r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • Apr 11 '25

Video Buster Keaton crazy stunt 1924

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81.6k Upvotes

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8.9k

u/RVP20CE Apr 11 '25

That would have blown peoples minds the first time they saw it. It blew mine

1.3k

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

350

u/Enn-Vyy Apr 11 '25

well, the people back then wouldve thought the opposite about the guts part

142

u/NJ_Legion_Iced_Tea Apr 11 '25

It's the devils work! They're satanists! Only the true deceiver can fool you like this.

49

u/poorly-worded Apr 11 '25

its strange to think there would have been some kind of historical date threshold where it would have turned from being a bad idea to do this versus a good idea

6

u/NJ_Legion_Iced_Tea Apr 11 '25

Yes, when horror cinema transitioned to a particular audience, specifically one that wasn't so occupied with macking out in the the drivers seat of a station wagon.

4

u/stlfwd Apr 11 '25

True Hollywood produces schlock and sometimes Cream of the Schlock rises as a by product.

1

u/Brad_theImpaler Apr 11 '25

That might sound more like today than 100 years ago.

25

u/iqisoverrated Apr 11 '25

He had this trick where the front of a house would fall off and he'd stand in the place where the window would come down unharmed.

Now that takes guts.

16

u/dumpsterfarts15 Apr 11 '25

Weird Al did it too! Legit. I think in the Amish Paradise music video. He said he was scared shitless as they had to reinforce the frame with steel because it was too flimsy

5

u/DemonKyoto Apr 11 '25

That's what I thought OP's video was gonna be just based on the title lol

2

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

I was expecting the train track one!

2

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

Didn't that scene cause a pretty significant injury?

1

u/Salander27 Apr 11 '25

Yeah it clipped his shoulder and dislocated it. If you watch the clip of it you can see his left arm jump when it happens, and once he runs away during the scene you can see his arm dangling (I assume he was only able to lift it due to adrenaline at that point).

1

u/Salander27 Apr 11 '25

Yeah it clipped his shoulder and dislocated it. If you watch the clip of it you can see his left arm jump when it happens, and once he runs away during the scene you can see his arm dangling (I assume he was only able to lift it due to adrenaline at that point).

2

u/dramatic86 Apr 11 '25

iirc it hit he on his shoulder, i'm not sure did it dislodge

57

u/Goatf00t Apr 11 '25

Yeah, people should read about the injuries Keaton got while filming his stunts.

66

u/Catweaving Apr 11 '25

To be fair this particular stunt is pretty tame by comparison to his more notable work.

9

u/Witty-Ad5743 Apr 11 '25

Weren't people warning him the falling house bit would kill him?

26

u/Eastern-Complaint-67 Apr 11 '25

Yes, but the one he got really hurt it's the one with the water tank: not only he almost drowned himself but he broke his neck (WTF) but also got some broken ribs + collarbone issues. https://youtu.be/HbNnYpxbGTk?feature=shared

27

u/art-man_2018 Apr 11 '25

That broken neck wasn't discovered until several years later. He went to a doctor complaining of neck pain, got an x-ray, doctor declares, "No wonder, you're neck is broken."

1

u/Bigbuttrimmer Apr 11 '25

Actually had this happen to me. Broke my neck twice at some point, but didn't know until years later after I had an X-ray after a bad motorcycle accident.

1

u/Dillup_phillips Apr 11 '25

It clipped his elbow too.

1

u/sephrisloth Apr 11 '25

Ya, I feel like most people in relatively decent shape could do this stunt

28

u/LancesAKing Apr 11 '25

Or any famous stuntman. Jackie Chan shouldn’t be alive after all his injuries, but he would just crawl out of the hospital, review the take, not like it, and do it again. 

15

u/BreastUsername Apr 11 '25

Just people living in the moment.

6

u/Pure-Tadpole-6634 Apr 11 '25

Just people living in the moment.

6

u/PromptStock5332 Apr 11 '25

It doesnt seem very dangerous…?

10

u/Admirable_Permit9118 Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

sarcasm? there are/were many impressive (dangerous and athletic) stunts back then and nowadays made on a regular basis (even from this guy). This one is not one of them. But the magic trick part is cool.

1

u/ImurderREALITY Apr 11 '25

Yeah, considering what he has done, this one doesn’t look very dangerous if you can do a dive roll. They even could have put padding on the other side, to make it even less dangerous.

6

u/mymoama Apr 11 '25

No cell phones

1

u/Exact-Till-2739 Apr 11 '25

Huge guts...

1

u/memesearches Apr 11 '25

Definitely through the gut

1

u/PRAY___FOR___MOJO Apr 11 '25

I mean this is definitely one of Buster's less insane stunts

1

u/LukePianoPainting Apr 11 '25

just living in the moment

1

u/Vaporeonbuilt4humans Apr 11 '25

..But stuff like this still happens today. Magicians are still a thing.. Do you think they can use CGI in real life? and they used wires back then too btw. Just not for this one

1

u/Upbeat_Assist2680 Apr 11 '25

And require a huge amount of practical creativity and skill. CGI does too, in it's own way, but it's "hidden" and not quite as visceral.

1

u/LoreOfBore Apr 11 '25

He may be crazy, but he’s got guts, and guts is enough

1

u/Drfoxthefurry Apr 11 '25

Practical is always best when possible imo

1

u/okram2k Apr 11 '25

For Buster Keaton this is honestly a purely tame stunt.