Buster Keaton and the Muskegon Actors' Colony

Preservationists unable to save Pigeon Hill from sand miners

2011-10-15T20:10:00.001-04:00

By Dave LeMieux | Muskegon Chronicle
Published: Monday, June 21, 2010

This week 85 years ago...
A year after Nugent Sand Co. and the Pere Marquette Railroad first moved to begin mining operations at Pigeon Hill, the doomed fight to preserve the local landmark began.

The Chronicle said on June 25, 1925
Committee told to work out plan to prevent land mark’s destruction

With a view to saving Pigeon Hill, not alone for its scenic beauty, but because of its commercial value as well, the directors of the Chamber of Commerce authorized the parks committee to proceed with a plan toward saving the hill Wednesday.

Two plans were discussed, one of working up sentiment to have the city bonded for the amount to purchase the property and another to have a syndicate formed for the purpose of buying the land and later selling it to the city.

The action taken by the directorate of the commerce board yesterday followed a move made three weeks ago, or two days after the city commission had granted the railroad right to extend its track to the hill.

The directorate of the chamber at that time instructed its committee to start work to determine the amount of dune property involved and the proceedings that would be necessary to have the hill kept intact.

Value inestimable

Pigeon Hill’s value to the city is inestimable, it was decided, but the question remains as to how to proceed. Floating of a bond issue to make the purchase of the hill possible and distribution of these bonds over a period of possibly 25 years would make the increase in taxes very small it is pointed out.

On the other hand, the hill might be purchased by a syndicate and sold to the city at a time when the city sees fits to purchase it, it being understood that the purchase syndicate would not sell the sand.

The hill belongs to Robert Ferguson, the Nugent Sand Company, and the Pere Marquette Railroad, and it is understood that the sand is to be sold and the ground to be developed as a home site after the sand has been removed.

Must act at Once

The city commission has granted permission to the railroad to extend its line to the hill and it is felt that if something is to be done it must be done immediately.

Sentiment here is strong for the preservation of the hill, mainly because of its scenic beauty. Few people in town have expressed the sentiment that it is not worth thousands of dollars in bringing tourists here and in preserving the beauty of the lake front.

Lakeside, it was declared by A.E. McCrea and Herman W. Freye, directors on the board of the chamber, is strongly in favor of the preservation of the great mound.

MORE ABOUT THE STORY

Within two years, a legal technicality sealed the fate of Muskegon’s once-iconic landmark.

Nugent Sand Co. needed rail access to the site to make mining the prehistoric dune profitable.

The company got what it needed when the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that although the long-unused Pere Marquette Railroad spur along Beach Street was buried deep beneath the shifting sands, it was not abandoned as Beach Street residents contended.

When reconstruction of the line began, Pigeon Hill was as doomed as its then-extinct namesake, the Passenger Pigeon.

Although in later accounts the legendary hill’s height grew to upwards of 300 feet, it was precisely measured at 217 feet in 1907 by Muskegon High School’s trigonometry class.

Local residents and civic organizations fought hard to save the dune, deposited there during the last ice age by an ancient ancestor of the Muskegon River.

Adding their talents to the preservation effort were famed North Muskegon artist Victor Casenelli, who painted it, and beloved Muskegon poet Douglas Malloch, who wrote about it.

Well-known Detroit newspaper columnist and radio announcer Curtis Custer Bradner spread word of the famed sand hill statewide.

All efforts were in vain.

Soon after the supreme court ruling in December 1926, trainloads of sand from Pigeon Hill began arriving at local foundries.

Construction of port facilities for lake freighters were completed by mid-May in 1928 when the J.E. Savage sailed from the new dock at Devil’s Kitchen for Milwaukee with 7,000 tons of sand.

Although mining operations would continue into the 1950s, by 1938 Pigeon Hill was reduced to a collection of sandy humps, none more than 10 feet high.

The land lay vacant until construction began on Harbour Towne in 1992.

Local grocer John Bennink’s words provide the most fitting epitaph for Muskegon’s lost legacy. During the battle to save the dune, Bennick told the city commission: “Pigeon Hill was placed there by God to protect this city. It saves us from storms that sweep in over the lake. If it is removed, the wrath of God will be upon us.

— By Dave LeMieux

Walking Tour of the old Actors’ Colony - Hot Rod Power Tour version

2011-06-09T13:16:00.001-04:00

“The best summers of my life were spent in the cottage Pop had built on Lake Muskegon in 1908.”

Buster Keaton in his autobiography,
“My Wonderful World of Slapstick”

When: Thursday, June 9 @ 7:30 p.m.

Where we start:
Bluffton Elementary
1875 Waterworks Rd
Muskegon, MI 49441

Your Host: Local historian Ron Pesch

Cost: FREE!

Near the turn of the twentieth century, as the last vestiges of Muskegon’s lumbering era faded from the horizon, a community that catered to theatrical entertainers took root. Lying in the shadow of a massive dune known as Pigeon Hill in a portion of the city of Muskegon known as Bluffton, a colony of actors celebrated life on the water while preparing for another season on the road.

The Hot Rod Magazine Power tour visits Muskegon on June 9th, 2011

If you never have dreams, they can never come true.

2010-06-01T21:56:00.005-04:00

Years back, I made a wish. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a statue honoring Buster Keaton in the "hometown" we share? A symbol to a man who made the world laugh - in a language we all understand.

I knew of only one in existence.

Never could I image that the same statue would find it's way to Muskegon.

Dare to Dream . . .

Forty-four years after his death, Buster Keaton’s back in town.

A life-size bronze statue of the great silent-film comedian has been purchased, for $22,000, by the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.

This bronze statue of Buster Keaton will be placed on Western Avenue June 30.Formerly on display in California at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum, the statue arrived in Muskegon last week.

Subject to approval on an encroachment permit from the city of Muskegon, the statue will be unveiled publicly on June 30.

The Red Light District - Another view of Muskegon

2010-03-31T05:51:00.010-04:00

Click on the image above to visit postcard images of Muskegon as the city appeared back during Buster Keaton's time in town.

They were different times - there is no question about that.

Visitors to Muskegon over the years have seen many changes. Keaton himself noted this when he returned to town with his wife, Eleanor, for a visit back in 1949.

Check out this week's Muskegon Chronicle "Looking Back" feature for a view of another section of the city from Buster's era that doesn't show up in postcards.

Looking Back:

This week’s retrospective is from 1917 when, prodded by local civic organizations as well as The Chronicle, the prosecuting attorney moved to shut down Muskegon’s red light district.

By Dave LeMieux | Muskegon Chronicle

March 29, 2010, 9:10AM

Photo courtesy Lakeshore Museum Center.

The Ashley Furman house was the type of “rooming house” targeted by the city’s 1917 crackdown on vice. Located at Market and Terrace, the house was built in the 1860s and served as a brothel during the lumber era. It was razed in 1939.

The Chronicle said on April 3, 1917:

The blow that means the end of licensed vice in Muskegon was struck yesterday afternoon by Prosecuting Attorney Christian A. Broek when he filed 12 separate and distinct bills for injunction in circuit court to put out of business every house operating in the so-called “sawdust” district.

The Hattie Dolly rooming house, 147 W. Western Avenue, that came so prominently before the public eye as a result of a police raid last fall, is also included.

Mayor Arnt Ellifson had given his approval of the prosecuting attorney’s move. The mayor pledged The Chronicle, the pastors of the city, the civic department of the Muskegon Woman’s Club, the W.C.T.U. and others some time ago, that, if re-elected, he would bar organized vice from Muskegon.

Not a Criminal Proceeding

The prosecutor brings his action under the well-known injunction and abatement law, passed by the 1915 state legislature, which authorizes public officials to close any house whose reputation as a resort of ill-fame has become generally established. Absolute proof that the house is being run as a house of ill-fame is not needed under this law.

MORE ON THE STORY
Muskegon’s city fathers attempted to turn the once-rowdy Lumber Queen into a respectable matron when they moved to shut down the red light district in 1917. At the height of the lumber era, an estimated 85 saloons lined Ottawa Street, most with rooms upstairs for prostitutes. In 1887, the local prostitutes — including Big Delia and Spanish Lou — joined in the city’s Fourth of July celebration, setting up a bandstand and hiring a Milwaukee band to entertain “something like a thousand” lumberjacks. The city turned to manufacturing after the timber was exhausted, and aspirations to respectability came with a more settled workforce. Still, a much smaller red light district lingered on in the city long after the loggers headed west. Camouflaged as boarding houses, the brothels relocated a few blocks west from the infamous Sawdust Flats, close to where the new Central Fire Station, 770 Terrace, now stands. Although Congress passed anti-prostitution legislation in 1910 and the state followed in 1915, it took until 1917 for Muskegon to shut down its downtown brothels. — By Dave LeMieux

The resorts which the prosecutor seeks to close by his 12 bills for injunctions are: Rose Snow, 11 Spring Street; May Cline, 64 E. Webster Avenue; Ethel Ward, 26 Spring Street; Jean Ardell, 28 Spring Street; Georgia Steiner, 34 Spring Street; Rose Fox, 89 E. Webster Avenue; Myrtle Reed, 91 E. Webster Avenue; Myrtle Reed, 95 E. Webster Avenue; Myrtle Reed, 101 E. Webster Avenue; Carrie Clark, 103 E. Webster Avenue; Thelma Williams, 105 E. Webster Avenue; and, Hattie Dolly, 147 W. Western Avenue.

The hearing on the prosecutor’s requests for injunctions closing these houses will be held 10 a.m. Monday in the circuit court. Whether the proprietors of the houses will fight the action is not yet known. They generally don’t.

The actions are not criminal prosecutions. Proprietors and inmates of the houses will not be thrown into jail. The resorts will be merely put out of business, and the sheriff will be authorized to clean out the houses and get rid of the furniture and everything else in them.

Will be up to the police

Mr. Broek declares that once licensed vice is barred from Muskegon by the successful culmination of the suits now launched, it is then up to the police to keep the city clean. “The city of Muskegon has an adequate rooming house ordinance that should prevent these people from getting into downtown blocks or respectable residence districts,” he said. “It is up to the police and city attorney to enforce city ordinances, the prosecuting attorney has nothing to do with it. I shall expect the city administration to keep Muskegon clean.”

