Press Release from the Damfinos

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David B Pearson
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Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby David B Pearson » Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:24 pm

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Susan Buhrman, president of the International Buster Keaton Society Inc.
512-507-7282/president@busterkeaton.com

A treasure trove of previously unknown behind-the-scenes material documenting the making of Buster Keaton’s The General, long considered one of the greatest films ever made, has recently been discovered by a member of the International Buster Keaton Society Inc.
In the summer of 1926, Cottage Grove, Oregon, a local photographer was given unprecedented access to the filming of the classic, and his vast collection of photographs and nitrate negatives remained stored in a box until found recently by one of his descendants. The collection was obtained by the member of the Buster Keaton Society, and rights to publish the materials were donated to the group. In addition, the only known script for the film, the personal copy of one of the film’s writers, Clyde Bruckman, complete with his and Keaton’s handwritten notes, recently surfaced at auction and rights for it were obtained by the Keaton Society, which plans to publish a book in the near future, featuring both the photographs and the script, along with other rare, previously unpublished material about the making of the film.
The combination of the photographs and the script provide an exceptional glimpse into the making of Keaton’s 1926 masterpiece The General, and as such, they are an unprecedented find.
“Congratulations! It is amazing that such treasures are still being found, nearly ninety years after that brilliant picture was made,” said world-renowned silent film historian and film preservationist Kevin Brownlow.
“It is thrilling to make new discoveries about a cherished film almost 90 years after its release,” said noted film historian and author Leonard Maltin. “Film buffs around the world should be rejoicing.”
The material will be available for viewing in person one time only at this year’s Buster Keaton Convention, Oct. 2-4, 2014, in Muskegon, Michigan. For further information about the convention, visit http://www.busterkeaton.com and click on “Convention.”
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David B Pearson
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby David B Pearson » Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:25 pm

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Richard M Roberts
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby Richard M Roberts » Tue Jun 17, 2014 12:53 am

Hmmm, kinda calls the lie to Keaton's occasional interview statement that they never had scripts on his films.

Most silent comedies and films in general had scripts and/or scenarios, despite the claims. Silent filmmakers and especially comedians were like magicians, they didn't want the audience to see the machinery behind the trickery.

And in Chaplin's case, he also didn't want the World to know he had writers.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

David B Pearson
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby David B Pearson » Tue Jun 17, 2014 3:17 pm

Richard M Roberts wrote:Hmmm, kinda calls the lie to Keaton's occasional interview statement that they never had scripts on his films.

Most silent comedies and films in general had scripts and/or scenarios, despite the claims. Silent filmmakers and especially comedians were like magicians, they didn't want the audience to see the machinery behind the trickery.

And in Chaplin's case, he also didn't want the World to know he had writers.


RICHARD M ROBERTS



Richard, only you could find the one cloud in this silver-lined press release.

DBP

Rob Farr
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby Rob Farr » Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:33 pm

Those can't be Keaton's hand-written notes in the script because Marion Meade told us he was illiterate! Seriously, this is an important find. Congratulations to you and the Damfinos, David.
Rob Farr
"If it's not comedy, I fall asleep" - Harpo Marx

Richard M Roberts
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby Richard M Roberts » Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:33 pm

David B Pearson wrote:
Richard M Roberts wrote:Hmmm, kinda calls the lie to Keaton's occasional interview statement that they never had scripts on his films.

Most silent comedies and films in general had scripts and/or scenarios, despite the claims. Silent filmmakers and especially comedians were like magicians, they didn't want the audience to see the machinery behind the trickery.

And in Chaplin's case, he also didn't want the World to know he had writers.


RICHARD M ROBERTS



Richard, only you could find the one cloud in this silver-lined press release.

DBP



That's not a cloud, it's called a bit of truth into how these films were actually made. Kinda-sorta what Film History is supposed to be all about.



RICHARD M ROBERTS

David B Pearson
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby David B Pearson » Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:39 pm

Richard M Roberts wrote:
David B Pearson wrote:
Richard M Roberts wrote:Hmmm, kinda calls the lie to Keaton's occasional interview statement that they never had scripts on his films.

Most silent comedies and films in general had scripts and/or scenarios, despite the claims. Silent filmmakers and especially comedians were like magicians, they didn't want the audience to see the machinery behind the trickery.

