The official "best" Keaton features -- The General, The Navigator, Sherlock, Jr. and Steamboat Bill, Jr. -- are all part of Buster's Birthday: A Keaton Centennial Celebration. The series offers a total of seven features, most shown on double bills with shorts. (On the series' second Sunday there's also a genuine double feature: Our Hospitality with Sherlock, Jr..) Keaton's features and shorts are a rich and varied collection because of Keaton's inventive handling of details -- his quirky asides and inspired pratfalls -- and because the contrast between his accomplished comedy style and dark subtext creates a wealth of surprising effects.
Not that Keaton was always successful; one of the shorts to be shown, 1921's The High Sign, is weak and, in contrast, serves to highlight the finer qualities of Keaton's quixotic screen character and his astonishing ability to present slapstick extremes as natural, reasonable story elements. The High Sign has the only incident of the Keaton character being dishonorable (he steals a banana and a newspaper) and the finale is a chase through a trick house -- the house's false walls and trap doors allowing Keaton to display fabulous acrobatics, but as set pieces seeming irksomely contrived and unbelievable. Convict 13 is another short that must be singled out, though for a different reason. Because complete prints were not available, the restored version of the short is in bad shape, even though the washed-out, scratchy print still clearly shows Keaton's wonderfully expressive eyes and his sweet flirtation with doom.
Its rarity makes Convict 13 a treat. But it's sad that the MFA series doesn't include Keaton's early shorts with Fatty Arbuckle, sprightly and irreverent formative works such as Coney Island and Backstage. These loosely plotted, gag-heavy films show Keaton having a fine time exploring the new art form, and finding his balance in film. Expect the Arbuckle shorts from Kino in '96 or '97.
Meanwhile, the MFA series provides enough examples to show Keaton was a complete master of his chosen medium. Those uncertain about the value of Keaton's official "best" features should note the influence of some of Keaton's other comedy. During his down time (roughly 1930 until his death in 1966), he was busy, albeit underpaid. Marx Brothers movies, Red Skelton movies and I Love Lucy all employed Keaton as a gagman. He made a decent, if not glamorous, living working out bits of business for screen comedies and, according to Lucille Ball, all the physical comedy on her TV show.
You could go to the MFA series, buy a film pass and see every single movie, to be in the vanguard, to know what's what in cinema comedy. Or you could go because Keaton made magnificent movies. Keaton doesn't push buttons -- he's never mawkish or obvious. He discreetly presents a solemn man in astonishing situations, creating films that make you laugh until your ribs hurt, and leave you with a tender ache of melancholy.
Buster's Birthday: A Keaton Centennial Celebration plays Fridays and Sundays through June 25 at the Museum of Fine Arts, 1001 Bissonnet. 639-7515.