot of people to be one of the greatest movies ever made. To me it is just a great movie to watch and enjoy.
You can find it on Amazon, or on Turner Classic Movies web site. Seek this one out guys, I know you will really like it a lot.
Darcy
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cristalia mentioned she was thinking of taking it up, which inspired me to break out the wax and crayons.
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This post has been looooooooooooong overdue, I know! Somehow with work overwhelming me and unwinding from said work needing to be done, I just could never find the time to post on livejournal. I've been BUSY!! Really, really busy!! It might be hard to believe, but I've actually seen tons of friends and done a lot of interesting things when I could spare a bit of time! (Basically, this means that I have basically not been home, except the occasional night and rare early morning for the last two months!! o.o!) 
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We made out first ever Yorkshire puddings, which came out awesome and we were all boggled at just how easy it is. Next time, a little longer in the oven, and we will use a metal muffin tin instead of the silicon muffin cups, because, well, the silicon cups were too slippery and the puddings just levitated themselves out of the cups rather than getting tall. Not enough friction!
And here is my first ever hank of yarn, which I gave to my mother. It's "art yarn," which is to say it's not art yarn at all. It just sucks. But hey, it's mine and I made it. 
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Episode Number # 47 Christmas Leftovers
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