The Comedic Prowess Of Buster Keaton And Charles Chaplin

By far and large the comedic prowess of Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin were the steam engines of the art of comedy in film. They were laying down the blueprint of a successful way to bring comedic action to the world in feature films. I will start my paper with Buster Keaton he was a different type of comedian from Chaplin although they shared some similarities. They both were slapstick artist but they had very different styles in the delivery of their arts. For example in the movie Seven Chances which was a very visible plot driven movie about Keaton’s mission to find a wife so he may receive his inheritance. His comedy was set up well from the title cards and then the follow through on the scene that followed. Like when he asked Mary whom

he likes, to Mary him but then goes on to offend her with his words which were shown on the next title card. This was what made the action in the next scene pretty funny.

Also with his style his facial expressions stayed the same for the most part he always seemed to be at a somber and distant place in his glance which gave way to me that he had a more dry type of humor. One scene that I found that his facial expression was very effective and was truly funny in this movie was when he intended to ask a woman whom he did not know had a child if she would marry him. When he noticed she had a child his expression made you want to see how he would handle it and was very funny as you can see him falling over himself in his mind. This scene helped me to appreciate his style more. As I watched the General I started to see more of a clever Keaton’s ability to channel a childlike mischievous type comedy. I liked the bit when he was trying to enlist in to the army and thought it was because of his size. That came across a lot better in his overall expression of movement in this film. I thought also that his acrobatics in the rush to be the first in line helped a lot with the set up of the punch line for his disappointment. With the use of this skill Keaton added an action effect that was comedic but also just dramatic. It was well done but not in the frame of

comedy. I think the chase scene added to the pacing of the film and the script.
With the watching of Chaplin’s “The Kid” I saw right from the start a very different and aggressively funny depiction of the Chaplin’s style he seemed to be very free with his delivery.

Although this movie did use title cards as did Keaton’s films the scenes in my opinion, did not need them to express the jokes. They seemed to me to be more of a time line in words. The entire opening of the movie with the cat and mouse game with the woman and the police officer set the stage for the rest of the film. I liked the paring of his costar in the kid it made the movie remind me of the Little Rascals TV show. I also liked the way that Chaplin made a connection with the audience by his expressions to the camera with a message of watch this as if we were standing there. This was very evident after the kid broke the windows and the scam of him repairing them was revealed. This was one distinct difference between the two. Chaplin was a master in showing a very ordinary and natural flow of human behavior from flirting with his customers in the film to dealing with his adversaries. This was also shown in the fight scene with the older brother of the young bully that was being bested by the kid known as John. I could see how Chaplin could have influenced the very funny Jackie Chan in this scene. In the film the Circus I really liked the distinct way that Chaplin showed how his character was so over the top and better than the clowns in the circus; from the introduction of this clueless

but colorful downtrodden presence on the screen, to the eating of the child’s food to the funny and allusive behavior in the sideshow. One thing that I can clearly see in the comparison of the two is that in today’s films and also in of cinema acts like Loral and Hardy to Abbott and Costello and even Bugs Bunny, his comedic approach is still drawn on today. I see this in actors like Jackie Chan and Steve Martin they have a style with a likeness to that of Chaplin. I am sorry to say that over all Keaton was also great, however I don’t see in comparison of the two a powerful recurrence of his impact in film with today’s actors. I don’t think that this takes away from him as being a pioneer in the genre I just have come to a conclusion that they were two styles of parallel talents that arrive at the same place but will always be a world apart.