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The Playhouse (film)
Encyclopedia
The Playhouse is a 1921 silent short film written, directed by, and starring Buster Keaton
. The movie runs for 22 minutes, and is most famous for an opening sequence in which Keaton plays every role.
. In this first sequence, Keaton plays the conductor and every member of the orchestra, the actors, dancers, stagehands, minstrels, and every member of the audience, male and female. As an audience member, Keaton turns to the "woman" sitting beside him and remarks, "This fellow Keaton seems to be the whole show." This was a gibe at one of Keaton's contemporaries, Thomas Ince, who credited himself generously in his film productions. In interviews with Kevin Brownlow
, Keaton claims he gave the director's credit to Cline mainly because he did not want to appear too Ince-like himself: "Having kidded things like that, I hesitated to put my own name on as a director and writer."
This elaborate trick-photography sequence turns out to be only a dream when Joe Roberts
rouses Keaton from bed. The bedroom then turns out to be not a bedroom, but a set on a stage.
The second half of the film features Keaton's character falling for a girl who happens to be a twin
. He has difficulty telling the twin who likes him from the one who does not. An uncredited Virginia Fox
plays one of the twins. Edward F. Cline
co-wrote the production and appears, uncredited, as a monkey trainer, whose monkey Keaton impersonates onstage after accidentally letting the animal escape.
required the use of a special camera shutter. It had nine exactingly-machined strips of metal which could be moved up and down independently of each other. Elgin Lessley
, Keaton's cameraman, shot the far-left Keaton with the first shutter up, and the others down. He then rewound the film, opened the second segment, and re-filmed the next Keaton in sequence. This procedure was repeated seven more times. The camera was hand-wound, so Lessley's hand had to be absolutely steady to avoid any variation in speed. Keaton relied on a metronome
to guide him, not a problem in a silent film. It was decades before Keaton, who masterminded this, revealed his technique to other filmmakers.
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
. The movie runs for 22 minutes, and is most famous for an opening sequence in which Keaton plays every role.
Plot
The film is set up as a series of humorous tricks on the audience, with constant doubling, and in which things are rarely what they at first seem to be. It opens with Keaton attending a variety showVariety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
. In this first sequence, Keaton plays the conductor and every member of the orchestra, the actors, dancers, stagehands, minstrels, and every member of the audience, male and female. As an audience member, Keaton turns to the "woman" sitting beside him and remarks, "This fellow Keaton seems to be the whole show." This was a gibe at one of Keaton's contemporaries, Thomas Ince, who credited himself generously in his film productions. In interviews with Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent...
, Keaton claims he gave the director's credit to Cline mainly because he did not want to appear too Ince-like himself: "Having kidded things like that, I hesitated to put my own name on as a director and writer."
This elaborate trick-photography sequence turns out to be only a dream when Joe Roberts
Joe Roberts
Joe Roberts was an American comic actor, most notably in Buster Keaton's silent short films of the 1920s....
rouses Keaton from bed. The bedroom then turns out to be not a bedroom, but a set on a stage.
The second half of the film features Keaton's character falling for a girl who happens to be a twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
. He has difficulty telling the twin who likes him from the one who does not. An uncredited Virginia Fox
Virginia Fox
Virginia Fox was an American actress who starred in many silent films of the 1910s and 1920s. In 1924 she married film producer Darryl F. Zanuck, with whom she had three children, Darrylin Zanuck, Susan Zanuck, and Richard Zanuck...
plays one of the twins. Edward F. Cline
Edward F. Cline
Edward Francis Cline was a screenwriter, actor, writer and director. He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin and died in Hollywood.-Career:...
co-wrote the production and appears, uncredited, as a monkey trainer, whose monkey Keaton impersonates onstage after accidentally letting the animal escape.
Cast
- Buster KeatonBuster KeatonJoseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
- Audience / Orchestra / Mr. Brown - First Minstrel / Second Minstrel / Interlocutors / Stagehand - Edward F. ClineEdward F. ClineEdward Francis Cline was a screenwriter, actor, writer and director. He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin and died in Hollywood.-Career:...
- Orangutan trainer (uncredited) - Virginia FoxVirginia FoxVirginia Fox was an American actress who starred in many silent films of the 1910s and 1920s. In 1924 she married film producer Darryl F. Zanuck, with whom she had three children, Darrylin Zanuck, Susan Zanuck, and Richard Zanuck...
- Twin (uncredited) - Joe RobertsJoe RobertsJoe Roberts was an American comic actor, most notably in Buster Keaton's silent short films of the 1920s....
- Actor-Stage Manager (uncredited)
Production
Keaton's portrayal of nine members of a minstrel showMinstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
required the use of a special camera shutter. It had nine exactingly-machined strips of metal which could be moved up and down independently of each other. Elgin Lessley
Elgin Lessley
Elgin Lessley was an American hand-crank cameraman of the silent film era—a period of filmmaking when virtually all special effects work had to be produced inside the camera during filming...
, Keaton's cameraman, shot the far-left Keaton with the first shutter up, and the others down. He then rewound the film, opened the second segment, and re-filmed the next Keaton in sequence. This procedure was repeated seven more times. The camera was hand-wound, so Lessley's hand had to be absolutely steady to avoid any variation in speed. Keaton relied on a metronome
Metronome
A metronome is any device that produces regular, metrical ticks — settable in beats per minute. These ticks represent a fixed, regular aural pulse; some metronomes also include synchronized visual motion...
to guide him, not a problem in a silent film. It was decades before Keaton, who masterminded this, revealed his technique to other filmmakers.
See also
- List of American films of 1921
- Buster Keaton filmographyBuster Keaton filmography- Starring Roscoe Arbuckle, featuring Buster Keaton :- Starring Buster Keaton :- Starring Buster Keaton, for Educational Pictures :- Starring Buster Keaton, for Columbia Pictures :- Starring Buster Keaton, for independent producers :...
- The Oxford PlayhouseThe Oxford PlayhouseThe Oxford Playhouse is an independent theatre in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum.- History :...
(theater)
External links
- Download the original version (public domainPublic domainWorks are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
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