buster keaton - Steamboat Bill Jr.

[eMuse5]

Not even a HINT of a flinch.  All hail Buster!

[chemicallingo]

I always wondered where this gag came from...

[rocketpoweredunicorn]

what does this have to do with jackass

[etcgl]

@ashlayblues what is so sad is your comment. To say jackass is even good shows that you would enjoy evena monkey at the zoo throwing its own poop. Watching idiots hit each other and insult strangers has nothing to do with comedy. .

Comedy is an art and there is no art in a idiot hitting another idiot in the balls. There is no thinking in jackass just mindless crap that is dull and boring. Guess if you drink and smoke enough anything is funny.

[shoegazed]

I can't stop hitting replay.

[crazygeek777]

buster keaton has balls the size of pluto...

[TheBookWorm1718]

It was said in the documentary BOOM! Hollywood's Greatest Disaster movies, that if Buster Keaton had missed his mark by 2 inches in ANY direction here, that wall coming down would've killed him. He was a very brave man to take on those kinds of risks just to make a movie and entertain people.

[TorchwoodRI]

From what I understand, this was the last movie he did in his own studio. When he ran off camera, he didn't come back to that set. One of a kind.

[robert0235]

amazing wish i grew up in that era :(

[mcloud78]

Can't believe jackass is even in this discussion. I'm 30 now but even when I was 12 I knew they were talentless.

[itsThemGuys]

"rememberable" lol

[OldNoir]

How did he ever do that?!! It's amazing!

[leej70]

Comparing Jackass to Buster Keaton is like comparing Justin Bieber to Mozart

[WSenator1]

@leej70 - Bravo to you!!! I wish I had said that first!

[ronniesoak2003]

This stunt first appears in one week (1921) between 4 and five minuites in, so he already has the knowledge of how to do it. Doesn't make it any less impressive, inn fact, that he felt safe enough to repeat it gives a lot more to it.

[williamsonangelaM]

The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra will accompany this film live on October 15 & 16, 2010 in Covington, KY just minutes from downtown Cincinnati, Oh. KSO will be performing the area premiere of Timothy Brock's wonder 2002 score.

[HVC22]

I am studying this in my film class. Masterful work.

[doctornoooo]

the odd thing is how now with cgi this entire clip could be made to look exactly the same. the only question is even then with the right editing could it have been done. probably.

[theone2088]

@doctornoooo But if the same shot was done in CGI, it wouldn't have been Buster Keaton. It wouldn't have been magic.

[TEMPmichaelhansen]

this video made it so you cant see the body in the window that ran & pushed the front down...it was pointed out in a PBS documentary...

[willco66]

he broke his neck in Sherlock Jr.

[slowmonkey156]

Damn! Buster must have been like "whoever worked out the physics for this stunt better have got their math right!"

[gmaureen]

@slowmonkey156 Actually, as I understand it, Buster worked out the math on this one...and all his stunts. This is partly why he is so revered. Buster was incredibly talented, in comedy and stunt work.

Notice in the moment before the house comes down, Buster looks to see if he is on his mark...a copper nail in the ground.

[orbison]

I remember hearing on Biography that minutes before doing this scene, he had received news that he was going to lose his studio. So they say when he did the scene. He did not really care if he lived or died.

[Werther2000]

WTF?

[jeffray1944]

read about him on wikipedia

[hiddenmountainofYAH]

how did buster die?an old man? did he just settle in and be a family guy after the talkies?

[WSenator1]

@hiddenmountainofYAH - The talkies, and MGM, ruined him. He became a drunk, his wife divorced him and kept his children from him, he worked in cheap, forgettable movies so he could eat, married a woman who actually loved and supported him, and just hung in there until people rediscovered him and saw what a treasure he was. At the end of his life (from lung cancer, age 70), he had so many work offers he would have had to live to be 80 to fulfill them all!

[ronquila]

Was this necessary?

