Buster Keaton
Author
Language
English
Description
Over half century ago the society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children complained to Mayor Van Wyck, of New York, that Joe Keaton, a vaudeville actor, was brutally mistreating his five-year old son. At each afternoon and evening performance the child, billed as "The Human Mop", was slammed on the floor, hurled into the wings, and sometimes banged into bass drums. Unable to find a bruise or scratch on the lad, Mayor Van Wyck refused to ban the...
2) Sherlock Jr
Author
Language
Silent
Description
Widely regarded as one of the most visually inventive silent comedies ever made, SHERLOCK JR. offers fast-paced slapstick as well as a brilliant deconstruction of the filmmaking process. Keaton stars as a movie theatre projectionist who dreams of becoming a super-sleuth and, in one breathtaking sequence, literally steps into the screen to bring his fantasies to life.Another comedy for film-lovers (that plays upon the conventions of cinema).
Author
Language
Silent
Description
After serving a three-year apprenticeship under slapstick superstar Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, former child vaudevillian Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was promoted from supporting player to comic lead, and hired to star in a series of twenty two-reel comedies (usually written and directed with Eddie Cline). This collection of Keaton's seven initial solo efforts-authorized by the estate of Buster Keaton and mastered in HD from archival 35mm elements-reveals...
Author
Language
Silent
Description
Spanning the central phase of Keaton's solo silent shorts, this collection observes the young actor/director as his films were becoming increasingly ambitious. In some ways, these cinematically adventurous two-reelers are like prototypes of the features yet to come. The massive police chase of COPS would evolve into the bridal stampede of Seven Chances, the Western-themed THE PALEFACE is an obvious precedent to Go West, the camera trickery of THE PLAY HOUSE foreshadows...
Author
Language
Silent
Description
In the last of Keaton's solo silent shorts, the actor/writer/director seemed to be straining at the limits of the two-reel comedy, both interms of length (DAY DREAMS, which exists in fragmentary condition, was originally released as a three-reeler) as well as content. Plotting and romance turned sketchy as Keaton devoted more attention to the visual setpieces that had become his hallmark: stuck within a steamboat's paddlewheel in DAY DREAMS, victimized...
6) College
Author
Language
English
Description
Buster Keaton goes back to school and stages a hilarious send-up of university life in COLLEGE. Keaton stars as Ronald, an idealistic freshman who attends Clayton College in pursuit of higher learning, but finds himself instead embroiled in a war of athletics as he fights for the heart of his beloved coed, Mary (Anne Cornwall). More than he had in any other feature, Keaton stretched the boundaries of solo physical comedy. In a series of unforgettable...
7) The General
Author
Language
English
Description
When Union spies steal Johnnie Gray's (Buster Keaton) beloved locomotive, the General, he pursues them with the aid of his fiancé, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack) straight through enemy lines. One of the most revered comedies of the silent era.
Author
Language
English
Description
College boy William Canfield Jr. reunites with his boat captain father in a Mississippi River town. Although he's flummoxed by Willie's citified appearance, the elder Canfield seems to have found an ally to help him compete with fellow riverboat owner John James King. Willie finds himself falling for King's daughter, Mary, but he has more pressing concerns when the weather turns bad and his father is arrested.
Publisher
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Pub. Date
c2006
Language
English
Description
Presents ten comedic shorts from the Great Stone Face himself, Buster Keaton. Teamed with the brilliant comediennes Dorothy Appleby and Elsie Ames, Keaton bumbles from one mishap to another, always maintaining his famously blank expression.
Author
Language
English
Description
Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, most famous as Laurel of comedic duo Laurel and Hardy. Laurel's career stretched between 1917 and 1951, and included a starring role in the 1932 film The Music Box. Buster Keaton was an American actor, vaudevillian, comedian, filmmaker, stunt performer, and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression....