Couldn't be arsed blogging today, but thought I'd pass on a couple of things... Archie Waugh emailed me this article on the passing of Jonathan Harris, and look who makes a guest appearance:

Author and sci-fi buff Archie Waugh had dinner with Harris in 1992 and recalls, “[Harris] reveled in the adulation of grown-up baby boomers who, like myself, were obsessed with this ultimately silly but nonetheless mesmerizing television show.” Waugh goes on to talk about Harris’s appearances: “At conventions he was almost always surrounded by doting gay fan-boys—and I use the word ‘boys’ generously; most were past 40—yet he never evidenced any particular effeminacy or stereotypically gay behavior himself; if anything, he was simply elegant and dapper.”

Didn't know Archie had authored anything apart from his alt.movies.silent posts, must ask him about that... And someone else at alt.movies.silent also pointed out this piece by Roger Ebert on Buster Keaton, part of his Great Movies series:

I'm immersed in his career right now, viewing all of the silent features and many of the shorts with students at the University of Chicago. Having already written about Keaton's "The General" in this series, I thought to choose another title. "The Navigator," perhaps, or "Steamboat Bill, Jr.," or "Our Hospitality." But they are all of a piece; in an extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, he worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies.

Hard to argue with that somehow. I've come to a bit more of an appreciation of Chaplin than I used to have—as I've discovered, the key to enjoying Chaplin is to have good prints of his films and, better still, an audience to watch them with—but I reckon I'd still take Keaton any time. And there endeth the lesson for today. Normal blogging will likely resume tomorrow.

posted by James Russell | 10:29 PM