Buster Keaton

in VHS & Print

Buster Keaton Videos

All silent films (pre-1930) feature musical scores. Unless otherwise noted, Buster Keaton directed or co-directed all of his own silent comedies.

Arbuckle & Keaton: Volume One. Comedies directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and co-starring his protege Buster Keaton include The Bell Boy (1918), The Butcher Boy (1917), Out West (1918), Moonshine (1918) and The Hayseed (1919). 125 min. VH2/ARBU-0001.

Arbuckle & Keaton: Volume Two includes Back Stage (1919), Good Night Nurse! (1918), Coney Island (1918), The Rough House (1918) and The Garage (1920). 121 min. VH2/ARBU-0002.

Around the World in 80 Days. Buster has a cameo in Michael Anderson's all-star production of Jules Verne's adventure. 1956. 170 min. VH1/AROU-0001.

Battling Butler (1926). Aristocrat Keaton pretends to be a boxer to impress his sweetheart. Also, two shorts co-directed with Eddie Cline: The Frozen North (1922) and The Haunted House (1921). 108 min. VH1/BATT-0005.

Biography: Buster Keaton: Genius in Slapshoes. Peter Jones salutes the master with film clips and interviews. 1995. 50 min. VH2/BIOG-0026.

The Blacksmith ; The Balloonatic. Buster plays a bumbling blacksmith and a fisherman gone astray in two classic shorts. 1922/23. 57 min. VH2/BLAC-0012.

Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow. Kevin Brownlow and David Gill trace the comedian's rise, fall and return. 1987. 156 min. VH2/BUST-0001 through -0003.

The Cameraman. A tintype photographer turns newsreel cinematophotographer (Keaton) to impress a newsroom secretary (Marceline Day) in Edward Sedgwick's comedy. 1928. 70 min. VH1/CAME-0001.

College ; The Electric House ; Hard Luck ; The Blacksmith. In James W. Horne's College (1927-66 min.), bookworm Buster vows to become a star athlete to please girlfriend Ann Cornwall. Also, Keaton & Eddie Cline's The Electric House (1922-23 min.) and Hard Luck (1922-22 min.), and Keaton & Mal St. Clair's The Blacksmith (1922-21 min.). 132 min. VH1/COLL-0002.

Cops ; One Week. Buster inadvertantly enrages hundreds of cops, then attempts to construct a do-it-yourself house, in two comic mini-masterpieces, co-directed with Eddie Cline.1922/20. 51 min. VH2/COPS-0001.

Forever and a Day. Look for Buster in this all-star tribute to the people of England. 1943. 106 min. VH1/FORE-0003.

Free and Easy (a.k.a. Easy Go). Talent manager Elmer Butts (Buster) of Gopher City, Kansas, disrupts production at the MGM studios. Keaton's first talkie, directed by Edward Sedgewick, features cameos by Cecil B. DeMille, Jackie Coogan, Fred Niblo, and others. 1930. 92 min. VH1/FREE-0005.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Buster runs around the seven hills of Rome in Richard Lester's musical comedy. 1966. 100 min. VH1/FUNN-0005.

The General ; The Playhouse ; Cops. Bumbling Union railroad engineer Buster saves the day in The General (1926-75 min.), co-directed by Clyde Bruckman. Also, Keaton & Eddie Cline's The Playhouse (1921-23 min.) and Cops (1922-18 min.). 116 min. VH1/GENE-0003.

Go West (1925). Ranch hand Buster meets his soul-mate, a cow named Brown Eyes, in a comedy co-directed with Lex Neal. Also, two shorts co-directed with Eddie Cline, The Scarecrow (1920) and The Paleface (1921). 108 min. VH1/GOWE-0002.

Hollywood: 8: Comedy: A Serious Business. Kevin Brownlow and David Gill salute Keaton, Chaplin, Lloyd, and Langdon. 1980. 52 min. VH2/HOLL-0010.

In the Good Old Summertime. Buster has a cameo in Robert Z. Leonard's musical comedy. 1949. 104 min. VH1/INTH-0011.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Look for Keaton in Stanley Kramer's all-star romp. 1963. 175 min. VH1/ITSA-0004.

Legends of Comedy: 1: The Golden Age of Comedy: The '20s and '30s. John C. Feld compiles clips of Keaton, Chaplin, Lloyd, and others. 1992. 55 min. VH2/LEGE-0005.