Mr. Broek planned this action immediately after his election. He told The Chronicle so before he took office and told the mayor Jan. 4. His only reason he has not taken action before this is because he was unwilling to give it a political tinge by springing it just before the spring election.

Mayor agreed to move

In an interview with The Chronicle today he defended his position as follows:

“Upon my coming into office as prosecuting attorney, Mr. Jackson, the assistant prosecutor and myself went thoroughly over the situation with regard to the red light district and we both agreed that the time had come when the law passed in 1915, Act. No. 272, providing for the abating and enjoining of houses of ill fame as nuisances, should be enforced.

"We thereupon conferred with the mayor, Mr. Ellifson, on Jan. 4, last, and pointed out to him the provisions of this law. He agreed that the segregated district should be wiped out, but asked us to defer action at that time because of the fact that the police were busy rooting out gambling and the slot machines.

"I therefore delayed taking further action before the spring election so that the move might have absolutely no political significance, as I do not believe the enforcement of the law should be partisan in character.”

Parlor Bedroom and Bath

2010-02-21T13:08:00.003-05:00

An interesting find from the July 3, 1920 Muskegon Chronicle. Buster Keaton, of course, starred as Reginald Irving in the 1931 Edward Sedgwick film production for MGM.

The Latest Addition to ActorsColony.com

2009-12-10T19:39:00.013-05:00

Click on the images for views of the Muskegon area
from the days when Buster Keaton called the city "home".

Downtown Muskegon

The Trip to Bluffton

Lake Michigan Park
(AKA - Pere Marquette Park)

Pigeon Hill

Visit often, as the I continue to add to the pages as I unearth more images
and history on the area.

Have images to share? Feel free to send them along! You can find me at peschstats@comcast.net

Images from the 15th Annual Buster Keaton Convention in Muskegon MI

2009-10-04T09:36:00.019-04:00

The Cast of Characters...

flash the "High Sign" at the baseball diamond where Keaton played as a kid.

Our every gracious hosts, the D'Alcorn's, at Jingles Jungle.

Melissa Talmadge Cox, Buster's grandaughter, shows off "The General" during Saturday's talks at the convention.

Britian's David McLeod again presented his running series on Keaton features, this year is was "Seven Chances".

Virgil Noble's presentation on the Cutlers - Buster's Mother's side of the family was outstanding...

As was the presentation on "The General" by Ted Keaton III.

The annual auction included shots of Keaton in uniform - both large and small.

Saturday concluded with a performance by the West End Jazz Band at the glorious Frauenthal Theater.

And, of course, the incredible Dennis Scott at the Barton Theater Organ, performing for Keaton's Masterpiece, "The General".

(Someone, please, send along a better photograph - my camera isn't that skilled at stopping the action!)

October 3rd at the Frauenthal

2009-09-28T22:59:00.002-04:00

Only a few more days to go...

2009-09-26T22:41:00.003-04:00

Muskegon's 15th Annual Buster Keaton Celebration is nearly here.

I see the new Bluffton sign is in place - just in time for the event. Watch for it as you head to the beach.

What I especially love about the Keaton weekend is the interest it generates within the Muskegon area about Buster and the Actors' Colony, including various pieces of artwork created by local residents. Check out this image by long-time graphic artist Ferrel Cordle.

Here's a link to more of Cordle's work. The Keaton image measures 16x20 and is available for purchase.

http://ferrel-cordle.fineartamerica.com/

Samaroff and Sonia - A Love Story in Postcards - Part 6

2009-06-20T21:18:00.032-04:00

In February 1909, Bedini and the dogs were again on tour that led west into Canada. This time his cards were sent to an address on Huron Street in Chicago. On the trip, Donat's humor shines through.

The "three" performers commented on their long trip in a postcard postmarked Calgary, Alta, on Feb 18th. The artwork is credited to Al St. Pierre. Perhaps he is the same artist mentioned in Donat's next postcard.

A Valentine from his wife was quite the hit in Calgary, according to Donat.

Unfortunately, the Valentine doesn't appear among the collection. Based on the text, it must have included the image of a baby.

"Next baby you send," writes Donat, "send one that smiles." It was the beginning of a running commentary...

"Ever since I received the baby I have no rest at night, She is always crien (sp)."

Ella sent Donat another image of herself, taken at the Peoples Arcade on Clark St, near Madison. While she is smiling for the photo, she misses her husband wishes she were in New York amongst friends.

She then sent a Kiss Coupon that would reach Donat at his next stop in Lathbridge.

Another card featuring a drawing was sent from Lathbridge, Alberta . This one appears to be drawn by Donat, and includes commentary about the size of the city's Lyceum Theater.

Donat would return to the States, stopping in Great Falls Montana and the Pantages in Spokane Washington.

"Don't you think so to?"

"How is the baby," writes Ella. "Still crying"

Go back to Chapter 5

Samaroff and Sonia - A Love Story in Postcards - Part 5

2009-06-07T14:42:00.010-04:00

Donat returned to his wife, but the reunion was shortlived. By the mid-June, the couple were back on the road - separately. From Boston, Donat sent a card to his wife, who was now on tour in Cuba. Note his reference to buying a new hat.

(Click on the images to see a larger view)

Ella responded with three cards from Cuba, including this one.

Meanwhile, Donat was bouncing around Massachusetts, playing theaters in Palmer, Worcester and Lexington, and sending cards and letters to his bride. In this one, he "showcases" his purchase.

Ella and her sisters returned stateside, playing Western New York in late July. "Two Weeks" she notes in a card from postmarked Charlotte, NY.

Ella sent a pair of cards to her husband from Ontario Beach Park, located outside Rochester.

Donat sent a card postmarked July 24th from Worchester and to the New York City address, listing Lincoln Park in Norwich Connecticut as a new stop on his tour.

A beautiful image of Ella was sent to Donat on August 8 from Charlotte to Lexington. It was forwarded to the New York City address. She expressed thanks to her husband that he was headed to New York. Based on the postcards, they would reunite again soon.

Go to Chapter 6
Go back to Chapter 4

Samaroff and Sonia - A Love Story in Postcards - Chapter 4

2009-05-14T06:06:00.079-04:00

The trip into Canada appears to included stops in Victoria, British Columbia, and Vancouver. He was touring with his partners.

(Click on the images to see a larger view)

Performing as the Bellatzer Sisters, Ella and her family continued their tour.

Ella sent this card from Topeka. In it, she references the postcard from Donat that included a bit of Russian.

A card dropped in the mail in Kansas City and postmarked the 16th of February notes a two hour layover before they could board a train to Chicago.
A second card, also postmarked the same day from Kansas City adds a little more detail and her plans to soon send a letter. The letters were not included in the collection.

Postcards to Ella are sent to Chicago, addressed general delivery, from Seattle on February 18, but don't catch up to her until March 9th.

Donat's cards from Vancouver are sent to the Hippodrome in Cleveland, Ohio. Another stop on the tour for the sisters was Shedys Theater in Fall River, Mass.

Donat was off to Spokane, Washington, where he lost his fountain pen, then to Missoula, Montana, where he wrote about a fire and his new pen. Ella was on her way to New York City. She would settle at 265 W 38th Street in what appears to be an apartment or boarding house. The sisters were on a break from the road.

From the Times Square Station she sent Easter greetings to her husband as he made his way across Colorado.

Based on the postmarks, he spent around six week in and around the Denver area.

In Billings, on March 31st, he spoke of the snow, and his desire to get to Denver.

On April 7th from Denver, he sent Easter greetings, followed a day later by a Birthstone card to his bride. Her birthday would arrive at the end of the month.

Around April 12, he played his first show at the Earl Theater in Pueblo, Colorado after a week in Denver.

He sent Ella this card, joking

"Send money, I am stranded. I am walking to New York to see my D."

Donat would often use an abbreviation of "D. E." to start his cards.

On May 4th Donat celebrated his birthday.

He followed with another card.

"I hope we want have (sic) as many."

D

In total he sent seven cards from Colorado Springs between May 4th and May 11th to Ella in New York, including this beautiful double card.

He followed the Colorado Springs shows with a week in Cripple Creek, a former ranching area that boomed with the discovery of gold in 1891. "It's 12,000 feet above the Sea Level," noted Donat. "Its very hard to breed (sic)."

On May 21 he dropped a card in the mail with an image of the U.S. Government building in Kansas City. It was postmarked Chicago. After months on the road, separated from his wife, Donat was finally headed home.

Go to Chapter 5
Go back to Chapter 3

Samaroff and Sonia - A Love Story in Postcards - Chapter 3

2009-05-10T13:34:00.038-04:00

According to the Elks News article,

Donat immediately fell in love with her and one week later they were married in Los Angeles.

Based on the postmarks, it appears the courtship was quick, but the time that elapsed was closer to a month. They were married on January 21st.

The article continues.

They formed a double act with the dogs and did Russian dances and as a team played together for twenty five years.

.....

If indeed, absence makes the heart grow fonder, the young couple were about to find out.

A card postmarked Los Angeles on January 28, was sent to Miss Ella Bellatzer Bedini. Featuring the name "Bedini" written next to the groom and "Ella" written next to the bride, it was sent to Denver - the next stop the the Bellatzer's tour.

(Click on the images to view a larger version of each card)

On a card showing Main Street in L.A. dated the 28th, Ella penned a note to her new husband,

Dear Donat,

Leave to day for Denver with best love and kisses

Your Wife

Ella

It was sent to him at the Grand Theatre in Reno, Nevada, where he was scheduled to play.

Note the tilt of the stamp.

En route to Reno, Donat sent the following card, postmarked January 30 in Plano, California, with a reference to her heritage.

He then sent a leather postcard to his new bride once he arrived in Reno, later in the day.

On February 8, his bride dropped a matching postcard, featuring artwork by the same postcard artist, to Donat from Denver. It was addressed to him in care of the Pantages Theater in Portland, Oregon, his next stop on the tour.

A postcard, not in the collection, shows the theater in Portland.

Donat may have thought this was his Valentine from his bride. He was touched, and responded with the following card, postmarked February 9 from Portland. Ella and her family were headed east, with the next stop in Topeka, Kansas, and he addressed it accordingly. Note the stamp.

Following his first performance at the Pantages, Donat prepared his Valentine's Day card for his wife. It is postmarked February 10.

