It's no surprise that I find it very hard to choose between Chaplin and Keaton. "The General" is an astounding technical achievement, even more so now 90 years after its release. "The Navigator" is also a delightful Keaton feature from 1924 that has aged magnificently well. In fact, one of the reasons why Keaton might just surpass Chaplin in my books is that his movies have aged incredibly. The set pieces are brilliantly conceived and much too risky to achieve in this lazy day and age of CGI. Which is not say that Chaplin's films have rusted, there is still a stinging satirical punch to his films such as "Modern Times" and "City Lights," plus he himself was no slouch in terms of stunts. Keaton wins, but barely.
Buster Keaton made his movie debut 100 years ago today, in Roscoe Arbuckle's "The Butcher Boy"
It's no surprise that I find it very hard to choose between Chaplin and Keaton. "The General" is an astounding technical achievement, even more so now 90 years after its release. "The Navigator" is also a delightful Keaton feature from 1924 that has aged magnificently well. In fact, one of the reasons why Keaton might just surpass Chaplin in my books is that his movies have aged incredibly. The set pieces are brilliantly conceived and much too risky to achieve in this lazy day and age of CGI. Which is not say that Chaplin's films have rusted, there is still a stinging satirical punch to his films such as "Modern Times" and "City Lights," plus he himself was no slouch in terms of stunts. Keaton wins, but barely.