Buster and Bogie: Keep the Smiles to a Minimum, Please

"Start every day off with a smile and get it over with." -- WC Fields

Some stars are identified by their smiles. Take Julia Roberts, for instance. Over the years, critics have described (as well as fetishized) her smile as “thousand-watt,” “million-dollar,” and the “most profitable asset in modern cinema.” (Eh, it’s not been a solid money-maker since 2001ish, but I digress.) Similarly, after Top Gun (1986) appeared on the scene, the media all but reduced Tom Cruise to his grin and dimples, which they often labeled as “cocky,” “flashy,” and able to “melt hearts both on and offscreen.”

Other celebrities, however, are recognized for not smiling. Two glaring examples of this are silent-film comedian Buster Keaton and film noir poster-boy Humphrey Bogart, pictured above.

A veteran of vaudeville and star of some of the most beloved silent films, Buster Keaton perfected the art of physical comedy via his complex, captivating, and literally neck-breaking stunts* as well as his deadpan reaction to all the things crumbling and crashing around him. His character’s house nearly falls on top of him? Stoic stare. His locomotive practically runs him over, multiple times? Total poker face. He’s almost shot to death by a feuding family? Blank eyes, into the camera. Some have even speculated that the expressionless comedian had a no-smiling policy in his studio contract (this is apparently false). Nonetheless, as a result of this quality, Keaton was eventually nicknamed The Great Stoneface. Comedian/satirist Jon Stewart knows this and openly looks to Keaton as a mentor: “When in doubt [of some of the absurd clips on our show], I can stare blankly,” Stewart tells the NY Times in 2008. “The rubber face [...] That’s your old standby: what would Buster Keaton do?” Consequently, when we see images of Buster Keaton smiling like the one above, it is rather jarring and, yeah, kinda creepy.

The same goes for Humphrey Bogart, whose star image, for better or worse, may be boiled down to “tough guy.” This widely accepted notion derives not only from the star’s film roles and promotional material — most of which portray him as hardened, devious, cynical, aggressively sexual, and/or erratic — but also from his public appearances, published essays, outspoken political beliefs, rowdy behavior, infamous needling, multiple marriages, and the slew of written and visual commentaries that continue to reinforce this image. In other words, Bogie is defined both on and offscreen by his stern and presumably tough behavior. As a result, a smiling Bogart — either in character or in person — contradicts his star image and is, thus, a little freakish. Remember Casablanca‘s flashback to Paris when Bogart’s Rick Blaine first falls in love with Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa? Sure, it’s nice that the viewer is allowed to witness this part of the characters’ history, but it’s even more pleasurable to get back to the present, where brooding, miserable, sad-faced Bogart really shines.

Notes:

*Unaware, Keaton broke his neck during the filming of Sherlock Jr.‘s railroad water-tower scene. He stayed in character and finished the scene.

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