She followed up with yet another leather card, postmarked on the 13th of Feburary and sent from Denver. This may have been the card she intended as her Valentine gift to her husband.

Next, Donat played shows in Seattle. He was headed to Canada.

Go to Chapter 4
Go back to Chapter 2

Samaroff and Sonia - A Love Story in Postcards - Chapter 2

2009-05-10T09:37:00.031-04:00

As one would expect, the life of a vaudeville performer was filled with adventure and travel to mysterious cities in far off lands. This was especially true for those that made their move from the old country to the land of promise known as America.

For Donat Butowick (or Butterwick, as he was called in the April 20, 1948 edition of the Muskegon Elks News and the Reporter), life began on May 4, 1877 in Samara, Russia, a village located on the Volga River.

At the tender age of eight years he left home to join a Chek organ grinder and learned to be an acrobat and contorionist (sic), and spent the next two years with him. He then joined a circus in Rostoff (sic) and apprenticed himself until sixteen and took up acrobatic tight wire acting and trick horse riding. When he reached the age of sixteen, he was a finished circus performer and receiving 25 rubles a month, or $12.50 on which he was required to feed himself. He played with several circuses in Russia until he was 21 and then having no desire to serve in the Czar's Army leave (sic) Russia for England.

Butowick joined the Lord George Sanger Circus, one of the largest in England. The circus played a command performance for Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle in 1899.

By 1906, Butowick had worked up a dog act, moved on to vaudeville and had crossed the ocean. Entertaining in the United States from coast to coast, acquaintances and friends stayed in touch via postcard.

(Click on the images for a larger view of the document)

(An advertisement for the 5 Bellatzer Sisters, performing during the week of August 18, 1907 at the Luna Park in Buffalo)

In late December of 1907, he was in California. While visiting San Jose, he was watching a high wire trapeze act when he fell in love.

Miss Ella Bellatzer, another vaudeville performer, was part of a family act, touring as the "Five Bellatzer Sisters". Of German descent, currently little is known of her background.

Their acquaintance was brief as both were on the road. Vaudeville performers, in general, would move from theater to theater and from town to town on a weekly basis. Ella and her family would soon head to San Francisco to perform at the 16th Street Theatre. Donat was scheduled to perform in San Jose in January.

But that did not prevent a courtship.

Ella, it appears, sent the first postcard. Bedini was performing, coincidentally, in San Francisco.

"A Cat and a White Rat", she notes on the front of a leather card postmarked December 26, 1907 sent to Donat in San Francisco. The White Rat statement is , no doubt, a reference to the union formed by performers to battle powerful theater owners and vaudeville managers in 1900.

Awaiting the delivery of his baggage, Donat sent the next card from San Jose.

On January 8, 1908, he mailed two more to Ella in San Francisco.

"Did you get my letters and p.c" he asks on a card postmarked January 12, 1907 that shows the ruins of San Francisco's business district following the earthquake of April 18, 1906. On the back he notes that he's headed to Bakersfield.

Apparently, the card arrived after the Ella's family had departed, and the card was forwarded on to Stockton.

A card postmarked January 14th, 1908 addressed to Miss Ella Bellatzer showed Donat posed with, one assumes, other performers in front of the Wigwam Theatre. Bedini was second on the bill of acts.

The next postcard showed another of a flower, and sent to the Novelty Theatre in Stockton.

"You have not changed your mind yet have you." wrote Donat on a card postmarked January 16th.

The following day, he sent another.

"Wait till Los Angeles," were Donat's only words.

Go to Chapter 3
Go Back to Chapter 1

Samaroff and Sonia - A Love Story in Postcards - Chapter 1

2009-05-09T08:59:00.013-04:00

At the conclusion of a walking tour through Bluffton, the couple approached.

"You don't remember us, do you? We have a gift for you."

Indeed, I didn't recall them.

Because of my hobbies, I am blessed to meet many people. While I often recall the stories that surround our meeting, the conversations that we have, and even a face, I am challenged at remembering names.

In this case, the original meeting was brief, and was prompted by a lead passed on by a newspaper writer.

To those with hobbies, I'm sure you can relate.

I had been told about a couple that had once lived in the house that was owned by former members of the Actors Colony. One of my favorite journalists, Susan Harrison Wolffis, had crossed paths with them on another assignment. Susan had previously written a wonderful piece on the Actors' Colony and the subject had come up in conversation.

Susan then passed the information on to me.

On an impromptu and somewhat awkward visit to their home one day, I mentioned the lead, Susan's name, and discussed my hobby. I left them with my contact information.

Then time passed on, filled with the things that occupy our daily lives.

........

The walking tour occurred on a beautiful summer day. For me, it's the chance to share information about a neighborhood I find fascinating. It's a great opportunity to meet people and to view a beautiful slice of the landscape that I call home.

On this day, unknown to me, I was joined by the couple who had once lived in the home of vaudeville performers Ella and Donat Butowick.

The couple walked me to their car, and explained who they were and the details on their former home.

There were no surviving members of the Butowick family when Ella had passed away in 1968, so the home was given to the family's maid. A few years later, the maid died. Her son, who lived in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, had no interest in the property so he sold the home and it's contents.

Among the items left was a collection of postcards and a number of mementos collected by Ella and Donat from the days when they graced the vaudeville stages of North America and beyond.

While the couple moved from the home, they kept the collection which occupied a few cardboard boxes.

I would soon learn that the Butowick postcard collection numbered hundreds.

Preparing to move again, the couple has entrusted the collection to me while they decided what they should do with these souvenirs.

In the meantime, they suggested that perhaps I might be able to weave the contents of the collection into a story.

It's taking some time to organize the card, and a little more to organize my thoughts, I'm now ready to begin.

Go To Chapter 2

Now poets may sing of the dear fatherland

2009-04-09T10:54:00.020-04:00

An interesting item has shown up on eBay this week. A piece of sheet music featuring the Three Keatons is currently priced over $75 on the auction site. (At least 60 items with the term "Wurzburger" are available on the site as I write!)

For a researcher, the music industry's earliest version of the 99 cent MP3 single download is a wonderful source of images of the well-known and long-forgotten artists of the vaudeville stage.

The tune featured is "Down Where the Wurzburger Flows", with music by Harry Von Tilzer and lyrics by Vincent P. Bryan (who would later work as a writer in Hollywood. According to Wikipedia he assisted Hal Roach in directing early Harold Lloyd films. IMDB has him as a writer on Chaplin films).

According to an article in "The New Yorker" from May, 13, 1950, VonTilzer had a place like New York's Luchow's Restaurant in mind when he penned the song back in 1902. A Big Apple landmark at East 14th Street, the German restaurant featured "Handsome carved-oak paneling, hugh mirrors, etched glass, skylights and wall murals" was a favorite of Diamond Jim Brady's.

Born in Detroit, VonTilzer was responsible for many fan favorites, including perhaps his most famous tune, "Wait Til the Sun Shines Nellie" with lyrics by Andrew B. Sterling. (According to William Studwell's book, The Popular Song Reader, Von Tilzer and Sterling were also responsible for a song known by many - the 1903 waltz "Under the Anheuser Bush".)

The Keatons were certainly not solely responsible for the popularity of "Down Where The Wurzberger Flows". As was quite common with sheet music, various editions featuring the same artwork (right down to the number 5 the in the lower right edge of the barrel) can be found. The single difference is the photograph featured.

Artists like the Nora Bayes, Dudie Koller, Edwards and Ronney, "German Dialect Comedian" Pete Baker, the appropriately named Billy Single Clifford (who in 1905 had the Clifford Theater built in Urbana, Ohio) and others.

Visit the Levy Sheet Music Collection at Johns Hopkins University for a digital image of the words and music. Perhaps we should add this tune to the songs played at the annual Speakeasy that follows the Keaton Films at the Frauenthal in Muskegon each October.

The Keaton's were also featured on another release from the Harry Von Tilzer Music Publishing Co. Sterling provided the words for "On A Sunday Afternoon" - "sung with great success by Joe, Myra, and Buster Keaton - Comedians".

Harry Morgan's son responds to my questions...

2009-03-12T19:11:00.006-04:00

I am the proud son of Harry Morgan, and I did ask him about coach Harry Potter, who my father remembers well and fondly, and whose name he suggested for the Colonel Potter nomenclature.

He never crossed paths with Buster Keaton, however.

I would love to see a tape of the Life Savers commercial someday!

All best,

Charley Morgan

Click here to see what prompted Charley's e-mail.

What's in store for Year 15?

2009-02-21T05:53:00.014-05:00

Beginning in 1995, the city of Muskegon has played host to an Annual Buster Keaton Celebration each October. Staged in cooperation with The International Buster Keaton Society, who brings their convention to town, the event has won the hearts of many. Over the years, guests have included film personalities James Karen, Adrian Booth Brian, Gerald Potterton, Frank Buxton, Cliff Cro nan, authors George Wead, Joe Adamson, David Macleod, Jim Kline, Imogen Smith, Edward McPherson, Annette D'Agostino Lloyd. Lloyd Williams. Family members Eleanor Keaton, Melissa Talmadge Cox, Ted Keaton, and Jeanne Keaton Holler have come to visit the city that Buster called home.

The convention has included rare film clips and television shows, panel discussions, power PowerPoint presentations, slide shows, quizzes, auctions, baseball games, trolley and walking tours of Bluffton, and even a wedding and two receptions. Events have been hosted at the Muskegon County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Muskegon Museum of Art, the Muskegon County Museum, Hackley Public Library, the Beardsley Theater, the Shoreline Inn, Muskegon Community College, the Muskegon Harbor Holiday Inn and the old Muskegon Mall.

In that first year, the celebration included a museum exhibit highlighting Keaton's career and the history of the local Actors' Colony. The event has included art exhibits by school age children, life-size sculptures of Keaton, beautiful streetlight banners and, of course, a full slate of his classic films at the historic Frauenthal Theater in downtown Muskegon. Here's what we've shown to date.

