4. Buster Keaton
Peak Years: 1920-1929
Best Film: Sherlock Jr. I may get flack for calling Sherlock Jr. Keaton's best film, particularly considering that Orson Welles said that The General may be the greatest film of all-time, but unlike The General Sherlock Jr. is a great piece of movie magic that doesn't ask you to root for the Confederate South. Immensely influential, Keaton made a noted impact on people as diverse as Richard Lewis, Jacques Tati, and Jackie Chan. Keaton was known for his boyish good looks as well as an impressive ability to fall down a lot and not get badly injured, which was good because he fell down a lot in his movies. Known for being part of a family of performers, his somewhat dour nature was seen as just an artist's temperament, and Keaton was an actor-director of the highest order. While he certainly has a visual acumen that was leaps and bounds beyond most of his contemporaries, Buster Keaton is ultimately more well-known for his performances than his direction. His unique look included a pork pie hat, gelled hair, and a face that rarely smiled. Although his movies were comedies, they often had layers of melodrama and suspense that fueled the narrative rather than just being a series of pratfalls. His transition into talkies wasn't as successful as Garbo's, but his latter-day cameos in films like Sunset Blvd. cemented his reputation among his filmmaking peers.