Want to know the best Buster Keaton movies? How about the worst Buster Keaton movies? Curious about Buster Keaton box office grosses or which Buster Keaton movie picked up the most Oscar nominations? Need to know which Buster Keaton movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
One of our goals here at Ultimate Movie Rankings is do a career movie page on every member of the American Film Institute’s Top 50 Greatest Screen Legends list. Happy to say that this Buster Keaton page is the 49th AFI page leaving only Mary Pickford to complete. Keaton is ranked as the 21st best actor, right behind #20 The Marx Brothers and right before #22 Sidney Poitier. Buster Keaton (1898-1966) was an American actor, director, producer, writer, and stunt performer. His IMDb page shows 149 acting credits from 1917-1966. This page will rank 28 Buster Keaton movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Cameos, television appearances, shorts, bit parts and movies not released in North America were not included in the rankings.
Drivel part: This page took a very long time to put together. Shockingly we were able to find box office numbers for every single Keaton full length feature made between 1920-1939. Although Keaton continued to work…most of his movies after 1939 were bad and sad. We only included 4 movies during this time span. The rest were either one day roles, C budget movies or cameos. Granted his appearance in Sunset Blvd. is one of the best cameo roles ever!
Buster Keaton Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Buster Keaton Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Buster Keaton movies by his job in the movie
- Sort Buster Keaton movies by his co-star in the move
- Sort Buster Keaton movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Buster Keaton movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Buster Keaton movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Buster Keaton movie received and
- Sort by many Oscar® wins each Buster Keaton movie won.
- Sort Buster Keaton movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Buster Keaton
1. Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton was born in Piqua, Kansas in 1895. Piqua was where his vaudeville family was performing.
2. Harry Houdini was one of the first people to see Buster Keaton. Houdini worked for Buster’s father in the in the vaudeville show that was touring. Houdini is the one that gave Keaton his nickname of Buster. Houdini saw baby Keaton take a tumble down a long flight of stairs without injury. After the infant sat up and shook off his experience, Houdini remarked, “That was a real buster!”
3. Buster Keaton became hearing-impaired after serving in Germany fighting World War I.
4. Buster Keaton said he learned everything about movie making and comedy from Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle. Keaton and Arbuckle made 14 shorts from 1917 to 1920. Keaton’s short films made him famous around the world.
5. Buster Keaton never received an Oscar® nomination but he did receive a Honorary Oscar® in 1960: “For his unique talents which brought immortal comedies to the screen”
6. Buster Keaton was married three times in his life. He had 2 children.
7. The three top comedians in silent era Hollywood were Keaton,Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. All three comics produced, controlled and owned their own films. Keaton was convinced to sell his studio and films to MGM in the 1920s, while Chaplin and Lloyd retained ownership of their films. Chaplin and Lloyd became wealthy, while Keaton endured years of financial and personal problems.
8. Buster Keaton not only do all his own stunts, but, when needed, he acted as a stunt double for other actors in the films. The stunt in 1928’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. where the wall falls around Keaton was performed with an actual full-weight wall. Half the crew walked off the set rather than participate in a stunt that would have killed Keaton if he had been slightly off position. Keaton himself, told the previous day that his studio was being shut down, was so devastated that he didn’t care if the wall crushed him or not. Many members of the film crew refused to be involved in the filming of the scene.
9. Buster Keaton’s The General (1926) is currently the 138th highest rated movie on IMDb.com. When The General was originally released it was a box office flop and considered a major disappointment by critics.
10. Buster Keaton was voted the 7th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, making him the highest rated comedy director. Charles Chaplin didn’t make the list.
Check out Buster Keaton’s movie career compared to current and classic stars on our Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time page.
AFI’s Top 25 Screen Legend Actors….with links to my movie pages on the Screen Legend
For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.
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1 The only Buster Keaton flick that I’ve ever seen has been The General and my other two acquaintances with his work were Donald O’Connor playing him in the 1957 movie The Buster Keaton Story and of course Bruce’s Keaton page on this site. I wasn’t therefore sure if I would be able to enjoy your video but wanted to see it anyway to compare it as far as possible with Bruce’s written profile.