1995 - Friday - The Cameraman
1995 - Saturday - The General
1996 - The Goat & The Railrodder/Buster Keaton Rides Again
1997 - The Boat & The Navigator
1998 - The Balloonatic & Our Hospitality
1999 - One Week & Seven Chances
2000 - One Week - accompanied by the West Shore Symphony Orchestra
2001 - The High Sign and Steamboat Bill, Jr.
2002 - The Electric House & College
2003 - An Evening of Shorts - The Paleface, Hard Luck, Taming of the Snood & The Frozen North
2004 - Friday - A Vaudeville Show accompanied with the shorts Backstage & The Playhouse
2004 - Saturday - The Scarecrow & The Cameraman
2005 - The Butcher Boy & Spite Marriage
2006 - Oh Doctor!, The Haunted House and Sherlock Jr.
2007 - Convict 13, One Week & Three Ages
2008 - Battling Butler & The Navigator

The 15th annual Buster Keaton celebration is scheduled for October 2-3, 2009. As always, it should be quite the show!

The other Marilyn

2009-02-15T16:36:00.020-05:00

My dear friend Graceann Macleod - formerly of Milwaukee, now of London, England, sent this little note the other day about Marilyn Miller.

I was reading Warren Harris's The Other Marilynand on Page 44, he mentions Marilyn and her parents taking a vacation thusly:

"The Passing Show tour was twice as long as the Broadway run; it did not end until March 1915. After a short vacation with her parents at Lake Muskegon, a [Minnesota] resort very popular with show people, Marilyn was whisked back to New York to begin rehearsals for the next edition of The Passing Show."

Clearly, Mr. Harris is in error as to where this popular resort was located, but the rest of it seems to make sense. Buster is mentioned a couple of times in the book, albeit very briefly, because when Marilyn and her family were touring early on as "The Columbians," she would occasionally cross paths with the Three, Four and Five Keatons. I can imagine Buster or his Dad mentioning either to Marilyn or to her stepfather, Caro Miller, a nice, relaxing place where show folk are welcome. Any thoughts on this?

Well - my first thought was, "that's pretty cool! Another famous visitor to Muskegon during the days of the Actors' Colony."

My second was, "OK - who is this Marilyn Miller, and what was this show called "The Passing Show"?

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew the answer, however it wasn't bubbling to the top. It was time to set it free.

First stop - Google. More specifically, the Google's "books" option.

I started with "Broadway, An Encyclopedia", by Ken Bloom. Check out page 563 and "The Passing Show of 1914."

The Shubert Brothers, Lee and J.J. were powerful theater operators in New York, and ultimately, across the United States. During their rise to power in the Big Apple, they, leased the old American Horse Exchange at 1634 Broadway in New York, and had it renovated into the Winter Garden T heater. Designed to host musical presentations, it opened in March, 1911. with a performance of La Belle Paree, featuring the Broadway debut of Al Jolson. A ragtime comedian, Jolson was not yet well known on Broadway, but the show would change all that. After 104 performances, according to Bloom, "La Belle Paree became the first to tour the country following its Broadway run."

Jolson's next Shubert show Vera Violetta would make him a star. He bacome the feature performer as numerous Shubert shows and his popularity led Variety to proclaim "the Shuberts may run the Winter Garden, but Al Jolsen owns it."

While Jolson was touring the shows nationally, it became necessary to produce an attraction to fill the void. "The Passing Show," first performed in 1912, was designed to handle that role. The show was a revue, designed to compete with Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies It was titled as such as the show was meant to play a short time on Broadway, then hit the road on a tour of the country. The show offered parodies of current Broadway offerings.

"The Passing Show" was mounted again in 1913 and then in 1914. Bloom's book deemed the show "no better than any of the Shubert offerings. However, it did mark the Broadway debut of Marilyn Miller, a delightful dancer, who became a particular favorite of Broadway audiences."

She was only 15-years old.

So - that would explain the vacation with her parents.

"The Passing Show." Of course. It was the planned destination of Buster Keaton when he chose to leave the family act. Instead, fate intervened, and Keaton visited the Comique set at Norma Talmadge Studios where Roscoe Arbuckle was filming.

Indeed, the location of Lake Muskegon has been mistaken before. Harris has it in Minnesota. In "Vaudeville, Old and New" by Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman, Donald McNeilly it surfaces in Wisconsin.

"At the end of the day or career, vaudevillians had little to talk about with bank clerks, grocers, or insurance underwriters. The retired troupers needed their own community. Some found fellowship in rural vacation colonies that attracted show folk, such as those in Lake Hoptacong in New Jersey, Blaisdell Lake in New Hampshire or Lake Muskegon in Wisconsin."

Miller would go on to an amazing career on Broadway, then briefly, in film. Years later, she would be the inspiration for Norma Jean Baker's transformation into Marilyn Monroe.

In New York, Miller's image was captured by Alexander Calder on the I Miller building at 46th Street and Seventh Avenue just off Times Square. She shares the space with Mary Pickford, Rosa Ponselle, and Ethel Barrymore.

...once the preeminent musical theatre star of her day.

She scored a hit with "Sunny"just four years before this statue was unveiled; she died seven years later.

She passed away on April 7, 1936 at the age of 37 of an acute sinus infection.

Here's an interesting blog entry on Miller. And some beautiful photos at Vanity Fair. (Thank you Melani!)

So - I guess it's time to see if I can find a reference to the family's visit in the local paper.

Buster on a three week tour of Grand Rapids, MI

2009-02-12T18:25:00.001-05:00

Jack Price's Buster Keaton figure has made the 40 mile trip to Grand Rapids. Visitors to the annual International Buster Keaton Society convention in Muskegon are certainly familiar with the guest of honor. For the last 14 years, The Damfino's (pronounced Dam-Fi-No ... like "Damn if I Know") have come to Muskegon to celebrate Buster's birthday. The 15th annual gathering will take place on the weekend of October 2, 2009. Check out www.busterkeaton.com for more detail.

Check out the clip (remember to play the video) from the Tuesday, February 10th episode of WZZM's Take Five & Company local lifestyle show.

Follow this link to read about the first year of the convention. Once there, scan down the page for more about Jack's "Bondo Busters".

So - who was this guy, Romaine Fielding?

2009-02-10T05:46:00.008-05:00

So - who was this guy, Romaine Fielding?

a) The most popular film actor in America.
b) A film pioneer, who built the first collapsible stage and the first lighting system for night cinematography.
c) The director of the longest, most expensive film ever made

How about all of the above. If the year were 1913, that would be the answer to today's little quiz.

It seems that my post the other day caught the attention of at least one reader.

David Lindblom dashed off a note and e-mailed it to me. It was my second connection with a documentary film maker in the last few months.

Hello Ron,

I read this morning your blog entry on the film "Rich Slave" and it is full of fascinating information on Romaine Fielding about whom I am researching a documentary film. Can you possibly share with me your source for Fielding's military service and WWI war involvement.

Little did I know that Fielding's activities between 1917 and the mid 20's are, to at least some degree, a mystery.

Because of David's e-mail, I did a little Internet research.

Fielding's story is indeed fascinating.

A genealogy site supplied this detailed, "Just the Facts" rundown of one Willam Grant Blandin

WILLIAM GRANT BLANDIN was born on 22 May 1868 in Mitchell Co., IA.

He married Icylene L. Richards, daughter of Joseph Richards and Elmiray (--?--), circa 1891.

He married Florene Mabel VanValkenburg, daughter of Noah C. VanValkenburg and Anna B. Layman, on 30 Jul 1907.

He married Niomi Mary Lillian Sachs, daughter of William P. Sachs and Florence Buchanan, on 2 Dec 1918 in Anniston, AL.

He died on 15 Dec 1927 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., CA, at age 59. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, Los Angeles Co., CA; plot: Masonic (section M), L-182.

On 1891 his name was legally changed to ROYAL A. BLANDIN. His name was legally changed to ROMANZO A. BLANDIN. His name was legally changed to ROMAINE FIELDING. He appeared on the census of 1 Jun 1900 in Fall River Township, Wilson Co., KS; age 32. He lived in Klondike Region, AK; After death of William T. Blandin.

Following a "Looking for Mabel Normand" link, I learned more. Fielding, as he was known to movie goers, began his film career at the age of 43. According to the site, he performed in 73 films (only 8 of which were done after 1920), was screenwriter(or co-writer) for 28 productions, and director (or one assumes co-director) on 68 films. He was also a principle in the Lubin Film Company, created by one of the true pioneers of the motion picture industry - Siegmund Lubin. Sporting the slogan "Clear as a Bell" Lubin's films were known for their quality and clarity, and the company built a film empire consisting of numerous theaters and nickelodeons and satellite studios around the country.

In 1914, an explosion and fire destroyed the negatives for Lubin productions. World War I impacted foreign distribution of films and cut off a large source of revenue for the company. On September 1, 1917, Lubin Film closed its doors forever.

Fielding continued to work, starring in "The Desert Rat", a 1917 production credited to Bison Motion Pictures, and directing "For the Freedom of the World", a war drama for S&M Film Company, and "Moral Courage", " "The Crimson Dove" and "Youth" for Peerless Productions all in 1917 according to information on found in the Internet Movie Database.

Then, Fielding disappears from sight until 1920. He returned as part of the cast for "A Woman's Man" for Screencraft Productions, followed by "The Rich Slave", discussed in my earlier posting.

For 15 years, a lead to this question stood filed in my basement.

On December 15, 1927, according to the New York Times, he died, caused by infection following the extraction of a tooth.

The LA Times obit abstract states:

A screen come-back which had every promise of retrieving the fame and fortune which were his in the pioneer days of motion pictures was halted yesterday with the sudden death of Romaine Fielding...

Linblom wonders

Was there ever a connection between the Keatons and Fielding?

Are there letters and or scrapbooks saved by the families Fielding may have interacted with in and around the Lakes Region?

"Everywhere he went he made a big impression on locals" states Linblom. "He relied heavily on his charisma to make things happen."

Anyone like a good mystery?

Laurel and Hardy - Stan Laurel visits Muskegon on the Keith's circuit

2009-02-08T14:33:00.003-05:00

Remember the old Regent Theater in downtown Muskegon?

Check out this advertisement from December 14, 1918.

According to "The Ida May" site (a great place to visit!), Charlotte Mae Dahlberg Cuthbert was Stan's common law wife. They were together until 1925.

They were in town for four days, performing their routine "No Mother to Guide Them". I wonder if they had the chance to swing by the Actors' Colony between shows?

Here's some additional information on Mae, Stan, and of course, Ollie.

