Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection
Editorial review of Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection courtesy of Amazon.com
As new generations of viewers discover the magic of silent cinema, Buster Keaton has emerged as one of the era’s most admired and respected artists. Behind the deadpan expression and trademark porkpie hat was a filmmaking genius who conceived and engineered some of the most breathtaking stunts and feats of visual trickery, while never losing sight of slapstick cinema s primary objective: laughter. Produced by Lobster Films, BUSTER KEATON: THE SHORTS COLLECTION includes all 32 of Keaton’s extant silent shorts (thirteen of which were produced in collaborations with comedians Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle and Al St. John). These 2K restorations were performed utilizing archival film elements from around the world, and promises to be the definitive representation of Keaton’s early career.
Bonus Features: 2K Restorations, newly scanned (in 2K and 4K) from archival film elements | Orchestral scores by Frank Bockius, Neil Brand, Timothy Brock, Günter Buchwald, Antonio Coppola, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Dennis Scott, and Donald Sosin | 24-Page booklet with detailed film notes and essay by Jeffrey Vance, author of Buster Keaton Remembered | The Blacksmith – Newly rediscovered alternate version of the 1922 comedy, containing four minutes of previously unseen material | Coney Island – Alternate (politically incorrect) ending | My Wife s Relations – Alternate ending | Introduction by film preservationist Serge Bromberg (6 Min.) | Life With Buster Keaton (1951, excerpt) – Keaton reenacts Roscoe Arbuckle s Salomé dance first performed in The Cook