"What, No Beer?!" Durante and Keaton in their heyday, 1933

Most Hollywood historians don't realize that these 2 comedy titans were a team for a short while in the early 30's.
The Great Jimmy Durante was at the apex of his Broadway musical career when he was seduced by the big studios to get into "The Pictures".
Buster Keaton was nearing the nadir of his groundbreaking tenure as one of the few giants of the Silent Film Era to actually give Charlie Chaplin a run for his money. His brilliant physical comedy career was actually hurt a bit by the advent of the "talkies"...(I personally love his voice; as you can hear in this clip, he had a deep, meloncholy vocal tone with a midwestern drawl that made him quite endearing.)

Both men were rather short, and Durante, who was about an inch taller, often squated and slouched so he could look up to his partners, including the shorter Keaton.

One can speculate why their comedy pairing didn't last. I think it's a marvelous pairing of 2 of the most disctinctive personalities in the history of Show Business! Their contrasting energy levels exude robust chemistry and delight us with their timeless interaction.

Jimmy, the raspy voiced bundle of chaotic energy who's always trying to get things done, and Buster, the shy, pensive nebbish who longs for love... It works!

And just look at that peripheral detail from the 1930's! This timely slice of Americana occured just after the voting out of the age of Prohibition, which forbade the legal sale of alcohol in the US for over 10 years.




You can feel the crackling spirit of "Happy Days are Here Again" as America was once again a Beer swiling Nation.
After all, that's what we do best in this country; Celebrate, right?!

And who better to have a few beers with than the Sultan of Sadness and The Earl of Ebullience!

Hah-cha-cha cha-cha!!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• James
• Durante
• Buster
• keaton
• Prohibition
• New
• york
• Hollywood
• Club
• durant
• harold
• Lloyd
• broadway
• los
• angeles
• california
• FDR
• franklin
• Roosevelt
• Herbert
• Hoover
• Booze
• hootch
• whisky
• great
• depression
• woody
• guthrie

[ubermom]

This may have been Durante's heyday, but it was the bottom for Buster. Go watch "The General" or "The Cameraman" and then compare it to what MGM had him doing. What MGM did to Buster when they made talkies is like what Oscar Meyer does to meat when they make bologna.

[chowderhead7]

Buster had a great voice!

[easlesonavon]

@ubermom I agree with you 100%, ubermom. Keaton went from this dreck to the Educational pictures, then remained in limbo until he was "rediscovered" years later. This is so sad.

[DrSho]

Buster Keaton didn't like working with Durante. Durante was all about talking and Keaton was a master of the visual humor

[nateandsophie]

One thing clear. Buster was not cheating on Natalie behind her back. After they had 2 children her mother stepped in and told Natalie to stop sleeping with Buster. So Natalie had Buster move to another bedroom and from that day on she never had relations with him again. He told her and mother-dear he was not going to stop having relations with women and never tried to hide his "affairs". AND up to that time he NEVER once cheated. What wifey and mother-dear did was cruel and unfair. ELEANOR 4EVA

[zarganoth87]

they both also have cameos in "It's a mad, mad, mad, mad, world." Hilarious movie, although buster should have gotten a way bigger cameo than jimmy.

[WaxFlowers]

I love his voice! I can't believe he didn't do well!

[xMrSandman09]

@Zylstra555 me too! i've never heard his voice since the general! in fact, i always wanted to hear someone's voice like Garu, Charlie Chaplin, or someone with great silent films and shows.

[bettydaw1970]

most historians dont realize they were a team for awhile? wtf? ahh yes they do, and this was not keatons heyday....1917-1929 was..

[mslovests]

im sorry talkies ruined his carrer not this

[Sweeneycansing]

@ubermom "The General" is an AWESOME movie

[Sweeneycansing]

BUSTER <3