Film Industry in Muskegon - 1921

2009-02-08T12:35:00.007-05:00

Reading all the hub-bub about film production in Michigan, and the tax rebates being offered by the state, I recalled this little gem that I unearthed while digging up old articles on the Actors Colony.

I've taken the time to hyperlink some of the details within for those interested.

LAKES REGION
FINE LOCATION
FOR FILM WORK

Manager of Productions
Company Delighted With
the Possibilities.
"Muskegon has been selected as out permanent headquarters and I can see no reason where in the reasonably near future, the people here cannot expect to see one of the great moving picture studios of the country but right hear, in this city," declared Manager Thomas J. Faussett of the Michigan Productions company, the moving picture firm which is soon to show his first Michigan made film in Muskegon, starring The company's next picture story has already been written by an author of note and the beginning of filming it is believed by Mr. Faussett to be not more than 20 days distant. He is leaving July 28 for New York to engage the cast. None but the best stars will be used, he says.

Says Scenery Unsurpassed
Muskegon's natural scenery is wonderful for pastures, Mr. Faussett declares. Since coming here a few weeks ago, he was made a careful study of conditions, having been on the go 15 and 16 hours every day. Between the Indiana border and the Straits so far as exterior work is concerned, nothing to surpass the natural scenery for film work can be found in the world, he declares.

Along with the growth of the company, it is Mr. Faussett's opinion the Muskegon will begin to realize, as he believes, that the film business is only in the beginning and that with schools, the homes and in fact every work of life, including the nation's great industrial enterprises taking up films as mediums for conveying ideas, he looks for the future development of this business on a scale that will startle even many who are now engaged in the business purely from the theatre production end.

Home Talent for Extras Only

While it is believed that with the interest which has already been shown among member the local Actors' colony, assuring interest among home talent that can be used for extras it is made clear by the manager that this is not a home talent concern in any sense.

In the picture, "The Rich Slave" directed by Romaine Fielding, this noted film star played the male lead himself. The star, Mabel Taliaferro will be remembered by hundreds of local theatre goers as the girl who attracted nation-wide attention in "Polly of The Circus".

Fielding Was Popular Star

Previous to going into the army service, Mr. Fielding, while yet an actor, won a national popularity contest but had given up action to devote all his time to directing before taking part in the war. Barney Gilmore, Herbert Startling, Jr., Ben Hendricks and Robert Forsythe are other stars employed by the Michigan Production company.

Previous to taking up film work, Mr. Faussett was engaged in financial inspection work and traveled all over the United States having been in all states of the Union except four. He says in all his travels he never has seen anything to compare to the general advantages which appear to be at the disposal of Muskegon and his faith in the city's future is unlimited. It will be as ideal for the promotion and development of a great film business as any other northern city, he declares.

Why Wait for Your Ship to Come in?

Michigan Productions, Inc. opened an office in the Union National Bank building in downtown Muskgon and offered local residents the opportunity to invest in the business. Noting the completion of "The Rich Slave", stock was offered at $10 per share.

On August 31, 1920, the film opened for a three-day engagement at the local Lion Theater, then moved around the country.

The following is a brief description of the film from the January 22, 1921 Utica, New York Saturday Globe.

Here's more on the film, from archivist Bob Garrett at The Archives of Michigan

Fonzie, Morgan, Keaton and Jumping the Shark

2009-01-24T06:08:00.005-05:00

I really need to thank Harry Morgan for that half day off. It's now 30 years overdue.

I can't say I had a real simple way to do it previously. I didn't know his agent, and had no faith in that Map of the Hollywood Stars booklet that Mom and Dad brought home back when I was a kid. In all honesty, I can't even say Harry's address was in the thing.

I guess I could have written to CBS. They were, after all, called the Tiffany Network. Seems like the kind of place that should have someone around that would forward an important document like a "Thank You" card to an actor on the set of the network's most popular show.

For whatever reason, I didn't do it. Probably too busy chasing skirts. Or playing baseball. Or figuring out what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

Well, some thirty years later, I've taken on the task.

Now, the Harry Morgan I'm talking about is indeed the Harry Morgan you're thinking about.

Joe Friday's partner, Bill Gannon, on Dragnet.
Col. Potter of the Four Oh Seventy-Seventh M.A.S.H. unit based in Korea.
The guy in "Pete and Gladys" (Hey - I wonder why they don't show that on Nick at Nite?), a spin-off of December Bride.

Yep - that's him.

Sounds like he was a wonderful guy to those who had the chance to know him. Like B.J. Hunnicutt, or rather Mike Farrell, who has very nice things to say at Mike Farrell Online

Harry came back to Muskegon to film a television commercial back when I was in high school. It was for Life Savers. Part of that "They're like coming home" series they did with a number of Hollywood actors.
Of course I never met him. It was my junior year.
The campaign was handled by Dancer, Fitzgerald and Sample - a big player out of New York city. I guess they handled Toyota's "Oh What a Feeling" campaign.
Anyway, while they were filming, they blew the high school's circuit breakers. School officials decided that our 15 minutes of fame was more important then educating kids that day, so they sent us home.
Now I would have made the same decision, as I don't think too many of us were really thinking about the three R's when Hollywood was just out the window.
Half day of school! The equivalent of a partial snow day! It was GREAT!

Well, not as great as the gig that two of my classmates had. Dawn Plouhar and Lorna Barrett were earning scale as actors appearing in the commercial. They each picked up a check for $215 for their efforts. That's somewhere between $683.51 and $1,293.68 in 2009 coin.
The commercial made it's debut during a rebroadcast of an episode of Happy Days. It was, or would become, the most famous plot in the series' history. For those tuned in, Fonzie had been challenged to a water skiing contest.
Then Muskegon High School, Morgan, Barrett, Plouhar and Life Savers all hit the screen. Nobody in Skeetown knew in advance.
Yes - it was the "Jumping the Shark" episode. And if you missed the rerun, you missed the commercial. To the best of anyone's knowledge, the commercial never aired again.
I'd love to find a copy of the commercial. Can anyone help?
As the years went on, and my interests in Muskegon history grew, questions began to surface in my mind about Morgan career.
Harry Bratsburg, as he was once known, was born in Detroit in 1915, then moved to Muskegon - home of the Actors' Colony. By 1917, Buster Keaton had made his move into film. But the Actors' Colony and Pascoe's were still around.
Morgan would attend Muskegon High School as Harry Bratsburg, graduating in 1933. He received his start in acting under the direction of Miss Frances Kleaveland, an instructor at Muskegon High School. She would later marry Muskegon High School's varsity football and basketball coach, C. Leo Redmond.
Miss Kleaveland founded the city's "Civic Theater", later rechristened the "Port City Playhouse". The groups' first production, "The Silver Cord", featured Harry, along with Phyllis Cone, and Naomi Riordan. Bratsburg's would later move to summer stock in Washington D.C. In 1937, he had moved to New York where he joined the famed Group Theater. In 1939, he ventured west to California in 1939.
Born in 1961, I knew Morgan from re-runs of Dragnet, and of course, M.A.S.H. I wondered...

Did he ever cross paths with Buster Keaton or any of the others from Muskegon and the Actors' Colony who ventured west?

Keaton, of course worked in film and television until he passed on in 1966. (December Bride was a Desilu Production that filmed on a set next to I Love Lucy.)
As a local sports historian, I wondered...

What inspired the name of his character, Col. Sherman T. Potter, on M.A.S.H.?

Morgan replaced McLean Stevenson - Col. Henry Blake - and played the role as a tough yet good-humored and caring officer. I’ve seen reference that the character was named after General William Tecumsah Sherman, but no mention about his last name.
During his high school days in Muskegon, one of the school's athletic coaches was named Harry Potter. The personalities of Colonel Potter and Coach Potter, I’m told, were very similar. I’ve come across former football players who have used the comparison. Bratsburg played at least J.V. football at Muskegon, so as a youngster, he would certainly have known of Coach Potter. Is there a connection?

Those questions resurfaced the other day, as I leafed through an old yearbook. Some old newspaper clippings fell out, reminding me of that day.

Now, without question, I should have launched this quest some time ago. For the mathematicians among us, I know that Morgan is now 93. As I understand, four years ago he was doing quite well. A Norwegian, I hope that is still the case.

With a little luck, I may find answers.

Next:
Harry Morgan's son, Charley, answers my questions.
Click here to see the response.

Buster Keaton featured on PBS documentary Make `Em Laugh

2009-01-21T18:50:00.000-05:00

The PBS documentary about American comedy, Make `Em Laugh,

Hosted by Billy Crystal, tonight's episode will feature Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. For those TIVO owners and second shift workers, it appears that it will air again on Monday, January 26, at 1:00 am.

Make 'Em Laugh:

The Funny Business of America: The Knockabouts: Slip on a Banana Peel: A focus on slapstick comedy recalls the antics of Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, Martin and Lewis, the Marx Brothers and Lucille Ball.

And Keaton. AND KEATON. AND KEATON!!!

What does a local boy have to do to get respect around here?

And speaking of such - how about the misspelling of Winsor McCay on this PBS writeup on cartoons? On PBS!

I'll tell ya, West Michigan. We don't get "No Respect"

Where's Rodney when you need him?

Keaton and Public Law 100-446

2009-01-14T19:10:00.000-05:00

Now I don't remember Keaton appearing in an episode of "Schoolhouse Rock." Must have been that one that started with that "I'm just a Bill" song. Guess I missed Buster's cameo.

So - what do you know about Public Law 100-446?

Well it seems that it started out as an appropriations bill for the United States Department of the Interior. Introduced on 6/20/1988 and sponsored by Representative Sidney Richard Yates of Illinois, the primary focus of this document was the annual appropriations of funds for the department, including, among many other things, "Authorization of the Secretary of the Interior to guarantee a loan made by the Federal Financing Bank to Guam for water system improvements.

It also contained something called the "Mrazek-Yates amendment". Film fans known this as the "National Film Preservation Act of 1988".

This little act of Congress directed the Librarian of Congress to establish a National Film Registry, and a National Film Preservation Board. It included three years of annual a quarter million dollars of funding to establish that Board, with the intent of selecting up to 25 films each year to include on that Registry. And, it addressed a major controversy of the day - the coloration of classic Black and White film.

