What's my Line? Buster Keaton

[Woody615]

"The General" is probably one of the greatest silent movies ever made.

[TheSolaris810]

Keaton was a genius with a gift of a face- and those eyes that said everything. Lovely clip!

[orangeandbluecream]

Ha... The way he said yes to the last question.

[glassineheart]

classiest and coolest game show IN THE HISTORY OF EVER

[AdamBomb669]

The lighter hair does something for me with Dorothy. Which is odd cause I am usually the other way around. I like the dark haired ladies more often.

[mabroussardii]

@dogshy61 Buster Keaton lost some of his hearing while serving in World War One

[dogshy61]

I didn't know Keaton had a hearing problem at this stage of his life. He has to keep going to Daly to understand the question. Going from Bennett Cerf's remark about '' The Buster Keaton story '' this must be 1957 or 58 when to most Americams he was best known for his Television work and bit parts in movies. Unlike Chaplin and Lloyd he never owned the rights to his movies and so had no control over their re-release. At least he lived long enough to see his reputation as a film maker restored .

[jetinall]

...he looks as if he doesn't really want to be there.

[CasiMirLtd]

@jetinall Trademark of his stone face ;)

[rocknrollfanatic96]

@jetinall I would say it's pretty dang hard to get any kind of vibe of his emotions from his face.

[Flinklehurst]

@rocknrollfanatic96 There's also body language and tone, and the way he was up on his feet as soon as possible. I have to agree with jetinall on this point.

[honeyb430]

@rocknrollfanatic96 That's why he was known as the "Great Stone Face".

[bibi5027]

@rocknrollfanatic96 yes therefore he was called stone face,cuse thats made people laugh,but in real life he was very emotional person

[bibi5027]

@rocknrollfanatic96 and yes he was knowing as stone face,but he had great emotions in his eyes,they were like window into his soul,and then had great body language

[simonmoves]

there are no words--thx for posting

[cleancab]

One of the greatest comedic geniuses of all time.

[brianwells456comcast]

Keaton`s "The General" is my favorite movie of all time.Buster is by far the greatest comedian ever imoh as well as the best physical actor( check out all the stunts he did in his films-especially in the 20`s).Watch some of his classic silent shorts on YouTube:"Neighbors",The Goat","Cops","One Week","The Paleface",and "Convict 13".Longer running masterpieces would include "Our Hospitality","Sherlock Jr.","Seven Chances","Steamboat Bill Jr.","The General","The Navigator",and "The Cameraman".

[buraburayoshi]

ooooohhh so he's buster keaton. I had no idea who he was until I heard the 'old lady kesha' parody. Halarious might i add.

[MissGoldenDreams13]

2:20-2:23 : The funny thing is, if Harold Lloyd were alive today, and if he were a guest on a similar show, he would probably be asked, "Are you in the Buster Keaton school of comedians?"

[themrsdinocrocetti]

Such beautiful handwriting. Sigh, those were the days when penmanship counted for something.

[TheSandsie13]

always loved this part. 

[cstinnett2]

Greater than Chaplin in my opinion

[UnbeltedSundew]

@cstinnett2 In a lot of people's opinions, actually. Chaplin had a harshness about him that Keaton didn't, not to mention I don't think anyone was quite as smooth as Keaton.

[filmmekker]

Buster was hard of hearing.

[levanyzzuf]

Was poor Buster hard of hearing? It's not like the panel was far away.

[MovieBuff24601]

@levanyzzuf Yes. He lost most of his hearing in WWI and it got worse as he got older.

[MsSarjen]

Gosh people had such a beautiful handwriting back then. My gran tells me that when she was a child, back in the 30's they had handwriting lessons at school, where you were to just practice writing for a full hour.

[VONheisenburg]

Buster Keaton... definitely want to watch that movie they were talking about.

[Laurentia02]

@VONheisenburg Don't.It's not going to make you like him more,on the contrary,it's based on nothing but lies and it was meant to sell,not to reveal the truth about his life.

[potatoepeter1]

Jahrzehnte danach kam Robert Lemke von der UNI

[maxreger100]

sloanjr has commented that people thought of Keaton as being from "eons ago", but his warm response from the audience begs to differ.

He was a legendary and beloved comic--more loved than Lloyd or Chaplin imho--an unfortunate victim of the talkies.

Although I still believe there might have been room for him with the right director(s).

[MovieBuff24601]

@maxreger100 He was an unfortunate victim of MGM. That's not his real voice. His actual voice was a husky baritone that was perfectly acceptable in those days, and he would have done alright if he was allowed to be his *own*director.

