Buster Keaton Collection: 14-Disc Set [Blu-ray]

With that headline let me explain. Having made all his prior films as an independent producer, Keaton needed more financial support to make bigger productions. He signed with MGM which immediately made him work to a budget, a script, and as each movie in turn shows, less creative control, and less involement even as the lead actor. The Cameraman leads off with Keaton's last great film. But several gags are reworks of gags in the shorter independent films. Spite Marriage has its moments. Free and Easy is supremely bad with Keaton made up as an ugly clown for most of the movie, and for once, loses the girl he loves to a handsome man, portrayed by Robert Montgomery, who literally stands around giving his lines. However, the documentary about Keaton's days at MGM explains his heart breaking fall from top star to has-been in just two years. I still recommend this triple set, but just watch the the first two movies and the documentary.

Absolutely pleased with this purchase! The item should have been listed as "like new" because that's how it looks!! The only wear I see is on the outside upper corner which you can barely see in the photo of the outside back of the box set. There's no other visible wear to the case inside and the discs are both clean as a whistle. Even the brochure shows no signs of use. Watched the movie & documentary on the 2nd DVD and it worked great! Haven't watched the first DVD yet. Very pleased with this "used" product purchase!

Great Set. Only wish they waited a few more months to include the new restorations of a couple of the films and the newer shorts discs.Great set and got it for a great price - be aware this does not include the most recent restorations of a couple of the films or the newer Keaton Shorts package out there now by Kino.

Making "the biggest mistake of my career" (in Buster Keaton's own words) by signing with MGM, Keaton left behind his independent filmmaking days for good. MGM dangled the bait before Buster: Better budgets and more distribution. What they failed to mention was that Buster would be there in the capacity of "performer only"; he traded his creative freedom to work at a more streamlined studio, becoming another "cog" in the giant MGM system "wheel".TCM lovingly assembled this homage to a great comedic talent who was living the beginning of his end when both the movie system and talkies launched a slow, painful decline for the once-great silent star.The best film on this package is easily "The Cameraman". While it is a more conventional story for Buster, it also contains some of the best comedy work he's ever done. Keaton's physical prowess is absolutely stunning as he races through a busy city street on foot, arms & legs pumping like mad (especially on the gag which he drops the phone, runs down the street, and faces his surprised object-of-affection just as she's hanging up the phone!). Highlights in the film include: Buster playing a solitary game of baseball inside an empty stadium; a hilarious dip in a public pool (complete with sharing a changing room with another man and losing his swimsuit in the water); and covering a Tong War in Chinatown (excellently staged with Keaton's trademark sight gags).His final silent, "Spite Marriage", is even more conventional in theme and story (a jealous actress spites her flirtatious boyfriend by marrying a pants presser--guess who!--hence, the title). Although Keaton fought to get his own ideas on screen (and lost the battle most of the time), there is one thing interesting about this unique talent: No matter how slight the material, Keaton's sublime presence cannot be ignored. His antics during a Civil War stage drama and later, on a deserted boat, are quite hilarious.And finally, his first talking picture, "Free and Easy", demonstrates how sadly mis-used Keaton was in the new medium. MGM chose projects that were completely ill-suited to Buster's talents. Here, Keaton plays what he calls his "Elmer" role (the first in many)---an imbecilic idiot part. Add to that Keaton's croaking voice, a contradiction which turns his character from a stoic hero into a fool. The best film moments, of course, come in the no-dialogue segments, which Keaton does his best silent bits; unfortunately, they are few and far between.The DVD extras include a documentary called "So Funny It Hurts: Buster Keaton and MGM", hosted by actor James Karen, who knew Buster during his final years. "So Funny..." gives a lot of fascinating insight into the business relationship between Buster & MGM, complete with glimpses into his personal life, his career after being fired from MGM, and a 1964 interview with the man himself.This DVD collection is a must for fans who are interested in Keaton's career as he transitioned through MGM and beyond.

