The Buster Keaton Story ** (1957, Donald O’Connor, Ann Blyth, Rhonda Fleming, Peter Lorre) – Classic Movie Review 9359

Lovely though Donald O’Connor is, casting him as vaudeville comedian Buster Keaton in this misleading biopic of the great stone-faced silent movie comedian must count as a bit of an insult. The fanciful script concentrates on his troubled private life – true love casting director Gloria Brent (Ann Blyth), siren starlet Peggy Courtney (Rhonda Fleming) – and particularly his downfall through drink and money problems.

Co-writer/ producer/ director Sidney Sheldon’s rather poor 1957 black and white film The Buster Keaton Story is enlivened by O’Connor’s vim and his acrobatics (perhaps the only thing the two players had in common, though Keaton was a stuntman and O’Connor a dancer), a clever re-creation of some of Keaton’s famous film routines, and a fascinating picture of Hollywood in the golden age.

The Buster Keaton Story is a film about a comedian – but it is hardly ever funny at all. Keaton acted as technical adviser to the film.

Also in the cast are Peter Lorre, Larry Keating, Jackie Coogan, Richard Anderson, Dave Willock, Claire Carleton, Larry White, Dan Seymour, Michael Ross, Nan Martin, Robert Christopher, Richard Aherne, Ralph Dumke, Tim Ryan, Joseph Forte, Larry Rio, Constance Cavendish, Ivan Triessault and Dick Ryan.

On the plus side, Keaton earned enough from the rights to his life story to buy property in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California where he lived for the rest of his life.

This and The Helen Morgan Story (1957) are the last films of Ann Blyth.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9359

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