I stumbled on the The
Railrodder when I was looking at the IMDB page for Buster Keaton. The film
was released in 1965 and made in conjunction with the documentary, Buster Keaton Rides Again. Both were produced
by the National Film Board of Canada. Buster
Keaton Rides Again is a making of film about the production of The Railrodder, though it is twice the
length of The Railrodder. Buster Keaton Rides Again is as much a
documentary about Keaton’s life as it is a making of.
In The Railrodder,
Buster Keaton is a in London reading a newspaper. He sees an ad that says, SEE
CANADA NOW! He throws away the paper and jumps off a bridge into the Thames. The next shot he is emerging on a beach in Nova
Scotia. After seeing a sign pointing West
and saying Pacific Ocean 3982 ½ miles, he starts to walk along the railroad
tracks. He comes on a speeder, an open one seat railroad maintenance vehicle.
The seat looks comfy, so he decides to take a nap and accidentally puts it in
gear. Off he goes. The rest of the film is a series of gags, following him
across the continent.
The Railrodder is
definitely a silent film. There isn’t a single word of dialog, only music and
overdubbed sound effects. The speeder in addition to having an inexhaustible
fuel supply also has a Tardis-like storage cabinet. A running gag throughout
the film is him pulling everything from his signature pork-pie hat to a
tea set to a blanket and pillow from the tiny cabinet. Keaton celebrated his 69th
birthday during the filming. While he is not falling off any buildings,
he is clearly doing his own stunts, I presume with the exception of the jumping
off the bridge. He certainly had not lost his feel for physical comedy.
The Railrodder is
credited as, Written and Directed by Gerald Potterton. Watching the documentary,
Buster Keaton Rides Again, it’s clear
that he wrote/improvised most of the gags and surely co-directed with
Potterton. I honestly don’t think he cared about the writing/director credits.
The documentary clearly shows how he worked. The Railrodder is a wonderful short film.
I have embedded The Railrodder below:
I have embedded The Railrodder below:
Both the The
Railrodder and Buster Keaton Rides Again
are available for streaming free from National Film Board of Canada’s YouTube
page at the links below:
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