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A Filmmaker's Life
by James Curtis
From acclaimed cultural and film historian - a major biography, the first in more than two decades, of the legendary comedian and filmmaker who elevated physical comedy to the highest of arts and whose ingenious films remain as startling, innovative, modern - and irresistible - today as they were when they beguiled audiences almost a century ago.
It was James Agee who christened Buster Keaton "The Great Stone Face." Keaton's face, Agee wrote, "ranked almost with Lincoln's as an early American archetype; it was haunting, handsome, almost beautiful, yet it was also irreducibly funny. Keaton was the only major comedian who kept sentiment almost entirely out of his work and...he brought pure physical comedy to its greatest heights."
Mel Brooks: "A lot of my daring came from Keaton."
Martin Scorsese, influenced by Keaton's pictures in the making of Raging Bull: "The only person who had the right attitude about boxing in the movies for me," Scorsese said, "was Buster Keaton."
Keaton's deadpan stare in a porkpie hat was as recognizable as Charlie Chaplin's tramp and Harold Lloyd's straw boater and spectacles, and, with W. C. Fields, the four were each considered a comedy king--but Keaton was, and still is, considered to be the greatest of them all.
His iconic look and acrobatic brilliance obscured the fact that behind the camera Keaton was one of our most gifted filmmakers. Through nineteen short comedies and twelve magnificent features, he distinguished himself with such seminal works as Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr., The Cameraman, and his masterpiece, The General.
Now James Curtis, admired biographer of Preston Sturges ("definitive"—Variety), W. C. Fields ("by far the fullest, fairest and most touching account we have yet had. Or are likely to have"—Richard Schickel, front page of The New York Times Book Review), and Spencer Tracy ("monumental; definitive"—Kirkus Reviews), gives us the richest, most comprehensive life to date of the legendary actor, stunt artist, screenwriter, director—master.
"Buster Keaton (1895–1966), a director and star of silent comedy classics, emerges as a great auteur and a martyr to Hollywood in this vibrant biography...In Curtis's telling, Keaton's life is a picaresque worthy of his comedies...The story is evocative, entertaining, and laced with lyrical detail. This is an engrossing portrait of a Hollywood legend." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Film historian and biographer Curtis draws on abundant archival sources as well as interviews, memoirs, and previous biographies to create a comprehensive, warmly sympathetic life of iconic entertainer James Frank 'Buster' Keaton...Meticulous research informs a brisk biography of an entertainment icon." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This decade will mark the centenaries of Buster Keaton's most celebrated features, and Curtis has assembled a biography that will be a go-to source for fans both old and new during the centenary celebration and beyond." - Library Journal
This information about Buster Keaton was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
James Curtis is the author of William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come, Spencer Tracy: A Biography, and W. C. Fields: A Biography (winner of the 2004 Theatre Library Association Award, Special Jury Prize), among others. He lives in Brea, California.
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