[razordu30]

This is a real section of building and the stunt was based solely on measurements. If he stood even a little bit off from the mark, he would have almost certainly died. The prop house weighed over two tons.

[siukong]

Most stunts back then were similarly dangerous. Walking from one plane wing to another, etc. It makes you appreciate them that much more.

[TEMPmichaelhansen]

@razordu30

I also happen to have the 'rare' "Misadventures of Buster Keaton" where he talks & does something similar to this...

[TheDrummerNut]

@razordu30 Not only that but after 2 tons of house fell on him and considering he only just fits threw that ridiculously thin window, he doesn't even flinch! Well, his arm moves but, still, I would probably just faint :P

[Busterkeatonrules]

@TheDrummerNut He DOESN'T flinch - the only reason his arm moves is because the window frame bumps it a bit!

[TheDrummerNut]

@Busterkeatonrules Really, are you sure? I would be surprised if a two ton building hit him but he didn't get knocked over or something. I would have thought that it was just him flinching...

[BigFatCode]

Damn!!!

[IsabelDhampir82]

Buster Keaton is my favorite classic comediante, amo su arte, el mejor junto a Chaplin. Gracias por el video.

[VulcanaFursona]

Buster Keaton was an amazing guy! He has a lot of people from our modern day doing some of his stuns!

He's a true visionary who's unmatched today! It's crazy how he did all of his own stuns and barely got hurt

[jerichoholical]

they probably had the wall fall many times and drew a thin outline where it would never hit or use physics and calcuate it or something

[VulcanaFursona]

Probably, but his stuns where his father used to toss him around stage was unmatched he even stated that if it wasn't for his cat-like landings, he would most likely be crippled or died.

A lot of people tried the stunt and died or suffered injuries. I studied up on him lol

[twentyarms]

nope. he didn't rehearse this first.

[RRFGI]

Imagine how well coordinated this stunt is!

[scyllaandcharybdis]

why isn't there any sound?? this sucks! i'm going watch the simpsons, its on tv now! bye!

[Xanderkish]

Very odd comment, I must say...

[xyaqua]

He's a dork, take two years of interviews to find a job and then lose it after 2 months.

This keaton clip is a real riot! I'd feel bad for watching it if he was alive- i'd hate to support watching him do such dangerous things. maybe he was more skilled than me and knew his risks, but i'm no dummy, or wimp, this was really amazing even when i saw it 35 years ago for the first time.

[firetamer102]

fucking 9 year old >:(

[Duckweed73]

who, the poster or the person in the film? cos buster keaton (in the film) coulda died in that clip, he actually let people drop a wall on him...if he had been just an inch or two in the wrong place, he would have died.

[firetamer102]

wait holy shit your like 24? what the fuck? jesus. grow up.

[19996669991]

Have love Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardie, Harold Lloyd and most of all Buster Keaton since my Dad introduced me to them when I was a young boy.....they made me laugh then and they still make me laugh now.......it's a cliche but they are truly timeless....they appeal to my Father, me and my young son who's 9 years old.

I've always loved this scene with the house...if you look right at the start of this clip you can see Buster shuffle to his left a little bit...I bet he had his fingers crossed!

[TEMPmichaelhansen]

watch this original video on a TV screen and you can see the guy push the building -through the window. i remember this from a documentary. Also a similar 'scene' was done in the obscure "MISADVENTURES OF BUSTER KEATON" talkie. Did you also know Buster Keaton built an "X" shaped mansion? When talkies came in, he lost it. I saw it on GOOGLE EARTH, and it is an "X" all right, but it is lopsided.

[OrigamiKill]

what if the momentum of the wall falling pushed the wall forward, like when you tip a domino, it moves over a little. That would suck

[tomitstube]

there's a couple of feet variable in the window. house framers can construct this easily. interestingly it's about a twenty foot drop from the window the impact would have crushed him. was it rehearsed? of course it was, it's not rocket surgery. the danger would have been any bounce in the wall, it needed to collapse on impact. similar to skyscraper implosions.

buster learned from the best. roscoe.

james cagney said in the 30's sets used live bullets for scenes he acted in.