Now Mr Eric J. Schwartz gives a nice little write-up on the Mrazek-Yates amendment, the controversy it sparked, and the work done by Representatives Yates, Robert Mrazek of New York, and Senators Patrick Leahy (Vermont) and Dennis DeConcini (Arizona) to draft, then get the amendment passed.

Schwartz states,

It has often been said that the two things people should not see king made are sausages and the law.

and notes that the Mrazek-Yates amendment represented a perfect example of this in action. It's well worth reading.

So - what does all this have to do with Keaton?

Well, on December 30, 2008 , the Library of Congress announced the latest 25 films added to the registry. The list now totals 500 shorts and feature length films. Too many?

I'll turn to a statement written by Andre Soares and found on the Alternative Film Guide

Sounds like a who le lot, no? Well, to put things in perspective: in a single year in the 1920s, they’d make as many as 700 motion pictures. And I mean features.

Here's the complete list.

Keaton's 1920 classic short "One Week" was one of the 2008 selections.

In past years, Keaton productions "The General" (1927, added 1989), "Sherlock Jr." (1924, added 1991) , "Cops" (1922, added 1997 ), and "The Cameraman" (1928, added 2005) have made the cut.

Congratulations Buster!

Community Legends

2008-12-20T09:44:00.000-05:00

Does Muskegon have a Pete Secchia?

Imaging my surprise when I opened up my newspaper and learned about the unveiling of the first of 25 Community Legends in Grand Rapids, MI.

Lucius Lyon, a city founder, was created by world-renowned artist Stuart
Williamson and has been installed at the southwest corner of Monroe Avenue NW
and Lyon Street, near the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Known as the "Community Legends" project, the effort is intended to commission one sculpture every two years for the next 50 years. Those pieces then would be donated to the city, or a nonprofit, and funded and endowed by Secchia and his family.

The next four sculptures have been chosen.

• Ottawa Indian Chief Nawquageezhig (Noonday), who helped open Michigan to
settlement.
• Helen Claytor, a local civil rights leader.
• Stanley
Ketchel, a city native and Hall of Fame boxer.
• The Most Rev. Frederick
Baraga, who funded a Grand Rapids church and school.

Isn't that fantastic! I must admit, the unveiling was the first time I had heard about project.

But it wasn’t the first time I had thought about the concept.

My five faithful readers know of my wish for a Buster Keaton statue. Others have heard me mention my thoughts of expanding the concept beyond to include others who once called Muskegon home.

To steal a phrase, my view is to "Think Globally, Act Locally."

As a historian, with definite Pop Culture leanings, my thoughts have been to honor those who have touched the world.

Names I’ve tossed around, beside Keaton, have included (in no particular order):

Haddon Sundblom, the illustrator who created our modern day concept of Santa during his days working for Coca Cola.

Sherm Poppen, and his invention, the Snurfer, which evolved into the Snowboard.

Harry Morgan, Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M.A.S.H. (my favorite episode Dear Sigmund from Season 5).

Iggy Pop, the father of Punk, born in Muskegon.

Bob Zuppke, the University of Illinois football mentor who got his start at Muskegon High School.

Bennie Oosterbaan, Muskegon grad and three-time All-American in football, who spent a lifetime helping develop athletics at the University of Michigan.

Jonathan Waker - the man with the branded hand.

Each, in some way, brought joy to the world.

Over time, I learned of other’s ideas for adding art to the area’s public spaces. To honor Muskegon’s lumbering heritage, Dr Richard Kislov pictured a lumberjack stationed in the waters of Muskegon Lake.

Kislov’s vision of St. Paul, the apostle, resides high above the ground at St Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Muskegon,

A figure of a bearded and barefoot St. Paul, standing in
a shallow niche on church facade. His proper left hand is upraised and
pointing to the cross that tops the arched niche. His proper right hand holds a
scroll with Greek inscriptions. A sword lies near his feet. He stands atop a
shield that forms the base. The patina of the sculpture is antique green.

The redevelopment of the downtown area has spurred interest in featuring sculptures.

A piece created by James Clover, Sculpture with Stars previously featured on the old SPX headquarters location now rests at a new location in front of the Post Office building.

Plans for a piece honoring Muskegon’s greatest benefactor, Charles Hackley, is in the works for the downtown area thanks to a donation from Peter Turner.

With efforts to honor Winsor McCay now in full swing, Spring Lake is now investigating the creation of sculptures to highlight his pioneering animation works.

Holland, MI, just down the road apiece, has added sculpture in their downtown area.

Grand Rapids, of course has Fredrick Meijer Gardens.

Art has been added along the Hart-Montague bike trail.

Wouldn't it be wonderful of the area as a whole were known nationally for their public displays of sculpture?

Let me hear your suggestions...

Samaroff, Sonia, and Pepito the Spanish Clown

2008-12-05T09:43:00.000-05:00

Some 15 years ago, the journey began.

On a visit to the local county museum, archivist Barb Martin unearthed a gem.

It was a single piece of paper, molded into a program for a movie premiere some 80 years ago. Contained within were the details on events surrounding an evening at a theater located 2,192 miles from my home.

The document highlighted the the Los Angeles premiere of Charlie Chaplin's The Circus. The theater - Sid Grauman's grand Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd, which had opened only a few month previous, was the setting.

The enormous lights of Otto K. Olsen's invention, pivotin g from their trucks lined up in front of the theater and across the street, threw their beams skyward; other floodlights brought a day time brightness to the whole block surrounding the theater. Limousines dashed up to discharge the luminaries of the motion-picture world, producers, directors, and stars galore from every studio in Hollywood, all paying five dollars a seat to do honor to Charlie s new picture and to tell him that whatever untoward happened, he belonged in their hearts.

Charlie escorted Merna Kennedy to the first night; Maisie was there with a party. A microph one, set up on the court with a master of ceremonies presiding, lured various stars to chirp bromides to the world waiting at the radio, the inane, "Hello, everybody. I'm so thrilled to be here and know you will be, too, when you see this wonderful picture...

At Chaplin's request, Grauman was asked to present a show as a prologue to the film. Titled Ballyhoo, Grauman presented "An Old-fashioned One Ring Circus.

The prologue to The Circus as staged by Sid Grauman, that master showman, was in itself worth the price of admission. Three rings of circus acts concentrated on the large stage gave the illusion of a full-fledged circus in action. Bare back riders, the noted Paddleford family, trapeze performers, the sawdust, the sideshows, and the barkers overflowed from the stage into the spacious front court and completed the illusion. The ornate gaudiness of the Chinese Theatre fitted the transitory atmosphere of the night.

Among the other acts performing were Russian immigrants, Donat Butowick, and his wife, the former Ella Bluhmfield. Members of the Muskegon Actors' colony, the were joined by some of the top performers from the era.

The Hanneford family riding act took part, as did Emil Pallenberg's bears, Ed and Jennie Rooney, aerialists, and several others who had been headliners with the Ringling circus and were friends of the Hannefords and Mrs. Clarke. The engagement stretched into an eight months' stint..

Another act on the bill would become even more well known years later.

An e-mail arrived the other day from Melani Carty with a subject line that immediately caught my attention. It said, "Samaroff and Sonia & Pepito the Clown"

I knew instantly the connection between the performers.

Within the body of the e-mail, Melani noted that she blogged on Pepito, and his wife, Joanne.

For those who are fans of I Love Lucy, the name Pepito may bring back memories. Jose Perez - better known as Pepito the Spanish Clown helped Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz create the act that would form the basis for the television classic.

According to the site Still in Love with Lucy

In 1950, when Lucille Ball was asked to move her successful radio series to television, she agreed on one condition: her husband, Desi Arnaz, would be cast in the role of her TV husband.

CBS executives balked, believing the American public wouldn’t accept an all-American redhead being married to a Latin bandleader. To prove the network wrong, Lucy and Desi launched a successful vaudeville tour. Their friend Jose Perez, known on the vaudeville circuit as Pepito, The Spanish Clown, developed several skits for the couple to take on the road. The most famous of these cast Lucy as “The Professor” who breaks into Desi’s performance and insists on auditioning for the band. The skit was so successful, Lucy and Desi worked it into the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy” and again in episode 6 of the show’s first season.

Within a blog entry, Carty points out that Pepito appeared in Episode 52 - "Lucy's Show Biz Swan Song"

She also shares this classic.

In 1990, Joanne became briefly famous for finding the “lost pilot” of the “I Love Lucy Show.” Twelve years after the death of her beloved husband, she was finally cleaning out his personal office at the rear of the house. While pulling things out from under his daybed where he often napped.

Check out Carty's ode to Pepito and Joanne - The Spanish Clown and the Ballet Teacher. It's a wonderful tale and the collection of entries are lovingly prepared, and peppered with numerous treasurers.

Here is a link to her entry on "Ballyhoo" which includes a Quicktime movie clip of Ballyhoo. Check out the extra's disk of the Chaplin DVD the chance to

There is even a connection to Spring Lake's own Winsor McCay.

I love the Internet!

Buster Keaton Images

2008-12-04T20:31:00.003-05:00

Check out the New York Public Library for some classic Keaton images

And how about Profiles in History, for this one and 44 others from
Battling Butler and other films.

And what about the Life Magazine collection?

Watch this episode of Telescope, a Canadian half-hour documentary series from 1964.

And then there are these shots snapped in New York City in the summer of 1964 during the making of Samuel Beckett's near silent short, Film.

And the huge collection of Keaton's on REX.

And don't forget Corbus.

And Getty Images.

Now, how about checking out BusterStuff for Christmas ideas. Like...

YouTube - a nice place to catch Keaton commericals of the past

2008-11-23T11:35:00.000-05:00

Keaton for Ford

Simon Pure Beer

Alka Seltzer

It also presents classic television appearances...
Candid Camera

What's My Line

Make the Connection

And Interviews...

CBC Archives: Buster Keaton on Telescope, 1964

Industrial Strength Keaton includes others. With luck, we'll see it back in print soon.

COMMERCIALS
==========
Alka Seltzer (1958) [5 spots]

Northwest Orient Airlines (1958)

Simon Pure Beer (1958) [6 spots]

Shamrock Oil / Outtakes (1959)
* Audio commentary track
* Director's interview track

Milky Way (1961)

Pure Oil (1965)

Country Club Malt Liquor (1958) [3 spots]

Ford Econoline (1963)

Jeep - Lessons in Living (1960)
* Only surviving complete Jeep commercial
* Recently discovered fragments from previously undocumented Jeep commercials.

