The Art of Buster Keaton.

• Author: Rothenberg, Robert S.

Reviewed by ROBERTS ROTHENBERG Managing Editor, USA Today

Kino Video / 10 cassettes / $29.95 apiece

While Charlie Chaplin long has been accorded the sobriquet "The King of Comedy," our vote still goes to the Great Stone Face--Buster Keaton. His remarkable ability to combine athleticism, acrobatics, pathos, deadpan humor, and just plain daffiness made him a mainstay of silent pictures. The re-issue of these classic films in digitally restored video format is long overdue and welcome to those who remember seeking them out at revival houses. It also will introduce this comic genius to a generation of moviegoers who must have wondered just who it was that Johnny Depp was imitating in "Bennie and Joon."

Watching Keaton innovate techniques that have become movie staples is an utter delight. For instance, his leaping from "real life" onto the screen and into the action of the "reel life" cast, as he did in "Sherlock Jr.," was adapted by Woody Allen in "The Purple Rose of Cairo."

Each of the videos combines Keaton's features and shorts to run about an hour and a half. As they...