2 As it happens the video had my attention as soon as I heard that lively score to which I could have listened even if there had been no visuals. Other comments: (1)The presentation is so laced with suggestive pictorials that they must have been created at a time when censorship was light*** (2) if anything your poster reproductions are even better than the superb one in the Chaplin video and particularly impressing me were College, Spite Marriage, Navigator, 7 Chances, and The General (3) Bruce’s co-star links column had surprised me by showing that Jimmy Durante had been in 2 of Keaton’s flicks but your posters surprised me yet again by revealing that Keaton/Durante had actually been a team in those 2 movies (4) you and Bruce agree on 3 of the Top 5 but I was taken aback to see Chaplin’s Limelight as Bruce’s No 2 whereas you don’t include it at all. I can’t see Keaton’s name on any of the posters and Wikipedia lists his part as a cameo. Anyway 9.2/10 for your profile of this light of other days.
***I remember going to see an Eddie Cantor movie that was made in 1933 and was surprised about some of the near the knuckle dialogue.
Hi Bob, thanks for the review, comment, rating and observation, much appreciated. I’ve seen a few more Buster Keaton movies than you have and I have a DVD box set of his comedy shorts.
If it’s only a cameo I won’t include it on my videos, it would just confuse everyone and it’s not fair to the other more relevant movies that have to drop down a peg or two on the chart. Bruce wants to include everything even if it’s a narration or early bit part.
Movies released before 1934 are known as pre-code films and censorship was more lax, you see a bit more flesh and more frank talk in those early films. A good example are those early Mae West comedies with Cary Grant and naughty Busby Berkeley musicals like Golddiggers of 1933.
http://pre-code.com/tag/busby-berkeley/
I was disappointed that I have only seen two of his movies. Thanks for sharing the link.
Hey Bob….I would highly recommend tracking down a copy of Steamboat Willie Jr. It is amazing how much he accomplished on films so many years ago. Plus you would double your Keaton output.
Well done. A couple of things, you have his dates as 1907-1989, they should be 1895-1966. Lower down in the piece you have his birth date listed as 1898.
Darn….I do not think I got a single Keaton date correct. The template I copied was from my Laurence Olivier page…that was one of the mistakes…the others….I have no excuse. Thanks again.
Hi, Bruce1
Big fan of Buster Keaton – I prefer him over Chaplin.
I had recorded Limelight a while back and was going to watch it, but then with the storyline, I decided I wasn’t emotionally prepared for Claire Bloom’s character for now. It will wait.
I have seen 14 movies that you have listed here.
My favourites include (I can’t pick out a ranking) Steamboat Bill Jr., Sherlock Jr., The Cameraman, The General, Our Hospitality, and What Ever Happened On the Way to the Forum.
Congratulations on finding enough movies with box office to be able to do one table after all.
Regarding his cameos and short appearances: favourites are:
Sunset Boulevard
Around the World in 80 Days
Everybody seemed to do at least a cameo in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which I overall love to watch, but not for Keaton’s cameo. It would have almost been better if he had had a one liner like Jack Benny did in the film.
Watching him in In the Good Old Summertime in a secondary part is sad. The fact that I only watch this at Christmas time means that isn’t an issue. It is a much happier version than the original that has Frank Morgan’s attempted suicide.
I’ve seen a lot of his shorts of course.
I love Buster Keaton!
Do you have this link up on TCM?
Hey Flora.
1. Tally count….we have a tie…you and Steve are at 14….I am a distant 3rd…with 3….the shame …the shame I tell ya…..hiding in the corner with my 3.
2. Limelight is one of the three I have seen. A very enjoyable movie…Chaplin is awesome….Keaton has a nice supporting role. Bloom’s character has a rough first 30 minutes but gets rolling after that….you should check it out….and break the tie….lol.
3. Of the three I have seen….I would say Steamboat, Limelight and The General would be my order….so I have only seen 2 of your Top 6. Sherlock Jr. is the one I want to see the most.
