How Did Buster Keaton Influence His Films

Buster Keaton is considered to be one of the greatest comic actors of all time. His influence on physical comedy rivaled only by Charlie Chaplin. As many great actors of the silent film era, Keaton’s work did not receive much praise until many years later. Only toward the end of his life was there a renewed interest in his films. However, the work that Keaton did both as an actor and director influenced his popularity in cinema. Keaton’s feature silent film Sherlock Jr is one of his many films that affirms his standing as one of the most talented and innovative artists of his time by portraying him as a physically and physiologically talented comedian.

In Sherlock Jr, Keaton’s technique of presenting most of the narrative from a character’s

dream allows Keaton to perform stunts that would seem unbelievable in a narrative set in reality. His use of physical comedy in this film shows that it is evidently inspired by aspects of his early life. At a young age, Keaton joined his family’s vaudeville act which consequently prepared him for the fast paced comedy in silent film. His constant training and acrobatic skills are depicted in Sherlock Jr., where he performs flawless and unbelievable stunts.. By staging the storyline within a dream, Keaton can push the cinematic boundaries and create scenes that seem to disregard realism. However, Keaton performs his tricks so effortlessly that the gags seemed they could actually be probable.
In Vaudeville, Keaton had also learned a lot of tricks and illusions.

He was able to incorporate many of these illusions into this film. From the scene where Keaton’s character jumps through a window and ends up being fully clothed in a ladies dress, to the scene where he jumps through a woman’s suitcase and disappears from his enemies, he shows his ability to perform illusions. These scenes that take place in Sherlock Jr. are influences of his childhood, especially by Henry Houdini. In fact, not only did Houdini influence his tricks and interest with magic, but he also is responsible for giving Keaton his famous name “Buster”. This nickname was given to him because he was clumsy, and always being at risk of injury. The only source of schooling Keaton had was at Vaudeville, where he learned tricks and illusions. He stocked his comic imagination with gags that would appear on the big screen many years later in his

films.
In 1917, Keaton’s family act was broken up due to his father’s drinking problems.

This led Keaton to move to Hollywood. The consequence of his move led him to a meeting with one of the most famous actors of that time, Roscoe Arbuckle. Arbuckle took Keaton on and showed him the ropes of the movie industry, and he is considered to be Keaton’s biggest influences. This ultimately steered Keaton in the direction of film, and led to the start of Buster Keaton’s film career. Sherlock Jr. is one of Keaton’s most creative films. For the year of 1924, his film contained a remarkable use of cinema technology for that time, and he did not only create funny scenes, but also activated the part of the viewer’s mind that thinks. His advancement in cinema could be accredited to the many film makers he encountered on his journey and is a consequence of his artistic evolution over a short amount of

time.
The story of his life seems in its twists and dives borrowed from his movies. Another aspect of Keaton’s life that was reflected clearly in Sherlock Jr. was his emotions and facial expressions. In a film era that over did everything, and in which every emotion was dramatized, Keaton remained impassive his facial expressions suppressed all emotion. During his childhood he was granted the nickname “great stone face” because his facial expressions remained neutral, as if he was not experiencing any emotion. () It was this “stone face,” however, that came to represent a sense of optimism and everlasting imagination. This is consistently reflected throughout Sherlock Jr, Keaton’s character is framed and deceived by numerous individuals yet never really expresses any sense of emotional resentment, and when he does its only through subtle gestures. Throughout the film, he remains inexpressive, living up to his famous nickname. At the end of the film when he has the girl within his arms, he cannot emotionally connect with her. The only way he is able to achieving this connection is by copying the characters he sees on the film in the theatre. Yet throughout Sherlock Jr. he is consistently trying. He seems to be somewhat restricted by his emotions, but tries to connect through the only way he knows- reenacting what he sees on screen. When his realizes his dream of becoming a detective is unrealistic, he is accepting of his place in society and within the real world.
One critic suggested that Sherlock Jr. was an escape into the world of film at a time when Buster’s personal life was becoming more complicated and unsatisfactory. At this point in time, Keaton’s marriage had taken a turn for the worse, and simultaneously he used an exploration of the very notion of cinema as an escape. His confidence, daring and clarity as a filmmaker and performer didn’t carry over into his private life where he often seemed passive, bewildered and dependent on others. Sherlock jr. shows a keep and comic appreciation between life and film, and perhaps his life issues drove him to use his imagination to create this film.