Buster Keaton’s is a cinema of movement, fuelled by the thrill of the chase. Not for nothing did the icon of silent filmmaking often claim that, had he not gone into movies, he would have become an engineer. His films dazzle in their construction, in their command over the architecture of cinematic space. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the two masterworks featured in this collection. The General (1926) is a film of pristine narrative symmetries, its trajectory as unswervingly direct as the railroad lines upon which Keaton’s runaway locomotive bolts. There isn’t a wasted moment in the film’s sustained velocity, with every gag deployed in service of escalating its dramatic momentum. “Very few films in all of history have ever equaled it,” says Orson Welles of The General in Peter Bogdanovich’s wonderful documentary on the career of the silent auteur, The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018). It was a tall order for Keaton to top the film’s ending, which saw the notorious perfectionist crash a real train through a real bridge at unprecedented financial cost. But one only need witness the hurricane sequence conjured for the grand finale of Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) to know that Keaton was up to the task. Not just a crown jewel in the annals of silent comedy, it contains one of the greatest set pieces ever committed to film.

Buster Keaton&#8217;s is a cinema of movement, fuelled by the thrill of the chase. Not for nothing did the icon of silent filmmaking often claim that, had he not gone into movies, he would have become an engineer. His films dazzle in their construction, in their command over the architecture of cinematic space. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the two masterworks featured in this collection. The General (1926) is a film of pristine narrative symmetries, its trajectory as unswervingly direct as the railroad lines upon which Keaton&#8217;s runaway locomotive bolts. There isn&#8217;t a wasted moment in the film&#8217;s sustained velocity, with every gag deployed in service of escalating its dramatic momentum. &#8220;Very few films in all of history have ever equaled it,&#8221; says Orson Welles of The General in Peter Bogdanovich&#8217;s wonderful documentary on the career of the silent auteur, The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018). It was a tall order for Keaton to top the film&#8217;s ending, which saw the notorious perfectionist crash a real train through a real bridge at unprecedented financial cost. But one only need witness the hurricane sequence conjured for the grand finale of Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) to know that Keaton was up to the task. Not just a crown jewel in the annals of silent comedy, it contains one of the greatest set pieces ever committed to film.

Cut to the Chase: The Comic Legacy of Buster Keaton

CUT TO THE CHASE: THE COMIC LEGACY OF BUSTER KEATON

We’re celebrating the career of the great Buster Keaton with a trio of films: two by the man himself, and one by his biggest fan—the late critic-turned-filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. Few can touch Keaton’s dexterity in the mechanics of comedy, and these masterpieces testify to his enduring legacy.

We&#8217;re celebrating the career of the great Buster Keaton with a trio of films: two by the man himself, and one by his biggest fan&#8212;the late critic-turned-filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. Few can touch Keaton&#8217;s dexterity in the mechanics of comedy, and these masterpieces testify to his enduring legacy.