Pure Oil (1965)

A little more on McGowan

2008-11-22T06:09:00.000-05:00

Sheet Music.

Digging around, I found McGowan ties to sheet music - a common thread among the Actors' Colony members.

The first is a shot of the music for "The Love Nest" from George M. Cohan's Musical comedy, Mary. This was sung by John "Jack" McGowan and Janet Velie.

McGowan is credited as co-writer of the song, "Birds of a Feather" with music written by Irving Berlin. Like "The Love Nest", the image is found at the Indiana University Sheet Music Collection site. Follow this link to find a piano version of the tune.

Title: Birds of a feather / / by Jack McGowan and Edgar Moran.
Title: I'm a lonesome little bird.
Composer: McGowan, Jack, d. 1977.
Contributor: Moran, Edgar.
Extent: 1 score (5 p.) : ; ill. ; ; 31 cm.
Place of publication: New York :
Publisher: Irving Berlin, Inc., /
Date of publication: 1921.
Call Number: M1 .S8 III 1920-1929
Note: For voice and piano.
First Line: I'm a lonesome little bird.
Chorus First Line: Birds of a feather.
Note: Publisher's advertising includes musical incipits.
Subject: Songs with piano.

Another McGowan song, "I Have to Laugh" appears to have another Muskegon tie. It is listed in the book

Brunswick Records: A Discography of Recordings, 1916-1931
By Ross Laird, Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, Brunswick Radio Corporation
Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001

Brunsw ick opened a manufacturing plant in Muskegon in 1906, which would ultimately become the cornerstone of the company. In 1923, the company opened a record pressing plant in town.

I'm still looking for a photograph of McGowan.

Anyone? Anyone? (44 seconds in...)

Has anyone heard of John "Jack" McGowan?

2008-11-11T05:01:00.000-05:00

I was digging around the internet one evening when I stumbled across a book called "American Playwrights of Today". Of course, today was really a reference to the 1930's so I had to shift my perception of time back a bit. What caught my attention was that the book referenced a gentleman who was born in Muskegon in 1894, who "drifted into theater, with which both his parents had been connected." His name was John McGowan.

Of course, my recall of the surname, and its tie to Muskegon comes from the restaurant that once was located at the "end of the trolley line" back in the days of the Actors' Colony.

In addition, in the biography of Keaton co-star and former colony member, "Big Joe" Roberts, their is also a reference to a McGowan.

In 1914, Roberts and his wife (Lillian Stuart) teamed with Johnnie McGowan, for another tour of "On the Road." McGowan was renowned as a singer, performing "You Were Made to Love" and "You Have Something I Want."

Could Johnnie McGowan be John McGowan?

Well, the time fame certainly fit.

More digging turned up additional detail on the career of Mr. McGowan. At the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, I discovered that McGowan had donated papers covering his career as an actor, playwright and director. In addition, I found a brief biography.

John McGowan was born on January 12, 1894 in Muskegon, Michigan. He ran away from home when a freshman in high school, making his way to Flint Michigan, and then to Chicago, where he became a singer of illustrated songs for ten dollars a week.

There followed short stints in a two-act with a vaudeville actor and in the chorus of The Winning Miss. The producer of that show kept McGowan for three years in a series of tabloid shows for which he wrote many of thee jokes and songs. After developing a great desire to write for the theatre, McGowan realized that he had to catch up on his reading of the classics in order to fill the serious gaps in his knowledge.

In Danville, Illinois, in 1913, he met Howard Gale, advance-man for the Cohan and Harris road company of Officer 666 (a stage comedy from 1912) . Gale invited McGowan to come to New York to meet George M. Cohan when his present contract expired in June, 1914. Unfortunately, at nineteen, McGowan was simply too young to fit the part which Cohan, 36, had written originally for himself.

McGowan would later sign a three year contract with Florenz Ziegfield. He would later renew his association with Cohan, while writing for vaudeville, and soon after, Broadway.

From a book title, The Days We Danced, by Doris Eaton Travis, I learned that McGowan was a "red-headed Irishman with big blue eyes" would would move on to Hollywood, working for MGM under the name Jack McGowan around 1933. The Internet Movie Database site lists his extensive credentials.

According to a newspaper reference, McGowan married Betty Wyman on January 1, 1938. The former Elizabeth Calvin, became well-know to the public as the Lucky Strike girl. She would later appear in the Hollywood production "Vogues of 1938".

While in Hollywood, McGowan would work on adapting some of his Broadway success for the big screen. This included Girl Crazy, a 1930 musical he co-authored with Guy Bolton. The movie version, released in 1943, starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. In 1947, a McGowan story "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" was scripted for film Isobel Lennart. The cast included Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford and Jimmy Durante.

To date, I've found little more on McGowan's career.

It appears that he passed away in 1977.

Anyone out there able to fill in more details?

Now this is cool!

2008-11-08T16:27:00.002-05:00

Some of you may remember the image from Keaton's date book that I posted in this blog's earliest ent ry. It showed a smiling character "JOY" deboarding a train. Written on the page are the words,

MUSKEGON, MICH

LAY-OFF

HOME

In a post on the BusterKeatonFa ns discuss ion group hosted by Yahoo, Steven Rowe points out that the character "JOY" featured in the drawing comes from a popular comic strip titled "Joys and Glooms".

It was produced by T.E. Powers, and "was popular enough to get some animated films in 1912 -1923 time frame."

Vergil Noble then responds:

Thanks so much for pointing out the cartooning of T. E. Powers, Steven. After a quick search I found his 1939 obituary which includes the statements: Mr. Powers' political cartoons had a wide following and two elflike characters, "Joy" and "Gloom," with which he enlivened his drawings-always signed "T. E. Powers"- became one of the trademarks of his work during a career which made him one of the country's best known and most successful cartoonists.....

The characters "Joy" and "Gloom" which he used so often, cavorted in the corners of his cartoon. If optimism was in order, "Joy" chased "Gloom," and vice versa. "Gloom" was a mournful imp with a black beard, and "Joy" wore an eternal grin.

A note to the obit also states that Powers is reputed to be the first cartoonist to produce a newspaper comic strip in color (he drew several strips over the years in addition to his more famous editorial cartooning for the Hearst papers).

Found a couple of his cartoons posted at an on-line auction house, but none with the marginal figures. I then discovered that, in addition to two 1916 animated films, the Joy and Gloom Toy Co. was founded in 1926. An antique toy seller posts one actual item and ads for all four known toys they sold. The second ad leaves no doubt that Keaton knew the Powers cartoons and copied his style. Keaton's "Joy" is almost identical to the one depicted in that ad, particularly the half-circle skirt of the figure.

How cool is that!

The image I sho w is from a copy of date book page that hangs in the Muskegon Convention and Visitors Bureau in the old Union Station in downtown Muskegon. The train station was restored several years ago.

How I love this research stuff!!!

Classic Video

2008-11-04T06:03:00.001-05:00

Check out the new video on the site. I dug around the archives to unearth these two long-lost clips. Click on the images to watch. I hope you enjoy them!

Even Buster Keaton paid homage to McCay

2008-11-04T05:58:00.000-05:00

Keaton in "The Three Ages"

McCay emerges in his masterpiece,
"Gertie the Dinosaur"

Winsor McCay

Check out the blog Meeting McCay
Did you know that Spring Lake, MI was the childhood home to animation pioneer Winsor McCay? The city is a mere 15 miles away from Bluffton.

"Even Buster Keaton paid homage to McCay, in his 1923 film The Three Ages. He asked his writer, Clyde Bruckman, 'Remember Gertie the Dinosaur? . . . The first cartoon comedy ever made. I saw it in a nickelodeon when I was fourteen. I'll ride in on an animated cartoon.' "

"Before Mickey: The Animated Film"
by Donald Crafton

How about a Buster Keaton Statue in Bluffton?

2008-10-29T05:11:00.001-04:00

For some years now, I've been working on this history of a vaudeville Actors' Colony started by, among others, Joe Keaton. His son, of course, was Buster.

Many ideas have emerged from the project. The first was a "Second Day of Issue" cancellation for the Keaton U.S. Postage Stamp (I was too late to the game to get the first day of issue). Then there was mounting an exhibit spanning his career at the local County Museum. It was enjoyed by local residents and visitors to Muskegon for the first Keaton Convention way back in 1995. Next came a the publication of a booklet entitled Buster Keaton and the Muskegon Connection - The Actors' Colony at Bluffton 1908-1938. Then it was showing Keaton films at the Frauenthal (14 years now and counting).

Three years into the original concept, we were able to request and purchase a Michigan state historical marker for the area. One side honors the colony, the other side, Keaton. It was placed in what I'll call a small pocket park overlooking the colony. Among my dreams for this space was a statue of Keaton.

My dreams are big...

Thanks to the city's greatest benefactor, Charles Hackley, Muskegon plays host to some beautiful public sculptures. Located in the downtown area, Joseph Carabelli created a 76-foot tall Civil War monument dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1892 in Hackley Park. Expanding the concept, Hackley commissioned sculptor Charles Niehaus to created monuments to Abraham Lincoln and David Farragut, and sculptor J. Massey Rhind to create pieces honoring Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. The four statues were dedicated on Memorial Day, 1900.

A year later, another monument was presented by Hackley. This one of Philip Kearny by Henry Kirke Brown was dedicated on Memorial Day 1901 and stands a short distance from downtown. Internet research states that it is a copy of the Kearny statue placed in the United States Capitol by the state of New Jersey.

Six weeks following the assassination of President William McKinley, Hackley commissioned Niehaus to create a piece honoring McKinley. It was unveiled on Memorial Day, 1902. It stands across the street from the "Hackley Park" collection.

Instead of a monument to war heroes, my thought was a monument to a man who made us laugh.

In sticking with tradition, my thought was to mimic the approach taken by Hackley. Wouldn't it be nice to put the piece on a block of granite? To take it a step further, it would be wonderful to dedicate it on a Memorial Day. After all, Keaton did serve in World War I.

Instead of formal pose, however, the image that I've always had in mind was this publicity shot of Keaton taken from the Navigator. Of all the stills that I've seen of Buster Keaton, it seemed most appropriate.

