Keaton was a genius of the silent film era whose later career was derailed by his alcoholism, bad luck, and dumb studio executives who didn't know what to do with him. Although Keaton was a contemporary of Lloyd and Chaplin, I thought he was funnier than those comedic icons. Lloyd was a one-trick acrobat, and Chaplin annoyed me with his cold, smug narcissism. What keeps Keaton fresh for me is his brilliance as a director. Even now, in the era of Industrial Light and Magic, film critics still can't figure out how he created some of his visual gags. Although it's an overused word, "genius" fits Keaton as well as his trademark porkpie hat did.
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