Let's let all of DU decide!!! Charlie Chaplin vs. Buster Keaton

[LynneSin]

Who really was the best?

Charlie Chaplin:


vs.

Buster Keaton:


Personally, I think Charlie not only did it better, but his best masterpieces of silent film came when talkies were the normal for theator going (See City Lights, Gold Rush & Modern Times. The Great Dictator had talking)

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. WooHoooo! I got the first vote in!!!

:P :loveya: even if you are a misguided Eagles/Chaplin fan. ;)

[sniffa]

2. which one was in 'birth of a nation'

i choose him.

[Zuni]

4. That would be the sinister mulatto

he is not pictured

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

23. though the great lillian gish was in it

a stain on an otherwise beautiful career

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

24. tough call-but i give chaplin the edge

keaton had better bits, but chaplin was the superior director and made better movies.

on the other hand, buster never got any teenagers pregnant, though charlie was a great opponent of facsism and mccartyism, so a tie there as well

[Zuni]

3. Did you know

That Chaplin and Hitler not only shared mustaches, they were born only 4 days apart?

[LynneSin]

6. Yep

Chaplin said years after WWII that if he had known the true horror of what Hitler had done he would have never made "The Great Dictator". TGD came out around 1939 before anyone was aware that Hitler was gassing jews. But even still, there was a great message about tolerance at the end of the movie!

[Zuni]

9. Actually

Hitler and the Nazis didn't gas Jews until 1942. The only people being gassed were invalids and others with disabilities in 'Aktion Reinhard' camps.

[LynneSin]

11. Well, yeah, you know what I mean

I mean, Chaplin made the comment after the war was overwith. It was the overall concept that he was spoofing a dictator that ended up gassing like 6 million people. He wasn't finding it very humorous!

[DistressedAmerican]

10. Yeah What Did Buster Do For Social Justice?

Nothing, just made folks laugh by hanging off of a clock. Then laughed himself all the way to the bank! Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!

:evilgrin:

[NYCGirl]

14. The guy who was hanging off a clock was NOT Buster Keaton,

He was my favorite, Harold Lloyd (usually known as "The Third Genius")

[Zuni]

18. damn straight!

Lets kill Buster keaton!

[LynneSin]

19. Exactly!!!

In "City Lights" the message was class warfare: The Rich Man didn't even recognize the lil tramp unless the Rich Man was drunk

In "Modern Times" the message was Moderization replace jobs: The best was when Charlie was sucked into the Machine.

And of course the Great Dictator the Message was Tolerance: It was the first movie where we actually heard Charlie Chaplin's voice. And although most of the time the voice was gibberish (The language spoken by Hynkel/Tomania was made up), but when the lil Jewish Barber spoke he made the most eloquant speech:

I'm sorry but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black men, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each others' happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge as made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these things cries out for the goodness in man; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say "Do not despair." The misery that has come upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to these brutes who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle and use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are men! With the love of humanity in your hearts! Don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to the happiness of us all. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us unite! Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up! Look up, Hannah! The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their greed, their hate and their brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope! Look up, Hannah! Listen!

[H2O Man]

5. In my opinion

the fact that Buster Mathis decisioned George Chuvalo needs to be considered. I liked Charlie better.

[DistressedAmerican]

7. Yo MrsGrumpy , Where Is The Love For Buster NOW?

It is never too late to see the error of your ways.

On Edit: Maybe I spoke too soon. Buster is gaining! Don't make me have to leave DU over this!

[ClassWarrior]

8. That's like "Asimov or Bradbury?"... but I think Buster edges out Charlie.

NGU.

[progmom]

12. I have to vote for Buster Keaton.

Chaplin was great, but Keaton was a genius.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. .....and...

because you love me best. Right? RIGHT??? ;) :P :hi:


Although, I concede that I adore LynneSin and so you shouldn't choose between us...only on the Keaton/Chaplin thing. ;)

[Minstrel Boy]

15. Buster

Chaplin was a genius, and he knew it. Keaton was a genius, and he didn't know it. He considered himself just a working comic. I think his great work holds up better for that lack of self regard.

I also like my comedy deadpan.

[Aiptasia]

16. Buster had more elaborate choreography, Chaplin was more endearing

So I love them both.

[DistressedAmerican]

17. LynneSin Damn You For AMking Me Care Which Is Better.

It has never been an issue for me before today!:argh:

[LynneSin]

20. Well, we're here at DU to expand the minds of all

I'm sure Buster Keaton is very good. My heart is just set with Charlie Chaplin!!

[LionInWinter]

21. Hah!

I tied this thing up again!

[ScreamingMeemie]

22. I was hoping it would sink with Buster on top.

:(

[LionInWinter]

26. Nope.

Now everyone has to play nice & stay friends! :toast:

[KittyWampus]

25. Harold Lloyd Kicked Ass & Had A More Durable Career.

So NEITHER of you know what yer talkin' bout.

Lloyd did his own stunts and they were REALLY dangerous.

In 'Safety Last' he hung from a highrise clock.

[NYCGirl]

29. And he did those dangerous stunts — BTW, did you ever see the chase

scene in Girl Shy? amazing — while missing the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. He wore a prosthetic glove.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/lloyd_h.html

[KittyWampus]

30. Didn't Know About The Glove! That's Amazing.

[NYCGirl]

31. You can sometimes tell in a closer shot.

Many of Lloyd's films are finally getting a DVD release in the fall!

:woohoo:

[MsAnthropy]

27. Buster! Buster! Buster!

Did you know that Harry Houdini gave him that nickname?

[Gloria]

28. Damfino!!!!

Keaton for me. Something so soulful about him. I sometimes think the Basil Fawlty character had some Keaton in him....always trying, but generally being foiled.

[LynneSin]

32. Obviously there are some people who have not seen a Chaplin movie

which is why he's lagging behind a bit.

Believe me, once you go Chaplin you never go back!