Using some of the rigging, Buster would be perched precariously on the granite block, gazing across the road, beyond Bluffton and the Colony, toward Muskegon Lake.

"Lake Muskegon", as Keaton referred to it, was the view that he had as a child while growing up in the family cottage, "Jingles Jungle". Keaton, according to his late widow, Eleanor, always considered Muskegon "home".

Of course, the concept has always been only a pipe dream.

Over the years I've bounced the idea around with some locals. While the image is detailed in my mind, I've always been asked to present a "model" of the monument, as well as estimated costs.

When it comes to costs - I've certainly asked around. To date, the estimates have been VERY rough, and have been for the most part, only guesses. (And, since it appears that a block of granite doesn't come cheap, my dream may need some modification...)

I'm a computer guy, not an artist, so I've been lost when it comes to creating a "model" of what I have in mind. Upon occasion, I come across something that may help advance the concept. 3D Printing is a good example, and certainly appeals to the computer guy in me...

That article led me to another site.

Unfortunately they needed more than the Keaton photograph...

From the looks of it, StudioEIS Bonzeworks would be an ideal source of such a creation. I'm sure there are others.

Now, what to do about funding...

Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes Golden Collection

2008-10-27T20:47:00.000-04:00

Joyous times as the latest edition of the the Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes Golden Collection has been released. This is Volume 6. Check out Volume 2 (or YouTube) for the classic Hollywood Steps Out.

Me - I recommend that you buy the whole series. Looney Tunes are the finest of mankind's contributions to civilization, followed by the dishwasher and the snowblower. Word is that this is the end of the series, but not the end of the release of restored Warner Brothers cartoons to DVD.

I certainly hope that is true. I'm patiently waiting for the official release of the "Censored Eleven".

Buster Keaton's genius celebrated anew

2008-10-21T08:01:00.000-04:00

For those who missed it, I'm capturing the following from the Muskegon Chronicle Editorial page

Friday, October 03, 2008

Buster Keaton's gen ius celebrated anew this weekend

Any serious student of motion pictures is conversant with the writing of the late James Agee, whose criticism of the industry and its artists was merciless, intense -- and completely on the mark. Yet there was one on whom Agee consistently showered praise: Muskegon's Buster Keaton.

"No other comedian could do as much with the dead-pan," Agee wrote of Keaton's comic genius for Life magazine in 1949. "He used this great, sad, motionless face to suggest various related things; a one-track mind near the track's end of pure insanity; mulish imperturbability under the wildest of circumstances; how dead a human being can get and still be alive; an awe-inspiring sort of patience and power to endure, proper to granite but uncanny in flesh and blood. Everything that he was and did bore out this rigid face and played laughs against it. When he moved his eyes, it was like seeing them move in a statue."

Agee continued: "His short-legged body was all sudden, machinelike angles, governed by a daft aplomb. When he swept a semaphorelike arm to point you could almost hear the electrical impulse to the signal block. When he ran from a cop, his transitions from accelerating walk to easy jogtrot to brisk canter to headlong gallop to flogged-piston sprint - always floating, above this frenzy, the untroubled, untouchable face -- were as distinct and as soberly in order as an automatic gearshift."

This weekend is your chance to either discover the great Keaton, or to rediscover his silent film-era brilliance. In conjunction with the 14th Annual International Buster Keaton Society Convention of his fan society, the "Damfinos," two of the comedian's biggest box-office smashes will be returning to the screen at the Frauenthal Theater in downtown Muskegon this weekend: "Battling Butler (1926) and "The Navigator" (1924).

The 8 p.m. Saturday shows will be accompanied by the theater organ performance of Dennis Scott, so the experience will be like that of any theatergoer of the 1920s. Should be a real treat.
And welcome back, "Damfinos," to Muskegon, adopted hometown of Buster Keaton!

Agee's article entitled "Comedy's Greatest Era, appeared in the September 5, 1949 issue of Life. It was the beginning of a new beginning for Keaton. Only months before, he had returned to Muskegon, accompanied this time with his new bride, Eleanor. Nearly forgotten in Hollywood, the article marked his return to the public eye. Television would soon offer a new audience and new generations of people that could witness his talent. Before long, Keaton was as busy as ever.

Keaton at Columbia University's Oral History Research Office

2008-10-06T11:41:00.000-04:00

In 1958, Columbia University's Oral History Research Office captured several lengthy interviews with Keaton about his life and career. They are available online, and are well worth checking out.

The interviews, which can be listened to or read here, provide
a rare glimpse of a vanished era from one of the masters of
slapstick. In doing so, they help give perspective and a sense
of history to the entertainment we see today.
Let me know what you think!

Another Keaton Weekend nearly complete

2008-10-05T09:15:00.000-04:00

Well, another Keaton Weekend is nearly complete. Just a few more items to attend to then work begins on 2009 - the 15th annual convention.

The Damfinos are headed home. Some East, some West, some North, others South. A few will cross defined borders of countries. One couple, who met here, then married here one year ago, will cross an ocean.

They are, as the bride GraceAnn describes them, all part of the "Dam" family; Keaton fans celebrating the work of their favorite family member. This year, we got to meet many who were making their first trip to the family reunion.

Here's a "team photo" taken at the baseball field where Buster learned to love the game. Many of the group joined me for the walk through the neighborhood. Still more arrived on Saturday.

Friday's viewing of the mystery film - "Hospitality" (no - that's not a typo) I'm sure will be discussed in great detail on message boards across the internet. Saturday's talks, auction, and presentation of Battling Butler and The Navigator were met with laughter, joy, applause and standing ovations (Organist's Dennis Scott's performance for the films was incredible! - He even made MGM's lion roar!).

Hope you had the chance to partake in at least part of the festivities! It was, as always, a blast!

Ron - a Damfino in Muskegon

In Michigan, Buster never loses his luster

2008-10-02T17:26:00.000-04:00

Check out the Detroit Free Press for more on Keaton. This article includes a quote from Patty Tobias, president of the International Buster Keaton Society, discussing this weekend's events.

The great debate over who was the best silent comedian -- Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton? -- has raged for nearly a century. If the number of recent screenings at the Michigan, Redford and Detroit Film Theatre is any indication, then Keaton, known as "the great stone face" for his expressionless delivery, wins hands down.
This weekend also marks the annual convention of the Keaton-crazy Damfinos, held each year in Muskegon, on the west side of the state. Why there? Because Keaton's family, along with other vaudeville acts, made this a vacation home each summer.

Buster Keaton's Midwestern Roots on Chicago Public Radio

2008-10-02T14:43:00.000-04:00

Check out Chicago Public Radio's Eight Forty-Eight program for the audio story on Keaton's midwestern roots.

When you think of silent films, the iconic Charlie Chaplin may come to mind. But true film fans know that Buster Keaton joins him as one of the most important silent film actors of all time. The great stone face was known for his wildly acrobatic maneuvers. What is less known is that his formative years were spent in Muskegon, Michigan. Keaton’s childhood was spent touring with his family on the vaudeville circuit. But his summers were spent at an actor’s colony in Muskegon founded by his father.

Follow this link for the slideshow that displays images of some of the sites talked about in the program.

Melissa Talmadge Cox

2008-10-01T19:47:00.000-04:00

A great feature of the Google empire is their new venture to organize newspapers and move the content to the Internet. Check out this article from the Cloverdale Reveille. It is a wonderful example. The article highlights Buster's granddaughter, Melissa Talmadge Cox, and her effort to keep her grandfather's name before the public. Yes, that's Dustin Hoffman standing next to her.

If it weren't for Google, what is the likelihood of finding such gems?

Another site that I use on a regular basis is newspaperarchive.com. Too bad their content from the state of Michigan doesn't run deeper.

On a Sunday Afternoon

2008-09-27T00:03:00.000-04:00

The image at left comes from the collection of The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music at The Sheridan Libraries of The John Hopkins University.

Visit the site to check out a full image of the sheetmusic. The copyright on the waltz is 1902 - the same year the Keatons made their first visit to Muskegon's Lake Michigan Park to perform.

I learned about this one because of my subscription to the Yahoo group, busterkeatonfans. We really do live in amazing times.

LAKE Magazine

2008-09-26T10:18:00.001-04:00

Check out the article on Keaton's Muskegon in the October issue of LAKE Magazine.

Here's a snippet:

Inside the historic depot in Muskegon, Mich. – a train station built in the late 1890s – a curious clue illustrates how Buster Keaton came through town: Above the reception desk, now the Muskegon County Convention and Visitors Bureau, hangs a framed copy of Keaton’s diary entries. On two dates, a sketch of a train car shows a stick figure jumping off to its destination. Next to the figure, one penciled-in word says it all: “Home.”

Along with contemporaries Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, Keaton is considered one of the greatest actors of the silent film era. He’s also one of the most innovative directors in motion picture history. His ability to perform acrobatic stunts while maintaining a deadpan facial expression earned him the nickname “The Great Stone Face.” And even if you don’t know the man, you’re bound to know his trademark porkpie hat.

Walking Tour of the Actors' Colony at Bluffton

2008-09-25T08:46:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Buster Keaton and the Muskegon Actors' Colony blog. Inspired by Morpheus' outstanding blog on legendary cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay,

Meeting McCay: Spring Lake: The Birthplace of Character Animation

I've decided to add a Blog to the
http://www.actorscolony.com/ website. The site focuses on an area
of the city of Muskegon known as Bluffton. It details the times
when the area played host to a group of vaudevillian performers
who gathered together to enjoy their summer vacation along the
shores of Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan. Together, they
formed an Actors' Colony. Among the residents was silent film
comedian, Buster Keaton.

My first blog entry highlights an opportunity for the public to visit the
Bluffton neighborhood that Keaton called "Home".This Sunday,
September 28, 2008 @ 1:30 p.m., I'm hosting a "Walking Tour of
the Actors' Colony at Bluffton." This "Keaton Walk" is open to the
public and is free of charge. Depending on questions, the walk
takes about an hour and a half.  We'll start in the parking lot at
Bluffton School, 1875 Waterworks Rd. Muskegon, MI 49441



Comfortable shoes (and perhaps a bottle of water) are recommended.
The last one - hosted on Labor Day - attracted over 30 folks from the
area.

Come on out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

Thanks!

Ron