And in Chaplin's case, he also didn't want the World to know he had writers.


RICHARD M ROBERTS



Richard, only you could find the one cloud in this silver-lined press release.

DBP



That's not a cloud, it's called a bit of truth into how these films were actually made. Kinda-sorta what Film History is supposed to be all about.

RICHARD M ROBERTS


Now Richard, did I say what you said WASN'T (at least to a large degree) true?

Frankly, I've been pretty certain for many years that Buster Keaton planned EVERYTHING out to the Nth degree before he shot it, as did Roscoe Arbuckle before him. They were the SMARTEST comedy directors in the silents, not the DUMBEST. To stand around on a set, improvising ideas endlessly while wasting money filming nothing one would need to be UTTERLY INSANE (...or the unique genius of Charles Chaplin).

So I've taken it for granted Keaton was joking about no script, much like he claimed he'd thrown over 10,000 pies in silents films.

I'm sure you know this obvious point as well -- you being Richard M Roberts -- so why drag it up during a celebration of this material being found? And besides, as you've never read it, how can you be sure Keaton didn't revamp this script as he was making it? He may have used it as a launching board for further ideas created during production, but before shooting?

DBP

Richard M Roberts
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby Richard M Roberts » Tue Jun 17, 2014 11:01 pm

Oh get over it Pearson, nobody's trying to rain on the parade, it's a point that has been needed to be made for a long time. Great Film Comedy requires major preparation, and has always had it, this is good proof that that really is the case.

I could tell you without ever looking at that script that it will be marketably different from the completed film, of course they would veer from it as inspiration for new and better gags and plotline came to the production team during the shoot, also, anyone with any knowledge of THE GENERAL's shooting, previewing, and editing history will know the film was rather heavily reworked from it's first preview to it's much later general release, a lot was shot and jettisoned, it could even be called a problem picture in that respect, it did not just fall together into a classic immediately.

I don't think Keaton was "kidding" in those interviews where he said they didn't have a script, he was following the general line most comedians liked to follow because they felt it really wasn't any of the public's business how they actually made their pictures, and who knows, they may be right. At least he actually acknowledged his collaborators, unlike Mr. Chaplin or Mr. Lloyd, who also liked to downplay the contribution his well-payed and numerous members of his writing staff made to his films.

Now, quit whining and worrying and enjoy your announcement, it is good news indeed. I am not prone to jumping up and down and yelling "hooray" like a giddy teenager or the Damfino Fan Club, I am interested in the historical importance of the material, and this is one of the lessons we can learn from it.



RICHARD M ROBERTS

Gary Johnson
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby Gary Johnson » Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:55 am

I always considered Lloyd very open and fair-minded with giving credit for the creation of his films. It was always, "We worked very hard at shaping the film" or "We would throw out gags that didn't work...". Granted, there were not a lot of individuals named in those interviews, but he made it pretty well known that he had a staff who all contributed.

Ed Watz
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Re: Press Release from the Damfinos

Postby Ed Watz » Wed Jun 18, 2014 2:02 pm

We can't forget that the prepared scripts for Keaton's silent features THE CAMERAMAN and SPITE MARRIAGE were preserved by MGM and, one way or another, have been known and discussed at least as far back as 1960 and "My Wonderful World of Slapstick." Although not up to the standards of Buster's best silent film work, the scripts for both films reveal much of the basic framework and gag situations that appear on screen. Keaton and his team simplified or threw out some plot points, but he also retained what worked and added new business as well. Plus Buster still had friends and/or sympathetic coworkers like Clyde Bruckman, Lew Lipton, Ernest Pagano and Ed Sedgwick working with him with whom he could discuss story before they started shooting each day.
They're not quite up to Buster's own late masterworks like THE GENERAL or STEAMBOAT BILL JUNIOR, but both THE CAMERAMAN and SPITE MARRIAGE bear the Keaton stamp, and they originated from detailed scripts. Like Richard noted, there's no reason to believe the independent features of Buster Keaton Productions didn't evolve similarly.
"Of course he smiled -- just like you and me." -- Harold Goodwin, on Buster Keaton (1976)


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