[f756t7t6]

That voice! No wonder he did silent movies, am I right guys :)

[bolodemarmore]

@f756t7t6

That's silly.

The point of the game was to answer the question changing the voice so the celebrity identity would not be found.

[f756t7t6]

@bolodemarmore

Thanks for clearing that up, Sherlock Holmes.

[errolfan]

Buster Keaton set himself up for this. When you ask a verbal question for the best silent film comedian (Chaplin aside), what do you expect? Keaton knew that conversation was not his forte, and he made a career out of it (until the talkies).

[pilzperson]

He was hard of hearing due to an ear infection he suffered while in the military during World War I. This is why he kept looking to the host to repeat questions he did not hear clearly.

[errolfan]

@pilzperson You could be right.

[pilzperson]

@errolfan I read his biography On-line after I saw this YouTube clip and found out about his hearing loss.

[FilmNRouge]

I wish he could of stayed as well along with everyone :( and also he wasn't exactly uncomfortable or stern, he couldn't hear well as you could see.

[miker2001]

What I find remarkable, is Dorothy Kilgallen's question: do you go as far back as the silent movies? He was a living legend, an inspiration to people like Samuel Beckett. He seemed uncomfortable on the show.

[pilzperson]

@miker2001 Orson Welles, a gifted film director himself, considered Keaton one of the greatest directors of all time. Keaton only directed films for about 10 years before talkies took over the industry.

[mewrth]

I want Buster's hat

[pilzperson]

@mewrth He made his trademark "pork pie" hats himself, starting with a regular man's hat, cutting it down and stiffening the brim with sugar water. He'd go through 6 or 7 in making a film. Later fans would grab them from him, and some he gave away. It woul dbe great to have one autographed by him.

[mewrth]

@pilzperson Yeah and there are even video tutorials on YT showing how to make a BK porkpie hat!

[Dodger753]

I love this! What a hero! Who was that bloke?

[pompeyocayo2]

I like to see Buster talking (at least saying yes and no). Thank you very much.

[KawhackitaRag]

@pompeyocayo2 he made a bunch of movies in the '30s where you can hear him talk and sing, but they're very rare today.

[pilzperson]

@pompeyocayo2 He has talking roles in a number of pictures through the years, including 3 "beach blanket: movies of the 1960's, lie "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini." I like him as the bumbling nephew in the movie "In the Good Old Summertime," where he's with Judy Garland and Van Johnson, a musical loosely based on "The Shop Around the Corner." 

[karaterocks99]

I think that railroad thing was his last picture...what a stoneface ...

[flickchick49]

i didn't know buster keaton could talk lol

[blacsouljah]

@flickchick49

He talks in the 1964 comedy "The Thrill of It All".

[bibi5027]

@flickchick49 buster had lovely deep barytone voice ,there is lot of movies around here

[KeatonC0Ditup]

My names Keaton :)

[maestroflash]

I love it! Thankyou for posting. what a Hero.

[mykcheck1212]

These are so scripted.

[ebf1957]

I recently saw "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" which was Keaton's last movie. Very funny.

[Georgie1954]

RIP Mr. Keaton.

[JubalCalif]

What a shame that Buster hurried away before the host could ask him any questions...such as what he was doing in New York (he & his third wife lived in Southern Calif). He was one of the IMMORTALS of the screen. He, Chaplin & Lloyd were the three greatest talents in silent screen comedy. A world of thanks for sharing this intriguing clip with us!

[TomBarristerX]

In that era (this was from the 1950's), most celebrities went to New York in advance of the opening of the movie, book, etc. that they were plugging, as New York was where most of the network studios were located back then. The panel knew who was in town at the time, and this often helped them guess who the mystery guest was.

[matakuazable]

@JubalCalif mr keaton didnt like crowds or intense adulation..he would throw up sometimes

[JubalCalif]

@matakuazable

Thanks for the input! I had no idea that Mr Keaton had such problems. Being in the public eye, you'd think he'd be used to crowds & adulation. But everyone is different, of course. THANK YOU again for your insightful comment!

[WSenator1]

@JubalCalif - Well, after all, he was a SILENT comedian!

[JubalCalif]

@WSenator1

Ha ha...good one Senator! Washington DC could use a senator with a droll sense of humor like yours! THANKS for your comment! Hope you're having a wonderful week!

[Dukeoftruth]

Buster was the best!

[JubalCalif]

@Dukeoftruth

I second that emotion!!!

:-)

[LTopomcFly]

Buster and Ernie are two of my favorite old-school comic geniuses.

