Buster Keaton

Although silent film comedian Buster Keaton spent plenty of time in the Valley on location, his widow, Eleanor Norris Keaton, said he initially balked at her idea of looking for a home here in 1955. "He said, 'The Valley's too hot,' " she recalled. "I said, 'You have heard of air conditioning?' " Keaton, born in 1895, is considered the most sophisticated of the great silent film comics.

Lillian Gish never missed an opportunity to remind people that silent films, in which she became that art form's most celebrated actress, spoke an international language. The truth of her observation was borne out again when the American Film Institute launched its OnLine Cinema Jan. 22 with Charlie Chaplin's 1916 two-reeler "The Rink." More than 70,000 people from almost 70 countries logged on to the site to watch it, according to the AFI.

Kino on Video follows up its enormously successful 1995 "The Art of Buster Keaton" collection with a charming short film that the legendary screen clown made when he was 69. The 1965 Canadian comedy "The Railrodder" ($30)--Keaton's 87th film--finds him decked out in his familiar flat hat as he travels across the Canadian landscape in a railway handcar.

A&E's popular "Biography" series profiles two of America's most original funny men this week: Buster Keaton and Edgar Bergen. "Buster Keaton: Genius in Slapshoes," which airs Wednesday, pays tribute to the extraordinary stone-faced silent film pioneer who would have been 100 this year.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, will mark the centennial of the birth of Buster Keaton, one of the geniuses of silent film comedy, with a tribute Thursday at 8 p.m. Film historian Kevin Brownlow will moderate the program, which will include conversations with Keaton's widow, Eleanor, and his friends and co-workers. Clips from nearly 20 of Keaton's films will be screened, with live orchestral accompaniment.

What could be more welcome for movie lovers than the reissue on cassette and laser disc of the finest silent work of Buster Keaton? Unlike plenty of the other great silent film artists, many of Keaton's films have been maddeningly unavailable. One of the great legacies of American film has languished in vaults, or in sub-par video dupes.

With apologies to Mama Gump, home video is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get, particularly when it comes to the classics. It's a surprise each year to see what treasures the studios will unearth from the vaults for video release. Among the diverse offerings film buffs can look forward to early this year are new-to-video titles starring Buster Keaton, Claudette Colbert and even Ma and Pa Kettle.

Silent film great Buster Keaton may not have been treated well when he moved over to MGM as sound spread through Hollywood. But MGM finally does well by him now--via MGM/UA Home Video. The company, which has been releasing a virtual history of early Hollywood in its exploration of the first talkies, gives Keaton a beautiful showcase in "Buster Keaton: The MGM Talkies" ($140), a new five-disc release that gathers up seven of his MGM talkies, each running about an hour and a quarter.