[S2HVU]

Not even his cameraman could look!

[wijkedirk]

Buster is one of my favorites, even with harold loyd

[elperromagico]

The wall was set up on hinges, lowered to the ground, and then all Keaton had to do was stand in the window. It was then raised back up and allowed to drop...

Now, of course, if Buster had moved even a couple of inches...

[spamforbobby]

Just read Keaton's comments on this scene in a Roger Ebert book. Keaton says they built the window around him, using careful measurements. It cleared the top of his head, the width of his shoulders, and the back of his heels...by two inches each way.

And yeah, they did it in one take, because "you only do this sort of thing once."

[avengerscap]

Joseph Francis Keaton, wherever you are, we love you! The world will never know another like you.

[ekvaughan]

Well Eleanor said he was buried with a rosary in one pocket and a deck of cards in the other, so he'd be prepared whichever way he went. Nonetheless, I agree. Most every comment on all the Buster clips on YouTube are positive and full of love and admiration for him (not to mention that he was so gorgeous back then). :)

[genatzvalee]

Totally agree, Buster is very good-looking, in a very odd way: that stone face & huge expressive eyes of his.... he really impressed me with his look the first time I saw him. Like one critic said: "look at his face: as beautiful and as inhuman as a butterfly".

[waltermittey]

Probably the most dangerous stunt in movie history.

[irishsetter1972]

And done in one take without special effects...

How DID that window fit around him and his giant testicles?

[avengerscap]

Oh, MY!

[blazerr]

I agree that it's a fantastic stunt, but some of Jackie Chan's best stunts are just as dangerous...you can see why people have compared Chan to Keaton

[baconus66]

Ya but Jackie chan has a team. The crew working with Keaton left the set because they believed it to be to dangerous, so he did everything himself. Everything, including turning on the camera.

[Ignauhak]

Wow. Keaton must've had to really use his brains every time he set up one of these dangerous clownings. And been able to multitask.

[avengerscap]

Chan has never been particularly funny and nowhere the mesmerizing appeal of Keaton--who also directed more than 30 of his own movies, and never used written scripts in them!

[foxpawz]

yeah but he is INFLUENCED by them, he even loves Charlie Chaplin, no doub these silent films are different from Chan's movies but the physical stuff, stunts and workin in ways to make visual risky scenes work can be admired in the same way. Plus Chan is a martial artist, these guys where entertainers. unless we are talking about a different Chan...

[Ignauhak]

Well Chan HAS cited Keaton as one of his greatest influences, along with Harold Lloyd.

[joe983]

Without special effects and all the other paraphanelia of modern cinema, this one clip was extremely dangerous. It is testament to how he went so far to make people smile!

[wabbitywascal]

thats rememorable me thinks,classic clip though..........eek,me thinking????whats the world coming to,wonders never cease or is that seece or ceese or sease or .... fuck it.

[Juxstep]

Its spelt memorable not rememberable dumbass, try rememberising that in futures.

[ptbus0]

Jackass did it better.

[etcgl]

Just shows how todays childern know nothing about a great star as Buster Keaton.

When you state jackass is better just tells me how much and little you know.

Enjoying jackass is so sad and someday I hope you will enjoy some real comedy.

[TEMPmichaelhansen]

@etcgl

THANK YOU!!!

kids today are culturally illiterate

[comowhite4]

@etcgl I DO enjoy Jackass, but I have a far greater appreciate for the comedic stunts of Golden Hollywood. Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and Arbuckle. That is where the true genius and talent lies. But I feel the exploits of the Jackass crew to be fun as well, in a dumbed down sort-of way of-course. Just fun, nothing else.

[comowhite4]

@etcgl @etcgl I DO enjoy Jackass, but I have a far greater appreciation for the comedic stunts of Golden Hollywood. Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and Arbuckle. That is where the true genius and talent lies. But I feel the exploits of the Jackass crew to be fun as well, in a dumbed down sort-of way of-course. Just fun, nothing else.

