The Apr 3 1957 broadcast honoring the legendary silent screen comedian Buster Keaton preceded the release of "The Buster Keaton Story," marking a kind of renaissance in his up and down career. As complete a filmmaker as the revered Charlie Chaplin, Keaton never had the resources that Chaplin enjoyed, and needed the support of producer and brother in law Joseph M. Schenck to churn out one incredible classic after another. The painfully shy and reserved Keaton lacked any kind of ego at all, quite humble to be able to just keep working, and when he is surprised by Ralph Edwards one can see how nervous he was to be the honored guest (quickly handing off his cigarette!), though he loosened up and had a great time among old friends like vaudevillian Will 'Mush' Rawls and actress Louise Dressler, who discussed the rough stage act that he did with his mother and father, where local authorities were always shocked that little Buster never had any bruises or broken bones. Buster talks about his first screen role opposite Fatty Arbuckle in 1917's "The Butcher Boy," where he was hit in the face with a sack of flour, looking away to keep from flinching until Arbuckle instructs him to turn his head ("it'll be there!"). Edward Cline, his co-director on virtually all of his starring shorts, shares tales of Buster the practical joker, while Donald Crisp, who only worked on "The Navigator," discusses Keaton's generosity, and one of the most dangerous stunts in his career, a house front falling over him in "Steamboat Bill, Jr." The still current star Red Skelton, whose best gags were often suggested by Keaton, is joined by Donald O'Connor, who portrays Buster in the new biopic, relating the tale about how quickly Buster recovered from a recent illness once he learned how much money Paramount wanted to pay for his life story. Buster's lovely wife Eleanor is joined by sons Bob and Jim, a gathering that often finds the sad faced comedian rather emotional, a warm tribute indeed to the silent screen's immortal 'Great Stone Face.'
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