This takes you from Buster's birth to death in about three hours and three installments with an emphasis on his body of work. It is unusual in that you get quite a bit of interview material from Raymond Rohauer, the man responsible for financially backing the restoration of Buster's films, destined for nitrate decomposition, in the 1950s. And you hear from Keaton himself throughout the documentary, in what looks like interview material that was largely done during the filming of "Buster Keaton Rides Again" made in 1964, two years before his death. Other prominent interviewees are his widow, Eleanor, who comments not only on the time she knew him but on what he had told her about earlier times. What's also insightful are interviews with some of the stuntmen and technicians who worked with him in his silent independent days and during his time at MGM. These aren't film scholars summarizing his work. All of these people actually knew the man.
It gets only a few things wrong. For one, Buster Keaton was not fired by MGM in person by Louis B. Mayer as a result of an argument between the two over his "party mobile" - a luxury motor home parked on the MGM lot. Instead, after "What No Beer?" opened, and was making good money, L. B. Mayer took advantage of the fact that Irving Thalberg was away convalescing due to a heart attack to fire Buster by telegram. And even that could have been patched up by Thalberg when he returned, but Buster demanded Mayer apologize. That was just not going to happen.
I'll also say that the Educational shorts Buster made in the mid 30s get short shrift here too. The documentary mentions "Grand Slam Opera", which in my opinion is brilliant. But some of the others are quite good even if you can tell they were rushed out the door.
Buster's humble but creative spirit comes through the entire documentary. For even as an older man, you can always see that fragile yet rambunctious spirit of his and the intense passion he had for his craft.