[phxsns1]

@etcgl I like to think that I like good comedy (Monty Python, Edgar Wright's work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), and I do enjoy Jackass. But it's definitely a good example of a guilty pleasure.

[slmanifesto05]

@etcgl How can you expect "todays children" to appreciate stars of your time when you don't appreciate the stars of their time? Appreciating Keaton and not the comedy of the Jackass crew is just as ignorant as the other way around. I respect both Buster Keaton and Johnny Knoxville for their undeniable influence on popular culture. I encourage you to do the same instead of putting a wall between yourself and the youth of the world. We're not all as uncultured or stupid as you think.

[TheSilentEraTributes]

@etcgl It shows, you have no idea what you are talking about, thousands and thousands of kids, between the ages of around 9 to 20, have watched and love buster keaton, my sister's girls are 7 10 12, and they watch all the time, as do millions of teenagers, so quit your patronising rubbish. And learn some stats or facts before you comment

[DaviAreias]

@etcgl

Unless you are a pseudointelectual, I don't see what's the big deal in hating Jackass.

It may be stupid but still funny.

[Schpinki]

@etcgl Isn't it just as bad to say you don't understand the comedy of the current generation as it is for them to say it of yours? Isn't it possible that both styles have merit although very different?

[niglova77]

@etcgl Jackass was just the newer generation. It applied more to the people of its age. As Buster did with his generation. Some people just never understand that.

[xEricTheGothx]

@etcgl I agree that jackass is funny to watch (sometimes, other times the stunts are just stupid) but Buster did a stunt thats a pure classic that will NEVER die that's how good he is

[darkbard357]

Hey don't forget in the General when the water tower knocks him off the train he falls in the rush of water and he actually breaks his neck. That injury isnt found till 10 years later in an X-Ray! That is true devotion! The show must go on! He was Stone Face and didnt adjust to the talkies. They paired him with Jimmy Duranty which was the kiss of death for Buster.

[dodgerattheflicks]

That was for Sherlock Jr

[saxophoney]

Viva Keaton.

[UnoSylvie]

he was genius, the best for me.:)

[Yukaride]

Excelente, un verdadero maestro =)

[Eviepinkranger]

He didn't lose the will to live, that was well into the talkies era! I'm doing Buster Keaton as my dissertation, how good is that!!

[JimR541]

Keaton was one of the few that deserve to be mentioned with Charlie Chaplin.

[michellebennett90]

with scenes like this sometimes i wonder how he didnt die at a younger age!!! i mean its CRAAZY and freaking amazing at the same time!

[MissyHolland]

Yes indeed. In fact, the year before this

he'd broken his neck making the General &

was still walking around with it! He didn't

find out until he had an x-ray for an

insurance physical five years later.

[ekvaughan]

He broke his neck in Sherlock Jr. when he jumped from a train to a water tower and the gush of water knocked him off the tower to the tracks below. He didn't anticipate the water pressure being so strong.

[Busterkeatonrules]

The thing that REALLY impresses me is the fact that Keaton didn´t actually KNOW that his neck was broken. It was discovered by accident during a routine medical exam - YEARS later! I guess he was just used to feeling beat-up after each stunt.

[jimdevo]

Buster Keaton was a comical genius. They just don't make 'em like that anymore.

[supertom44]

Apparently the front of the house had to be lined with lead, so that it would fall correctly. As with just the wooden frame it tended to twist.

[iamhighonsweets]

isn't that a real house front? i was brought up on buster keaton and laurel and hardy, so i love these old films! no such thing as stunt doubles in buster's day though!! awesome scene, this.

[NogvsLuffy]

what is the scene called, when he is just running??

[UneducatedGenius]

at this point he lost the will to live, thats why he was doing crazy stunts like this

[thedukeofantioch]

said to be one of the most dangerous and classic stunts ever.