Buster Keaton was one of the two great film comedians and comedy film directors of the silent era. His reputation has suffered by the greater accord given to the other silent film comic, Charlie Chaplin, and Chaplin's reputation remained greater because Chaplin continued to work as a leading player well into the 1950s and also remained a controversial figure at the same time. Keaton, on the other hand, was considered finished by Hollywood when sound came in, though he did continue to make films until the end of his life, more often as a supporting player than a star in later years. A myth developed that Keaton could not make the transition from silent to sound because of his voice or for some similar reason, but in fact, Keaton's problems derived first from an unhappy experience at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the end of the silent era and second from a drinking problem that he managed to overcome, though it hurt his career. In the long term, though Keaton's talent would reach out to later generations and would have a major influence on comedians and filmmakers from Dick Van Dyke to Jackie Chan.
Keaton directed or co-directed most of his best films and was meticulous at developing the physical stunts at which he was so adept, and since Chaplin did the same, the two were usually seen as in competition. Chaplin came out of the tradition of the British music hall, and he adapted that tradition to the screen by emphasizing elements of movement and physical interaction over verbal humor. Buster Keaton was a different sort of comedian who developed his own screen persona, derived in part from American vaudeville. He is often contrasted with Chaplin, and the comedy of the two is similar in terms of its reliance on physicality while being very different in terms of social commentary and philosophical structure. Chaplin's Tramp was a more romantic figure who saw the world in a romantic light in spite of the trials and tribulations faced ...