“I'm trying to teach you to run it – not wreck it!” Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Charles Reisner + Buster Keaton, 1928)
Mar
23
National Near Miss Day
A production photo showing the moment the façade crashing down towards Keaton. The photographer is standing to the right of Keaton at a very safe distance. The thickness of the wall is clearly, frightfully, visible. Even with the open window moving towards him, this blink-and-you-miss-it shot cannot guarantee a happy ending for Keaton or his movie persona William Canfield Jr. DPs: Bert Haines & Devereaux Jennings.
In Steamboat Bill, Jr., former vaudevillian Keaton narrowly escapes the façade of a house crashing down around him.
– William 'Steamboat Bill' Canfield
Both the man and the stunt lived on, probably most famously in Keaton aficionado #JackieChan's Project A Part II (HK, 1987).
Despite all the well-meant tributes, none of the later stunts are as nail biting as the pre-OSHA original.
1920s
“This song of the Man and his Wife is of no place and every place; you might hear it anywhere, at any time.”Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
Mar
12
Academy Award For Best Picture
The Man and Wife kiss in the countryside. Suddenly, the backdrop changes to the hustle and bustle of the big city. Carts, both horse and engine driven, come to a halt for the lovers. DPs: Charles Rosher & Karl Struss.
Sunrise was bestowed the award for “Best Unique and Artistic Picture” on that first Oscar night. The first and last time that ever happened; in 1930, the price was scrapped and replaced by “Outstanding Picture” aka “Best Picture”. And that one went to the much more American-patriotic Wings (1927).
Also rightfully awarded in '29 were Janet Gaynor (Best Actress in a Leading Role), Charles Rosher and Karl Struss (Best #Cinematography), while Rochus Gliese was nominated for Best #ArtDirection.
– opening title card
Sunrise is a fantastic tour de force, and it winning that award should make you feel hopeful for the future of cinema. Instead, the current list of nominees and winners is, at least to me, a checklist of what to avoid for ever.
“This girl was in the baggage car when we stole the train, so I thought it best to hold her.”The General (Clyde Bruckman + Buster Keaton, 1926)
Mar
8
National Oregon Day
Johnnie Gray (Keaton) stands on the roof of The General's locomotive while Oregon passes along. DPs: Bert Haines & Devereaux Jennings.
For authenticity reasons, The General was – for the most part – filmed on location in Oregon. Set during the #AmericanCivilWar, it's a comedic retelling of a popular war memoir about the #GreatLocomotiveChase.
– Captain Anderson
Sadly it was a box office #flop, resulting in Keaton losing his independence and his movie entering the #PublicDomain as early as 1954. Luckily for us that means we too can enjoy Oregon beautiful 1920s vistas.
“I have finally discovered my ancestors' traditional dance.”Sur un air de Charleston [Charleston Parade] (Jean Renoir, 1927)
Feb
14
Extraterrestrial Culture Day
Parisian savage Catherine Hessling and African explorer Johnny Hudgins exploring each other's alien ways. DP: Jean Bachelet.
Legendary African-American #vaudeville performer Johnny Hudgins – in historically correct Blackface – plays an African explorer who descends onto 2028 Paris to learn about the primitive ways of the white natives. Soon, he discovers the Charleston.
– Johnny Hudgins
A fantastic Afrofuturist short, made a decade before Sun Ra's trip to Saturn.