The Railrodder  -  Buster Keaton Comes to Rivers



 
 “This short film starring Buster Keaton was one of the last films of Keaton's long career. As "the railrodder" he crosses Canada from east to west on a railway track speeder. True to his genre, the film is full of sight gags as Keaton putt-putts his way to British Columbia. Not a word is spoken throughout, and Keaton is as spry and ingenious at fetching laughs as he was in the days of the silent slapsticks”  (From the NFB Promo)

The crew and star of The Railrodder spent several days filming in Rivers at the trestle bridge. 

The film crew arrived in River on September 28, 1964 in a special coach that left the transcontinental train, which was shunted on to a side track directly across form the station.

Mr. and Mrs. Keaton hosted the Mayor and Chamber of Commerce at a special dinner in their railway car and Mr. Keaton made an appearance at the Rex Theatre where on of his early films, “When Comedy Was King” was showing.

Mr. Keaton and the film board also attended a reception at Mayor F.D. and Mrs. Taylor. The Boy’s Pipe Band formed an honour guard at the mayor’s residence to greet the guests. Later the Keatons were guests at a duck dinner hosted by the town in the Masonic Hall, where they were presented with large symbolic key to the town and an engraved plaque,”  (Mr. Keaton had expressed an interest in having a Canadian duck dinner before setting out for Canada.) Local hunters donated 30 ducks, which were prepared by the caterer J. Ruml.

Deputy Mayor Mrs. J. Gilchrist presented a corsage to Mrs. Keaton. The Manitoba Travel and Convention Association presented Mr. Keaton with a “Manitoba Golden Boy’s” award.

The Keaton’s privately expressed their appreciation for the hospitality

Keaton had toured Canada extensively as a Vaudeville performer before making his first motion picture in 1917.

The film is Keaton’s first documentary.

A quote from the article "On the Rails"  (From Eighteen Bridges; Stories that Connect)

At one point in the documentary (which itself is a black-and-white tribute to a vanished Canada) the citizens of Rivers, Manitoba gave Keaton the key to their city. A painfully shy man who loathed public appearances, especially when he was the centre of attention, Keaton was nonetheless moved nearly to tears by the gesture. A kilted band had piped him and his wife into the ceremony (O Canada of the kilts and Manitoba mayors handing out keys!), and even this quaint homage humbled the great comedian. The emotion on his famously-stoic face is deeply moving to witness now. He had lived large for a long time, and his life, like The Railrodder, was approaching its terminus. The blend of the comic and tragic, the blend that defines our lives, is writ clearly on the private Keaton’s face as he blinks at the citizens of Rivers, and writ with even greater clarity on the screen Keaton’s back as he stands on the shores of Boundary Bay and gazes westward.
 

A still from the film.