Bonko's Commedia dell'arte (Fiction)

The curtain rose to wild applause; Keystone Theater, the much awaited modern silent movie house was open for business. It was Buster Keaton night, the line wound around the corner to see his new film, "The General." Only Charlie Chaplin could draw crowds like this, and his last film, "Camille" had been a disappointment, so understandably, the crowd was eager to be entertained.

The pianist, the best in the county, was hired especially for this night. As the camera lights flickered, he struck up a shoft melody, he knew how to build anticipation.

But soon the audience sensed that this was not "The General." First, there was no Keaton, and second, the opening titles were in French...bad French!

It appeared to be a pantomime by a circus clown named, Monsieur Bonko. He juggled, dropping the balls every few revolutions, and his attempt to ride a unicycle ended with a pratfall more sad than funny.

The crowd wanted Keaton and getting a bad imitation of Joey Grimaldi was not what the audience had in mind, or would tolerate!

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Firefighters to this day still claim that the flames from the old Keystone Theater rose higher than any they'd ever seen.