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How to describe 'Buster Keaton Remembered'? The first impression before opening it is of 'Le Regarde De Buster Keaton' (The Look Of Buster Keaton), a coffee table tome packed full of rare photos. Once opened, the second impression would be of looking at a compilation of Jim Klein's 'The Complete Films Of Buster Keaton' and David MacLeod's 'The Sound Of Buster Keaton' sandwiched between interviews with Eleanor Keaton and having something similar to Jack Dragga's excellent filmography from Meade's biography tacked on the end. Other than the superbly reproduced photos, the most interesting aspect to this apparent hybrid style are the interviews with Eleanor Keaton. At the beginning she talks about her life with Buster and towards the end of the book her words are used to describe her and Buster's working life together on stage and T.V.. There is something about the later interview which sound somewhat familiar, but as Eleanor had been interviewed about this period in Buster's life on several occasions before, the same information should be expected from someone as astute as Mrs. Keaton. The photographs and layout are excellent with approximately 221 photos, 90 of which were unfamiliar, the most interesting, because of their rareness, being behind the scenes from the silent era and Buster's later life with Eleanor. Their reproduction is first rate which according to Manoah Bowman, who worked on the photographic material, was not always straight forward. Bowman has written an enlightening piece about the meticulous reproduction of the photos for the book, the condition of the source material and where it came from. This is included within the introduction. The bibliography is a useful resource for seeking Keaton related titles, all the biographical works are listed plus those which have either sections devoted to or include pertinent information and views on Keaton and his films. There is also acknowledgement of other major works including David Robinson's (produced by Brownlow and Gill) 'Buster Keaton - A Hard Act To Follow', and Brownlow's interview which he used for 'The Parade's Gone By' amongst other things. There sadly seems to be little new or generally unavailable text source material credited other than that supplied by Eleanor. Included are Eleanor and Buster's date books, Myra Keaton's scrap books and some scripts which were in addition to the many photos she also supplied. Priced at $45.00 the pluses for this book are the previously unpublished photos and the superior quality reproductions of the better known ones with Manoah Bowman's introduction to them. Of course Eleanor Keaton's interview is well worth reading, her warmth, love and respect for Buster shines through and gives us a glimpse of both her and the man she was devoted to for over twenty-five years. A nice touch is the afterword by Kevin Brownlow. He talks about his meeting with the Keatons and his interview with Buster (some of which is repeated in the main text). Brownlow is always a pleasure to read. As a high quality picture book, this is of interest but if you are looking for the definitive Keaton biography then you'll still have to wait for it. The publication date of 'Buster Keaton
Remembered' by Eleanor Keaton and Jeffrey Vance is May 2001 published by
Abrams ISBN:0-8109-4227-5
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