Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton

Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton

Introduction

In the early 1900s, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton rose to be the famous and funding actors in the world of comedian where they became stars of ‘the silent films’ era. Silent film was an entertainment industry which was very popular between the early 19th century and late 20th century. It transcended language barriers which modern film are unable to achieve. Joseph Frank Keaton used Buster Keaton as the screen name while Sir Charles Spencer used Charlie Chaplin.  In their acting career, they had numerous similarities and differences which brought about their comparisons. The main purpose of this discussion is to bring about the various contrast and comparison of both actors while acting on stage and on their various comic styles.

Similarities

To start my argument, it is important to display various context where Chaplain and Keaton relate in their unique styles while acting their films. Both Keaton and Chaplain sustained their popularity by having special comic personas that have made them carried from to film. This is well seen in Keaton’s (the General) and Chaplain’s (the cure) where these traits are well displayed. “The General”, which was an epic of silent comedy, included historical recreation of the episode of the civil war, stunt sequences that were dangerous, falling of locomotives as a result of the burning bridge. In their act, they made sure that they get maximum laughter out of their audience. It was hard to perform comedic acting in silent films than it is today in regular films.

As seen from the silent films, Charlie Chaplain and Buster Keaton relied basically on their actions to perform the comedy to their audience. Their facial expression could tell the audience what was meant to be funny or not. Despite facial expressions being hard, Chaplin and Keaton controlled it perfectly at the right time. In their comedic acting, they employed much of actions and comedy in fighting, chasing and running the scenes.

Chaplin had a funny and unbalanced walk when he appeared in the “cure”, a trademark move that resembles swift and ballet dance moves. He even laughed when he flirted with a woman expressing facial gestures and other reactions like mockery and fear when he saw a guy doing massage. In relation to this, Keaton always showed deadpan gestures in all the situations he was involved. They were both drawing attention from the audience through their own physical movements that would leave the audience either laughing or sympathizing with them. Their swiftness character and body movements made their films to be famous and attracted most of the people during their time.

In addition to being famous in the silent film acting, they were both directors in their specific films and had great influence on the generations of performers and comedians that succeeded.  From their family background, Keaton faced some challenges related to finances but this didn’t hinder him from excelling in film acting. At one point, Chaplin was the director of Keaton in “Limelight” but Keaton still performed. Both Chaplain and Keaton are found to be profound in their insights and very innovative. They both shared thefate, loved and emphasized slapsticks, and after their prime years they felt the loss of popularity as portrayed in “Limelight”.

Both chaplain and Keaton shared the performance heritage in the music halls and vaudeville which about their rise to being prominent. In 1914, when Chaplain’s first film appeared, he became a star in sixty-two short films where he wrote and directed twenty-six films himself. He also moved to Hollywood where he became a world comedic star. Keaton, on the other hand, rose to fame after Chaplain though didn’t last long. He first appeared on stage as a co-star and gag in the “Butcher Boy” in 1917 where he worked also on several Arbuckle shorts. He made several successes in these shorts and moved on to his own production. By this, it is seen that both Chaplain and Keaton lived almost the time and their rising to becoming stars was almost similar.

Differences

No actors would be similar in all the characteristics and despite having many relationships, there are several differences that will be seen from individuals opinions. To start with, Charlie Chaplain and Buster Keaton differed on the basis of their nationality. They differ greatly because Keaton was an American citizen while Chaplin was of British origin. From this, it was clear that Keaton was an immigrant and Chaplain was a citizen bringing in some personal differences in their acting.

Keaton is well known as the “Great Stone Face” a nickname he was given in his films because he wore stoic expression and did not smile, laugh or get cheerful in his performance like Chaplain. In addition, he used solemn movements and due to his poker face, he could do extremely dangerous stunts. On the other hand, Chaplain used body language, facial expressions, and emotions. This is seen in the scene “The Tramp” (1915), where the tramp is shot by a farmer and Chaplain instead of introducing another gag, he chose the tramp to be hurt and be in pain making the audiences to pity and be sorry for his character. Keaton was very observant and collected as seen in “The General”. When his locomotive was stolen, he ran by foot, then paused for a while, thought of his plans while bending his head on the ground. Then he raised his head and called others to follow him in running after the train by sidecar, bicycle and finally by another locomotive “Texas”.

Keaton utilized the objects that he found on the way like a cannonball to fire the Union uniform he wore to enter the camp of the enemy in order to hijack “the General”. However, at some point he was focused on the thing he does to a point he could not notice other things. This is seen well when he was cutting firewood not knowing that the confederate’s soldiers had retreated. It was until his ax was broken that he noticed the advancing Union soldiers.

Also, Keaton was known for silly acting gestures and used many body movements spontaneously. In his performance, Chaplain’s comedies set reflected the daily life situations and had a storyline in them. His comedies were realistic and expressive, fitting the cultural lives of those days.

Chaplain was known as the best actor and writer of comedy pieces while Keaton was considered as the best superior filmmaker. Keaton concentrated too much on silent movies as a filmmaker whereas Chaplain inputted his craft to the Talkie era whenever films had to be incorporated with sounds. Considering their respective performance in the stage, Keaton was considered as the ‘cool’ funnyman while Chaplain was the ‘warm’ comedian. For instance, in the scene ‘The immigrant’ Chaplin fiddles with some money to put in the pocket of a poor woman and while doing so, he wore an agonizing face due to the fact that he was going to give out the money he had won from playing the cards. He severally pocketed the money which made the scene look funny to the audience.

Another distinguishable difference is found in their mode of dressing and clothing. Keaton was smartly dressed in a very clean suit, pork pie hat and neat hair while Chaplain wore a dirty bowler hat, long ragged shoes, old tattered clothes, and his hair was curled with mustache while on the stage. When Chaplain appeared in “The Cure”, he was dressed in a smart dress that showed his dignity and social status.

Chaplin was addressed as Sir after he contributed to the Knight of the British Empire and won an award in the film and entertainment. Keaton, on the other hand, could not be given the title since he was an American citizen. This shows that Keaton would be denied some privileges just because he was not a British citizen.

On the stage, the two actors would walk differently. Chaplain had a funny clubbed footed and bow-legged walk while Keaton would walk nicely and in a proper way. Their movements here would demonstrate their difference in humor creation and each would draw the attention of the audience in his own unique movement.

Keaton’s comedy used exaggerated motion which is humorous in that his character triumphed in almost every situation. This means that his characters performed the impossible and was ranked the top unexpectedly. For example, Keaton’s character in “Sherlock Jr.” manages to jump to a pole that bends on the road from a rooftop, where he could land safely in time to the backseat of a car which is moving. This performing of crazy stunts and putting his body into all motions greatly helps in emphasizing the humor at the ‘silent film’.

Another comparison is found in their way of coping with situations. Chaplain had a mischievous and rebellious character in that he would despise and fail to do anything he was asked to do.  A good example, in “The Cure” is when chaplain was offered a drink by his attendee to curb his alcoholism but instead, he threw it away. After finding out that the attendee noticed that Chaplin did take the water, Chaplin pretended innocent and gazed at the puppet dog which you could think it had peed on his hat. This showed mischievous, rebellious and cunning personality in contrast to Keaton who was honest and more submissive. Keaton did not chase or persuade Annabelle Lee when she refused to believe him of not trying to enlist for the army. He instead sat on the bars connecting the wheels of his friend locomotive. Also, he didn’t explain to Annabelle’s father or brother that he was rejected when he tried to be enlisted.

Keaton, in most of the films, appeared to be an ordinary character and modest while Chaplin was portrayed as flirting, sentimental and sensitive. In “The Cure”, Chaplin flirted with the man with gout where he thought to be making love signs to him to appoint he entertained the man. Keaton, unlike Chaplin didn’t draw sympathy from the audience. In an example found at the film “The General”, Keaton hid under the dining table in the meeting of Union soldiers where some of the soldiers’ feet nearly touched Keaton. Accidentally, one of their cigars poked a hole on the table’s cloth and the table cover was raised to wipe it out. He could be seen peeping through the hole and everyone sympathized with him though he didn’t gesture to attract people’s attention.  Also, in “The General”, Keaton was seen standing and sitting severally in front of the train to remove the wood barriers on the railway. In “Steamboat Bill Jr.”, his act was stunning and dangerous where he stood to wear a stone face as the house collapsed around him. He stood stunt in all his performance which is more remarkable.

Initially, Charlie Chaplain retained the ownership of his films since he was rich but Keaton opted to sell his since he struggled with finances. This brings in a difference in relation to their family backgrounds since Chaplain was rich and Keaton was from a poor background. The most popular movie for Chaplain was “The Tramp” which was the first international superstar. Most of the current comedians mimic it nowadays. On the other hand, Buster Keaton who was a popular actor made few hits with the most being the “The General” which was most expensive ever and his masterpiece.

Based on their personal lives, Charlie Chaplain and Buster Keaton differ so much in their background and family. Chaplain was born in 1889 and died at the age of 88. He had four wives and eleven children. On the contrary, Keaton was born in 1895 and died with 70 years. He had three wives and no children.

Summary

To summarize, Charlie Chaplain and Buster Keaton had several comparisons and differences depending on the performance and the stylistic behavior on the stage. They have very unique traits with different attributes. Chaplain films are more enjoyable than Keaton’s because they are comical when watching as Chaplain demonstrated much of silent films. However, Keaton’s films are more thoughtful and creative compared to Chaplain. However, their differences, they both ended their careers in the film where Chaplain unveiled the events that led to the coming of sound films. This led to the demise of a career in his autobiography film “Limelight” in 1952 giving a history of a comedian who once lost his audience. The film depicts him as struggling with this and also his life. In fact, in one scene, Keaton told Chaplain that he did not think they would come to this, a statement that carried deep emotional intensity. These two performers have been portrayed longing for the bygone age of silence and youth.

In cinema history, their films are a true landmark that brings about two great screen icons of the twenty-first century who continued to be praised and recognized as true film pioneers and will continue for many years. The former vaudevillians Chaplain and Keaton would highly think of each other despite professional career rivals and I wish to state that they were merely unique, artistically equal and different the way artists should be and none was superior to the other.

Both Chaplain and Keaton movies are recommended to the current generation since they fit the situations, cultural and lives of the modern people.