Buster Keaton

TCM's Summer under the Stars is featuring Buster Keaton tonight, and I've already watched Steamboat Bill, Jr. and am now watching one I've never seen called The General. I like silent movies in general, but these silent comedies are some of my favorites.

In Steamboat Bill, Jr., the incredible scene where the front of a house falls down around him and he just happens to be standing in the place where there's a window opening is amazing. There's no stunt double or CGI fill in for any of what he does, and his physical strength and agility are pretty amazing. The fact that Keaton wrote and staged most of these films is also impressive.

My all-time favorite is by Harold Lloyd, though. I can't remember the title of it because I always get it confused with Keaton's College, but it's the one where Lloyd goes off to college and, of course, does everything wrong. The scene in that one where he's at the school dance and his suit begins to come apart is both hilarious and suspenseful.

Sometimes I think a lot was lost whenever the actors started having to talk. In silent films, the whole body carries the message. I've said it before about Phantom of the Opera, but it's worth repeating. While some of it looks melodramatic now, there's still something to be said for emoting with the body and carrying the message and action with something from inside instead of something added by a computer later on.