Buster Keaton's Best Public Domain Silent Comedies

Buster Keaton — known to silent-era audiences as "the Great Stone Face" — is now regarded by most critics as American cinema's finest physical comedian. His best films were made between 1920 and 1929 during his independent producer period at his own studio. Most have lapsed into the public domain, and they remain endlessly rewatchable.

The Keaton method

Where Charlie Chaplin built comedy from emotion outward, Keaton built it from physics inward. He treated the camera as a documentary observer of impossible stunts: trains crashing through buildings, houses falling on him with the open window framing his body, hurricanes blowing him sideways while he ran. Nearly all of it was real. Keaton refused to use trick photography for stunts and routinely risked his life — most famously in Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), where a two-ton building façade falls on him and he survives only because he stood exactly in the path of the open second-story window.

The essential features

action-comedy-maste/" class="auto-link">The General (1926) — Now widely considered the greatest American silent film. Set during the Civil War, Keaton plays a Southern train engineer chasing his stolen locomotive. The historical scale and choreographic precision rival Griffith. It bombed on initial release; modern critics rank it alongside Citizen Kane in greatest-films polls.

Sherlock Jr. (1924) — Keaton plays a movie projectionist who falls asleep and dreams himself into the film he's projecting. The famous sequence where Keaton walks into the screen and is buffeted by sudden cuts to different landscapes was decades ahead of its time. Forty-five minutes; not a wasted shot.

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) — Keaton's final independent feature. Contains the famous building-collapse stunt as well as a 20-minute cyclone sequence that's still one of the great extended set-pieces in American cinema.

Seven Chances (1925) — Keaton must marry by 7 p.m. to inherit a fortune. The closing chase sequence, with hundreds of brides-in-veils pursuing him across the city, builds to an avalanche of boulders that's been homaged constantly (Indiana Jones, Wile E. Coyote, etc.).

Our Hospitality (1923) — Keaton in a feud-era Appalachian setting. Lower in slapstick than the others but features one of his greatest stunts: rescuing his fiancée at the edge of a waterfall.

The shorts

Before Keaton moved to features, he made 19 two-reel shorts between 1920 and 1923. Most are also public domain, and several rank with his best work:

One Week (1920) — Keaton's first independent short. He and his bride attempt to assemble a portable house from a kit. The escalation of disaster is masterful.

Cops (1922) — A single chase. Keaton, mistaken for a bomb-thrower at a parade, is pursued through Los Angeles by the entire city police force. The geometric precision of the chase choreography is unmatched.

The Playhouse (1921) — Keaton plays every role in a vaudeville theater — performers, audience, stagehands, conductor — using split-screen photography that was revolutionary in 1921.

Public domain status

Because Keaton's independent features were produced through Joseph M. Schenck's company and released through Metro and United Artists with varying copyright handling, most of his 1920–1928 output has lapsed into the public domain through failed renewals. (His later MGM and Educational Pictures-era work has more complicated rights.)

Where to start

Watch Sherlock Jr. first. At 45 minutes it's the shortest of his major features and contains his most innovative camera work. From there, jump to The General for the full Keaton experience: meticulous, physical, beautifully composed, and quietly devastating.