In years past, the Buster Keaton Celebration has looked at a number of different aspects of the silent film great’s career, from his collaborations with other silver screen stars to his influences on American culture in the early years of the 20th century.
This year’s celebration tackles the Great Stone Face’s foray into the Western film genre with its “Buster Keaton and the Wild West.”
Westerns, one of the most popular film genres around, were in Keaton’s time. And since Keaton and his screen partners, most notably Fatty Arbuckle, dabbled occasionally in that genre, Keaton Committee organizers agreed the topic deserved a more extensive look.
This year’s celebration — it’s 23rd and next-to-the-last for Iola — will differ from past celebrations in a few, but significant, ways.
Perhaps most notably, in an effort to defray costs, all out-of-town attendees must pay a $20 admission fee to attend the weekend’s programs.
Iolans will be admitted free of charge; their “admission” is being covered courtesy of a donation from Iola’s Tourism Fund, noted Susan Raines, Bowlus director.
The $20 admission fee covers both Friday and Saturday.
Additionally, the Friday and Saturday evening film screenings — “The General” on Friday; “Moonshine” and “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” on Saturday — will be shown via a Blu-Ray player with use of the Bowlus’ new state-of-the-art digital projection system.
“I think the audience is really going to enjoy it,” Raines said.
As with years past, a number of Keaton and film historians will be on hand.
Scott Eyman, a noted author, book editor, art critic and lecturer will look at “Buster Keaton and the Landscape of the West,” and discuss Keaton’s relationship with the Wild West, mostly in parody form.
Eyman has authored 13 books, including the 2014 New York Times Bestseller “John Wayne The Life and Legend.”
His next book, his third collaboration with veteran actor Robert Wagner, will be published in November.
Elliott West, a professor of history at the University of Arkansas, will look at “The West in an Age of Scientific Revolutions,” and detail how much of what was happening in the world of science was exemplified through Western films.
A CAST of the usual suspects, primarily long-time Keaton Committee members, will explore other topics:
— Frank Scheide, communications professor at the University of Arkansas, will look at “A Disturbing Legacy: The Treatment of Native Americans in Westerns.” Scheide has been the chairman or co-chair of the Keaton Committee since 1998.
— Film historian Martha Jett, who lives and presents at numerous workshops in West Virginia, will discuss “Slips, Trips and Falls: Stunt People, including Yakima Canutt, Helen Gibson & Buster.”
— Robert Arkus, film archivist and historian out of New York City, will look at Fatty Arbuckle’s sidekick with “Al St. John: From Slap Shoes to the Saddle.”
— David Macleod will once again sojourn from London to southeast Kansas, this time to discuss “Smile When You Say That: Buster Keaton’s Western Sojourns.”
— Hooman Mehran, a recognized expert on early film comedy and Keaton Committee member for the past 10 years will look at “Keaton’s Animal Magnetism.”
— Lisa Stein Haven, associate professor of English at Ohio University Zanesville will feature “Zane Grey and the Myth of the American Frontier on Page and Silent Screen.” Grey, she explains, authored a series of popular Western novels in the early 1900s, including “Riders of the Purple Sage.”
— Iolan Keith Goering will look at “Buster Bumpers: A Trifling Collection of Tidbits From the Career and Time of Buster Keaton.”
HIGHLIGHTING this year’s celebration will be an exhibit by Iola artist Gary Hawk, who for decades has delighted art aficionados with paintings of rural, western and wildlife art.
Hawk will be honored from 6 to 7:30 this evening with a reception at the Mary L. Martin Gallery in the Bowlus. The Gallery will be open during the duration of the weekend’s Keaton celebration.
In addition, a silent auction will be held through the weekend as a means to raise funding for next year’s celebration.
Melissa Talmadge Cox, Keaton’s granddaughter, and Barbara Talmadge, Keaton’s daughter-in-law, will be special guests at the 2016 celebration.
And The Mont Alto Orchestra will once again be on hand for musical accompaniment with the evening shows.
ORGANIZERS also have announced the 2017 Keaton celebration will be the last, Raines said.
The final page of the program being handed out to attendees notes “Next year, it’s THE END!”
“We’d planned on ending after 25 years,” Raines said. “Our conversation after the 20th celebration was we could do it five more years.
“You go a certain length of time and you think, ‘Have we covered every possible area of interest from a humanities perspective?’” Raines continued. “And you have to remember, some of these committee members have been a part of this for 25 years.”
(Next year’s Keaton celebration, technically, will be the 24th, because organizers skipped a year in 2014 to focus instead on the Bowlus’ 50th anniversary celebration.)