Limelight. As an aging vaudevillian, writer/director/star Charlie Chaplin performs for the first and only time with Keaton. 1952. 120 min. VH1/LIME-0001.

The Navigator (1924). Adrift on an abandoned steamer, Buster and his girlfriend ward off a cannibal attack. Co-directed with Donald Crisp. Also, two shorts directed with Eddie Cline: The Boat (1921) and The Love Nest (1923). 102 min. VH1/NAVI-0002.

Our Hospitality ; Sherlock Jr. Director Keaton also stars as a young man caught up in the feud between rival Southern families in Our Hospitality (1923-75 min.). A projectionist turns sleuth in Sherlock Jr. (1924-44 min.). 119 min. VH1/OURH-0002.

The Paleface ; The Frozen North. Buster befriends Indians and then rides the subway to the Great White North. Co-directed with Eddie Cline. 1921/22. 50 min. VH2/PALE-0001.

The Railrodder ; Buster Keaton Rides Again. Buster speeds across Canada on a railway handcar in Gerald Potterton's The Railrodder (25 min.). John Spotten documents the making of that film in Buster Keaton Rides Again (56 min.). 1965. VH2/RAIL-0001.

The Saphead ; The High Sign ; One Week. Financier Buster must prove himself in Herbert Blanche's The Saphead (1920-78 min.). Also, Keaton and Eddie Cline's The High Sign (1921-21 min.) and One Week (1921-19 min.). 110 min. VH1/SAPH-0001.

Seven Chances (1925). To keep his $7 million inheritance, Keaton learns that he must get married -- by 7 p.m. that same day! An ad in the newspaper brings an avalanche of angry brides. Also, two shorts co-directed with Eddie Cline: Neighbors (1920) and The Balloonatic (1923). 96 min. VH1/SEVE-0014.

Speak Easily. Thinking he has inherited a fortune, college professor Keaton decides to bankroll a traveling vaudeville show. Jimmy Durante and Thelma Todd co-star in Edward Sedgwick's comedy. 1932. 81 min. Also, Buster's classic short, One Week (1920 - 18 min.). VH1/SPEA-0002.

Spite Marriage. Pants presser Buster learns that his bride married him to spite another man. Edward Sedgwick's directed. 1929. 77 min. VH1/SPIT-0001.

Steamboat Bill, Jr. ; Convict 13 ; Daydreams. College-educated Buster Keaton must prove himself to his father in Charles F. Reisner's Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928-69 min.). Also, Keaton and Eddie Cline's Convict 13 (1920-20 min.) and Daydreams (1922-22 min.). 111 min. VH1/STEA-0002.

Sunset Blvd. Buster has a cameo in Billy Wilder's film noir classic. 1950. 110 min. VH1/SUNS-0002.

Three Ages ; The Goat ; My Wife's Relations. In Three Ages (1923-63 min.), Buster Keaton and co-director Eddie Cline parody Intolerance with three parallel stories set in the Stone Age, ancient Rome and the 1920s. Also, The Goat (1921-23 min.), co-directed by Mal St. Clair, and My Wife's Relations (1922-25 min.), co-directed by Cline. 111 min. VH1/THRE-0014.

Two Houses of Keaton. In The Playhouse, Buster enters a music hall where every performer looks just like him. He plays a novice electrician in The Electric House. Co-directed with Eddie Cline. 1921/22. 56 min. VH2/TWOH-0001.

Books About Buster

Tom Dardis' Keaton: The Man Who Wouldn't Lie Down (791.4302 Keaton D)

Andrew Horton's Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. (791.4302 Keaton H)

Buster Keaton and Charles Samuels' My Wonderful World of Slapstick (791.4302 Keaton K)

Eleanor Keaton & Jeffrey Vance's Buster Keaton Remembered (OV 791.4302 Keaton K)

Walter Kerr's The Silent Clowns (OV 791.435 K)

Jim Kline's The Complete Films of Buster Keaton (791.4302 Keaton K)

Kalton C. Lahue's World of Laughter: The Motion Picture Comedy Short, 1910-1930 (791.4309 L)

Gerald Mast's The Comic Mind: Comedy and the Movies (791.4309 M)

Marion Meade's Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase (791.4302 Keaton M)

Daniel Moews' Keaton: The Silent Features Close Up (791.4302 Keaton M)

Gabriella Oldham's Keaton's Silent Shorts: Beyond the Laughter (791.4302 Keaton O)

List compiled by Jonathan Guildroy

October 2002