The Awakening (1954 film)  The Awakening is a 1954 short drama film of Douglas Fairbanks Presents anthology series based on Nikolai Gogol's short story "The Overcoat". The Man is a first dramatic role of Buster Keaton. Fairbanks says, "It struck me as a beautiful idea — a novel idea — to put him in a straight part, because he was such a beautiful actor and a great talent. It worked out very well; he gave a marvelous performance". The original plot of Gogol's story is significantly changed. There are allusions to George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" dystopia in the film.