nitrateglow:

Alright, here’s an interesting question: Let’s assume Keaton was still an independent filmmaker well into the early 1930s. Could he have adapted his style to sound the way he wanted (only using dialogue when necessary) and been successful? I was reading a review of one of his MGM talkies and the author said that Keaton couldn’t adapt, which I disagree with, but it got me wondering how well an independent Keaton talkie might have done at the box office.

It is an interesting question and I’d like to take a stab at it.  I’m 100% certain he could not have carried on as an independent.  The sound technology was too expensive.  But, even LLoyd and, IMO, Chaplin, who were millionaires and both extremely talented, did not adapt well to sound.

 As far as the MGM talkies go, every one that Buster made was considered a success, because they all made money (and they were made during the Depression!).  Even “What, No Beer?” was a hit.  That’s why we see the photo of Keaton with Jackie Cooper so often here.  It’s a publicity still for what was to be Buster’s next MGM feature, a movie called “Buddies”, but Buster was fired.

I think if he’d been given his own unit, picked his own stories, and been allowed to prove himself, he would have made some damn fine films, most likely would have pushed the creative aspects of the technology forward, and turned a profit for the company.  The ideas he pitched to MGM were amusing (for instance, the parody of Grand Hotel would have been great), but they, unfortunately didn’t go for it.

If you look at what he did at Educational with such low budgets, the best parts are silent, but when the sound is there it works.  What comes to mind is his parody of “Mary” at the opening of “Grand Slam Opera” and later the dance sequence at the radio station, he’s reacting to the music.  And he’s marvelous.

The problem with Buster was not that he couldn’t adapt to sound.  He did.  The problem was that he wanted to be his own boss, and in that era, he couldn’t.  

Since he was not the type of person who wanted to spend his time arguing, he decided to drink instead.  Which led to a few bad years for him, but, hey, he came out the other side in one piece, still funny, still working and isn’t that why we love him in the first place?