4. When I finally got serious about doing this page….my second tier of research came through. Which was very cool…two books especially were very very useful….Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat by E.McPherson and The Fall of Buster Keaton: His Films for MGM, Educational Pictures, and Columbia by J. Neibaur. They saved the day.
5. I originally included Sunset Blvd, It’s A Mad World and Around The World In 80 Days in the rankings…but when they got the Top 3 spots…I decided to take them out.
6. I think my description of his career from 1939 to his death in 1966…”sad and bad” is a good way to describe his career….especially when he played an Indian in the Beach Party movies in the 1960s.
7. I have not linked this to TCM yet….I was going to wait until I finish Pickford….because after I finish the 50th and last one…I was going to create an AFI page…with links to all 50 legends…I figured that would be a good page to share….I imagine the 50 stars have almost 2000 movies ranked on those pages.
As always…thanks for sharing your movie thoughts. One more to go!
Well, I kind of already put up a Keaton page…..
I appreciate that. The TCM website is a great place to share these classic web pages. Thanks for all the support.
Hi
It must have been awful for him all of those years in the Wilderness practically forgotten. I was surprised his box office wasn’t higher in the 1920’s, considering his reputation.
As a kid there used to be a show about silent movies, where they covered Chaplin, Lloyd and of course, Keaton. Sadly there doesn’t seem to be anything similar that would encourage young people to even watch a silent movie. I think with film students, there will always be an appreciation for Buster and what he achieved.
Turner Classic Movies fans love silent films and they are very popular among them.
Thanks for the information Flora.
Hey Wilde…I agree it had to be very hard on Keaton from 1933 on….especially seeing Lloyd and Chaplin having it all…and him struggling. The box office numbers shown are North America only….his movies did much better overseas….I have the worldwide box office numbers are about 10 of the movies listed….many of those crossed the $100 million mark. Keaton never really had a monster box office hit. I have a list from 1933 that lists the Top 75 box office hits….Keaton does not even come close to having a movie on that list.
I think if they watch Steamboat Bill, Jr. they would be entertained…but I can not even get my kids to watch the 5 minute video in this page much less a 90 minute silent movie. Film students will keep the name Buster Keaton alive for many years. Thanks for stopping by.
Looking at that list of AFI actors, what an amazing group, all legends. My least favorite is probably James Dean, well he only made three films before his untimely death. John Wayne should have been a little higher in the ranks, above Fred Astaire. Buster Keaton must have been well respected to be placed above Orson Welles. The Marx Brothers are my favorite comedians on the list.
I’ve seen about 14 of the 28 Buster Keaton films you’ve listed, most of them from the 1920s. I bought a dvd box set of his films and shorts about 10 years ago.
His most famous film is The General which barely made the UMR top 10, for shame Bruce! [wink] Other favorites include Sherlock Jr and Steamboat Bill Jr. Some of the stunts in his films are incredible, a miracle he wasn’t killed.
I enjoyed reading the trivia you’ve posted, it was sad to read he didn’t get rich from his classic comedies.
Excellent work Bruce, mission accomplished. For this AFI list anyway. Voted Up!
Hey Steve. I like the AFI list….I think they did a better job with the actors than they did with the actresses. James Dean was by far the easiest page to do…as having only 3 movies did not take much time to research. I would agree with you that Wayne is too far down the list….he has to be in the Top 10. I get lots of my traffic from Facebook movie pages. The John Wayne, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis fans are far and away the most active…..the power of Wayne that 40 years after his last movie…his fanbase is still so strong.
14….kicked my butt this time. I have seen only 3….with Steamboat Bill Jr being my favorite…..let’s see Flora is at 14 too…a tie….quick watch another Keaton movie. The UMR Score on The General got hurt because of box office…..it is his masterpiece…but at the time the box office failure of the movie…pretty much ended his studio…..if you look at “his starring roles only”…The General gets close to the Top 5.
Keaton going to MGM was tragic….Lloyd and Chaplin told him not to do it. Seems there is a good movie just waiting to happen with those 3 legends….let’s see….Will Ferrell plays Chaplin, John C. Reilly plays Lloyd and Mark Wahlberg plays Keaton…I see box office dollars….lol.
Thanks for the compliment, visit and comment.