[Buster] Keaton’s most famous gag occurred in Steamboat Bill, Jr., in which he stands in front of a house during a cyclone. The facade of the house falls on top of him & he survives because he happens to be standing exactly where the attic window falls. Keaton refused to rehearse the stunt before shooting the scene because, as he explained, he trusted his set-up, so why waste a wall?
The wall was on a cable. Keaton stood in the "final" position, the wall was winched up into place for the beginning of the shot. Then a tech inside the building (behind the wall) gave it a push and ran out of frame.
ReplyDeleteStill took loads of guts. But so did almost every major stunt that Buster performed. The waterfall rescue in Our Hospitality knocked almost drowned him. And another water stunt in The General probably broke his neck. (The long-healed broken neck was discovered years later during a routine physical).
there's a good reference to that scene in an episode of arrested development - and it happens to the character named Buster.
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