[hulotati]

"The Buster Keaton Story " starring Donald O'Connor from 1957 is the movie referred too, and I love Busters reaction in his answer if it was based on his life as not one minute of it is anything to do with his life story. Great clip.

[mimilala89]

What's year is this video?

[youngfreak32]

I love the look Buster gives on the 2:35 mark.

[Dano962]

Muy bueno...Buster Keaton,Woody Allen and Charlie Chaplin the best for US...

[DrakeWeAreLEAVING]

Chaplin was English

[Dano962]

Nacio en Londres,tenes razon...Si a puro merito propio se dio la fama en USA y el macartismo lo exilio...

Saludos...

[rentatrip1]

Dano I suggest you learn American / English and please do not denagrate the effort to protect our nation from Communism Senator McaCarthy has had grave concern for the terror of the red menace- I thank him for being a true patriot so please do not slander the USA with cryptic Spanish coded insults here on WML - Comprende'?

[Dano962]

Dano,yo sugiero que aprendas ingles americano y ten cuidado de no denigrar el esfuerzo de proteger nuestra nacion de parte del senador McCarthy......Yo comprendo...Mi intencion nunca fue ofender a nadie,solo dar un punto de vista,mi punto de vista...En mi pais,una dictadura militar en los 70`mato mas de 30000 personas tratando de protegernos de los"pensamientos de izquierda"ademas de exilios y expropiaciones de niños hijos de desaparecidos,y sin duda,de ahi vienen nuestros distintas miradas...

[Dano962]

No soy comunista,pero no creo que esa sea la forma de proteger a una nacion,mas bien no entiendo de que se la estaria protegiendo...De un libre pensamiento..??De la eleccion de ideales..??

No quisiera salirme mas del tema asi que te saludo y me gusta que ambos podamos discutir abiertamente sin insultos ni maltratos...

[Shovewood]

oh rentatrip be nice, my spanish is a little rusty but I dont think Dano said anything offensive at all. Anyway he can criticise Senator McCarthy if he wants to [but he didnt] It is also a tad hypocritical to talk of slander when McCarthy is involved given the vast number of people he recklessly and falsely accused. Im not saying he wasnt a patriot Im just saying he got it wrong quite a lot of the time.

[brassbend]

What was the "so called Bio" movie that Buster isn't very happy about? I thought it might be "The Comic" from 1969, but I don't know when this clip is from.

[sloanjr]

They're referring to 1957's "The Buster Keaton Story." directed by Sidney Sheldon. Buster Keaton actually worked out the comedic gags with the star, Donald O' Connor. In later interviews, his widow said Keaton had a wonderful time with O'Connor. But I guess, the film turned out very disappointing. Much more fiction than fact (even for a Hollywood biopic), which I guess is why Bennett Cerf used the word "allegedly."

[brassbend]

Thanks, I will see if that film can be had.

[theblackmambe]

well, he saw it obviously, and he died in 1966, so it couldnt be the comic if it was released in 1969. hes also more thin than latter years, so he couldnt be too old. Maybe 1950s.

[brassbend]

No, I thought "The Comic" was based on Keaton, haven't seen it in years. I didn't know when it came out but it stared Dick Van Dyke didn't it?

[theblackmambe]

never seen it, was just replying to brassbend. he said it came out in 1969, and i told him buster died in 66, so he couldnt have seen it. but a quick IMDB search said it was released original in 1969, and it was about fictional silent comiedian Billy Bright.

[cornermoose]

@brassbend You're both right. The Comic (1969) was loosely based on Buster's story, and there was also The Buster Keaton Story (1957).

From IMDb

[bobbobato]

It's interesting that she says "''as far back' as the silent movies". This clip must be from around the fities, so that would be about 30 years after the last silents, or even less. How would it sound to say that such and such an actor goes 'as far back' as 1980?

[sloanjr]

Well, to them it probably seemed like eons ago. They didn't have easy access to classic films like we do today. No Turner Classic Movies, DVD's or even VHS back then. Most silent prints were languishing in attics or sheds. Most of the audience probably had not seen a Keaton silent since it first premiered some thirty years previous. We've been able to watch stuff from the 80's over and over again as we got older. Thank God for preservationists...now we can enjoy Keaton, et al.

[NekoSOM]

That's certainly true. It is so terribly tragic that so many of those films are lost forever, because it never even occurred to people at the time that what they considered to be simple popcorn entertainment might one day be historically and culturally significant.

Makes one wonder in the digital age how long all that data that defines our culture today will keep, and what will be left when it's all said and done?

