Buster's walk

So many people have imitated Chaplin's walk. I've never seen anyone try to imitate the way Buster Keaton walked, and I've never known anyone to remark on it, either.

It's one of the many things that strike me when I watch him. He has this particular walk, very distinctive, that fits in perfectly with the characters he plays. It's almost a toddle, as if his character is still, primarily, a child. Then he breaks out of it and starts to run, to dance, to climb, but he always returns to that walk.

Even after watching his films over and over again, it's hard to describe it, exactly. He moves through the chaos almost as if it had nothing to do with him (and, often, it doesn't). He toddles, he stumps, he staggers - but whatever he does, it's the right movement for what he is doing at the time. In a way, it's something like a wind-up toy, arms and legs in their own special harmony.

There are none of Chaplin's cane-twirling affectations about Buster; his walk is so much a part of his onscreen character that it can be difficult to focus on it alone. And he never lost it! In the episode of The Twilight Zone ("Once Upon A Time"), he takes on the character, and the walk, with the utmost ease.

Such genius.