Petersburg, Keaton got on a plane and never returned The Fisherman was left incomplete. And with the Kennedy complex, which he complained was unfinished and lacked the technical personnel he required.Īfter less than three months in St. “The comedian kept the grounds in an uproar with his nonchalance at third base and his antics at the plate,” reported the Independent, “swinging six or seven bats and calling the balls and strikes for the umpire.”Īs work progressed on The Fisherman, however, the silent film legend grew discouraged with the area – particularly the humidity, which melted his heavy makeup and attracted insects, which stuck to his face. He played baseball for the Coca-Cola Bottlers, a St. Keaton leased an 11-room house on Snell Island, moved his wife and brother in, and was awarded the key to the city during a celebration at Williams Park. The film, it was revealed, was to begin shooting “within the week” on Weedon Island.
On July 2, the Times reported that Keaton and director Neilen had traveled to Havana, Cuba to scout additional locations for The Fisherman, the comedian’s first Kennedy-made feature. Petersburg becomes second only to Hollywood in importance in the moving picture business. The new sound stage will be completed by that time and will be ready for use … with the coming to St. Production on the first Keaton film is to start here in about three weeks. Kennedy and his backers promised him complete creative control, so Keaton signed on the dotted line and flew to Florida. (It later came to light that the deadpan star’s alcoholism had actually caused his unwitting dismissal from a lucrative MGM contract.)
Keaton was having difficulty transitioning into “talkies,” and the nascent studio system – where the big bosses, the money men, dictated every rule of production – was driving him to distraction.
Petersburg to begin a five-year contract with the Weedon Island studio. Kennedy and his in-house director Marshall Neiland made the front page of the Evening Independent May 23 with the announcement that silent film comedian Buster Keaton – “as a draw, second only to Chaplin” – was arriving in St.
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