Buster Keaton’s last great film may very well be “The Cameraman” – where the hapless newsreel cameraman is desperate for a scoop! And to win the heart of his lady fair …
The Cameraman (1928) starring Buster Keaton, Marceline Day
From the manufacturer
Buster Keaton’s last masterpiece: a brilliant slapstick treatise on the highs and lows of shooting movies
Newly restored
Buster Keaton is at the peak of his slapstick powers in The Cameraman—the first film that the silent-screen legend made after signing with MGM, and his last great masterpiece. The final work over which he maintained creative control, this clever farce is the culmination of an extraordinary, decade-long run that produced some of the most innovative and enduring comedies of all time.
Keaton plays a hapless newsreel cameraman desperate to impress both his new employer and his winsome office crush as he zigzags up and down Manhattan hustling for a scoop. Along the way, he goes for a swim (and winds up soaked), becomes embroiled in a Chinatown Tong War, and teams up with a memorable monkey sidekick (the famous Josephine).
The marvelously inventive film-within-a-film setup allows Keaton’s imagination to run wild, yielding both sly insights into the travails of moviemaking and an emotional payoff of disarming poignancy.
Special Features
- New 4K digital restoration undertaken by the Cineteca di Bologna, Criterion, and Warner Bros.
- New score by composer Timothy Brock
- “Spite Marriage,” Buster Keaton’s 1929 feature for MGM
- Documentaries by Daniel Raim, and film historians Kevin Brownlow and Christopher Bird
- And more
Product Description
Buster Keaton is at the peak of his slapstick powers in The Cameraman—the first film that the silent-screen legend made after signing with MGM, and his last great masterpiece. The final work over which he maintained creative control, this clever farce is the culmination of an extraordinary, decade-long run that produced some of the most innovative and enduring comedies of all time. Keaton plays a hapless newsreel cameraman desperate to impress both his new employer and his winsome office crush as he zigzags up and down Manhattan hustling for a scoop. Along the way, he goes for a swim (and winds up soaked), becomes embroiled in a Chinatown Tong War, and teams up with a memorable monkey sidekick (the famous Josephine). The marvelously inventive film-within-a-film setup allows Keaton’s imagination to run wild, yielding both sly insights into the travails of moviemaking and an emotional payoff of disarming poignancy.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration undertaken by the Cineteca di Bologna, the Criterion Collection, and Warner Bros.
- New score by composer Timothy Brock, conducted by Brock and performed by the orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in 2020, presented in uncompressed stereo
- Audio commentary from 2004 featuring Glenn Mitchell, author of A–Z of Silent Film Comedy: An Illustrated Companion
- Spite Marriage (1929), Buster Keaton’s next feature for MGM following The Cameraman, in a new 2K restoration, with a 2004 commentary by film historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance
- Time Travelers, a new documentary by Daniel Raim featuring interviews with Bengtson and film historian Marc Wanamaker
- So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM, a 2004 documentary by film historians Kevin Brownlow and Christopher Bird
- New interview with James L. Neibaur, author of The Fall of Buster Keaton: His Films for MGM, Educational Pictures, and Columbia
- The Motion Picture Camera (1979), a documentary by A.S.C. cinematographer and film preservationist Karl Malkames, in a 4k restoration
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Imogen Sara Smith.
Cast of characters
- Buster Keaton (Cops; Sherlock Jr.) … Buster
- Marceline Day (London After Midnight) … Sally
- Harold Goodwin (College) … Stagg
- Sidney Bracey (What! No Beer?) … Editor (as Sidney Bracy)
- Harry Gribbon (You Said a Mouthful) … Cop
Additional cast
- Richard Alexander (Modern Times) … The Big Sea Lion (uncredited)
- Edward Brophy (Parlor Bedroom and Bath) … Man in Bath-House (uncredited)
- Ray Cooke (Spite Marriage) … Office Worker (uncredited)
- Vernon Dent (Malice in the Palace) … Man in Tight Bathing Suit (uncredited)
- William Irving (Ninotchka) … Photographer (uncredited)
- Harry Keaton (Punch Drunks) … Swimmer in Swimming Pool (uncredited)
- Louise Keaton (Electric House) … Swimmer in Swimming Pool (uncredited)
- Charles A. Lindbergh … Charles A. Lindbergh (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Bert Moorhouse (The Long, Long Trailer) … Randall (uncredited)
- Jack Raymond (Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion) … Swimming Pool Attendant (uncredited)