...someone somewhere once wrote. This DVD set is an object lesson as to how that heartbreak occurred. It shows how Keaton declined in status from independent comic filmmaker to sad clown to someone whom the film industry considered an unemployable alcoholic in only a five year span, 1928 - 1933. Before you view this you should view Buster's silent features and shorts from the 1920s so that you get a full appreciation of the death of the career of a comic heavyweight.The Cameraman (1928), Buster's first film at MGM, is as good as any feature he did as an independent with maybe the exception of The General. This film largely left his original filmmaking team intact. Spite Marriage (1929), Buster's final silent film, is still a very good one, but it just seems to lack that complete Keaton signature present in his earlier features. A prime example of this is when Keaton's character tries to cheer up his new bride with a stuffed doll of a dog that has a tear in its eye. Buster never went for the sentimental approach when he had a completely free hand. At this point MGM had largely dismantled Keaton's filmmaking team and replaced them with their own people. Plus, they were interfering more with what Buster wanted to do with the story. The lesson MGM took away from the success of The Cameraman was not that Buster's approach and comic instincts were good, it was that their assembly line approach worked.The final blow is in 1930's "Free and Easy", Buster's third feature for MGM and his first talking picture. Here Buster has no creative control and has been reduced to a reciter of lines and performer of stunts while Robert Montgomery inexplicably crowds Keaton out of the limelight. To be fair, many very early talkie efforts suffer from the same set of problems as this one - bad dialogue, thin if not inane plots, musical numbers inserted where they really don't belong - overall the new talking picture technology being in the driver's seat rather than the art of film making. What makes this film so sad is that one of the most creative guys on the MGM lot has been reduced to "who's on first" type verbal gags that don't suit him, and in the closing number is a puppet swinging through the air in a clown's outfit with his puppet strings being controlled by figures off stage - a fitting visual metaphor for what is to come in Keaton's future MGM films.The 40 minute documentary that wraps up the set - "So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton and MGM" ties everything together and even has footage of Keaton himself talking about his decline at MGM. He was basically bewildered at how such bad films as his early talkies were such a success at the box office while his own silent works that he thought were so good had not been nearly as successful. This loss of both his self-confidence and a creative outlet as well as the break-up of his first marriage led to his descent into alcoholism and ultimately his dismissal from MGM.The odd thing about all of this is that Buster Keaton himself is probably the only person who didn't consider his treatment and string of bad luck a tragedy. From every source I've ever heard he always considered himself to be a very lucky man.

This is a collection lovingly put together by TCM. Not quite as good as the cinema club "General" but miles better than most Keaton collections. The jewel of the collection is the Cameraman one of Keatons finest works. Spite Marriage is not of the same standard but has some of Keatons funniest routines. It was the last time Keaton was able to influence the content of his films to any great degree. Free and Easy was Keatons first talkie and the less said about it the better. It is a shame Spite Marriage never got the go ahead as his first talkie as it would have beena much stronger debut. There is also a well made documentary on Keaton's time at MGM made by Kevin Brownlow which includes interviews with Keaton which are quite revealing particularly on the Marx Brothers. If you love Keaton and have a multiregion DVD player get this collection.

This set has 2 discs. These aren't Keaton's best films but I really enjoyed The Cameraman and found the others to be modestly entertaining. All the films are in B&W and full screen 1.33:1. The Kevin Brownlow documentary on Disc 2 is very informative.Disc 1 - The Cameraman - 1928, 76 mins, subtitles: French & Spanish, extras: introduction by Robert Osborne (2:04), commentary track, photo montage Spite Marriage - 1929, 76 mins, subtitles: French & Spanish, extras: introduction by Robert Osborne (2:36), commentary track, photo montageDisc 2 - Free And Easy - 1930, 93 mins, subtitles: English, French & Spanish, extra: documentary - So Funny It Hurts: Buster Keaton And MGM (38:19)

Pessima versione del film di Keaton, qualità video bassissima e, nonostante ci sia scritto audio 2.0, non c'è nessun audio!L'ho comprato per averlo in supporto dvd e in italiano, ma lo sconsiglio proprio, esistono ottime versioni in inglese restaurate e musicate, pensavo avessero attinto da lì. Enorme delusione.Naturalmente il giudizio negativo non riguarda neanche lontanamente Keaton.