Maybe you've heard the story about a rambunctious baby boy who fell down an entire flight of stairs and popped right back up unharmed. "That's a buster!" exclaimed a nearby observer.
And little Joe was thereafter called Buster -- as in Keaton.
Those nimble acrobatics are on wondrous display on Turner Classic Movies all throughout October, along with grown-up Buster's great stone face and gravelly voice.
Keaton is TCM's star of the month, and they're doing it up right, unreeling 51 features and shorts spanning a half-century, from early silent shorts to comedy superstardom to sad decline and late-life beach party cameos. (Plus 2004's bio-tribute Buster Keaton: So Funny It Hurt! the morning of Oct. 17.)
It aptly covers a rich and varied career -- and, equally, a strange history of Hollywood, which built him up and tore him down and never really appreciated what it had in this performer-writer-director of distinctive appeal.
I mean, look at that face.
Just look at that face.
And then, once he got moving! That's what TCM salutes this Sunday (Oct. 2) to start its Buster salute, launching with a feature the whole family can appreciate -- 1927's The General (Sunday at 8 p.m. ET), the Civil War comedy climaxed by a still legendary segment shot on a moving train. This is probably Buster's best-known work, though perhaps not his creative best, and it's as straightforward an introduction to his talents as even a kid could wish.
Yes, it's silent. And black-and-white. But put a child in front of it, and the magic still mesmerizes. (P.S.: It works with adults, too.)
Other Oct. 2 "on the move" titles on TCM include many of the early '20s shorts that established Keaton's stardom -- such as the insane chase short Cops at 9:30 p.m. ET and the surreal short The Play House at 2:15 a.m. ET -- and, rounding it out, his 1932 talkie Speak Easily (Monday, Oct. 3 at 5:15 a.m. ET), costarring Jimmy Durante and Thelma Todd (both fascinating stories in their own right).
Keaton's artistic side shines in TCM's second-week slate, Oct. 9-10 overnight. This must-see marathon spotlights such all-time critical faves as Sherlock, Jr. (8 p.m. ET), where he's a projectionist/detective; Steamboat Bill, Jr. (9:30 p.m. ET), the one in which an entire house wall falls on him but Keaton happens to be standing where there's a window; and The Cameraman (11 p.m. ET), with him shooting newsreel footage. This night also includes short subjects featuring his career-making screen pairing with the unjustly villified/forgotten "Fatty" Arbuckle, as well as Keaton's 1952 appearance alongside old silent rival Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin's elegiac Limelight (1:30 a.m. ET).
Keep watching through October for two more thematic Keaton slates: Oct. 16's Love & Marriage and Oct. 23's Zero to Hero. Wrapping things up for TCM on Oct. 30 is a late-career collection that includes a Keaton TV guest shot on 1955's Screen Directors Playhouse, "The Silent Partner" (10 p.m. ET), and his last substantial feature film, 1966's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (10:30 p.m. ET).
I could rave on and on about Buster Keaton. But watching is the way to appreciate his genius. Of course it doesn't hurt to savor smart essays about his life, career and credits, either, as linked at TCM.com's Keaton salute page. Bookmark it now!
If, like me, you just can't wait to bust it with Buster, click on the embedded treats below.
You'll need to set aside some time for the absolutely essential (and interview- and clip-crammed) three-part bio-portrait Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow, from Hollywood historian Kevin Brownlow. It's addictive! --
A 1957 episode of TV's This Is Your Life chronicles Keaton's past in a personal way --
Keaton and Chaplin together in a Limelight clip --
Stream TV's 1958 Christmas episode of The Donna Reed Show with Keaton as guest star --