[hockeyboy1231]

haha he just leaves.

[yanoquedannicks]

Thanks for uploading this video!

[DerAdventurer]

Fantastic!

[Sitaker1954]

what I noticed is that everytime a question is asked, Buster turns to the man sitting beside him--and that man repeats the question. Reportedly, Buster was rather hard of hearing, and rather embarrassed by that fact. Perhaps that's why he hurried off the stage so quickly

[Agentsub]

This was actually common. They probably had speakers that he couldn't hear very well.

[drmoonrat]

He has lost a great deal of his hearing in the fist world war. We was rather embarrassed by it, but he may have also been frightened by the crowd of people.

[LindaSetonCase]

Rin tin tin, lol.

[SamoanFun]

I'm Like Wondering With This, "He'll Never Speak, He signed a contract that forbade him to speak on TV"

I might be wrong with this episode, though.

[reyzaguirr]

you might be thinking of the tramp character of charlie chaplin, buster keaton was known for never smiling

[theblackmambe]

well, he said too him self that he wouldnt smile on camera, but it would be silly not to allow him to speak.

[shatzi]

I love Buster and had never seen this, thanks!

[btopishere]

rofl Buster just scurried out of there!

[prettyparisian]

Buster Keaton was just beautiful in every way. lol was funny at 2.36 when he sort of knew he was found out when he said 'yes' lol

[saferwaters]

"Are you a living American blonde?"

"No!"

HAHAHA

[NellsStuff]

Supposedly Buster was rather shy when it came to certain public appearances. I think that by this time he was sober, too. Great to see both buster AND Kovacs! Two of my favorites!

[oldcountrytunes]

The panel usually nailed the mystery guest because they would not have had many mystery guests, LOLL!!

[GenericGene]

Buster looked very tired in that clip, great classic post thanks - Gene

[Wellch]

did he just throw away the chalk?

[CK1223]

COMEDY GIANT.RIP.

[bitterchew]

Crazy Ernie Kovacs had to have been happy to meet this zany comic

[soulierinvestments]

Thank heaven Buster's movies survive so that he can still dazzle new generations. {If you don't know him, start with "The General," "The Navigator" and "Steamboat Bill, Jr.")

I cannot fathom that he lost audience favor in the 1930 and 1940s (fickle moviegoers!). I sometimes fantasize about what a movie starring Hope, Crosby, Lombard, and Keaton written and directed by Preston Sturges would have been like. Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis, Keaton, directed by Blake Edwards? Maybe in another universe.

[prchristman]

Don't forget Keaton films like "Cops," "The Cameraman," "The Playhouse," and "Sherlock Junior." My favorite silent comedian, with all due respect to Charlie Chaplin.

His sound films didn't quite measure up to silents like "The General." (Admittedly, what could?) He did some with Jimmy Durante that were good, but I don't think they teamed all that well together. Then it was back to going solo in good but not great films.

[NGS712]

prchrist: I heard Frank Capra talk about him on YT and I think he summed up why he didn't make it into the talkies. He said Keaton was a pantomime [bet I spelled that wrong :P] artist.

Sound just ruins the magic of silent comedies.

[prchristman]

Keaton was in his element in silents. But there was more than sound working against him after 1928. He signed on with MGM in that year, a decision he called the worst of his life. With that, he signed away much of his creative freedom to the studio system. He no longer was the director. MGM forced him to use a stunt double in dangerous scenes. The scripts became more dialogue-oriented (yes, sound dictated that, but even so there were fewer of Keaton's superb trademark gags from the silent era).

[NGS712]

prchrist: I hadn't heard about that, but at least he had made a lot of silent films before then.

[prchristman]

He had made a lot indeed. And his best work was in silents for the reason Capra mentioned and the loss of creative control that film historians almost unanimously acknowledge lessened his films. Good that so many of Keaton's silents survive. Film preservation sometimes wasn't high on Hollywood's list. Some of the best silents are gone forever because prints simply deteriorated over the years. So much of Keaton's work survives. One fine Laurel and Hardy film, "Hats Off," is regrettably lost.

[soulierinvestments]

Autumn 1957. Arlene Francis has a broken foot. Ernie Kovacs is auditioning for the 4th permanent panelist position. Dorothy and John speak only on the program. Ernie and Buster on the same stage on live TV. The mind boggles.

That hat has to be the most famous headgear this side of John Wayne's Stetson.

Doesn't surprise me that Keaton left without letting John interview him. Once a silent comedian, you know, always a silent comedian.