30 / BD 150 Buster Keaton: Complete Short Films 1917-1923

[peerpee]

Don't expect every film to look like FAUST did! --- In many instances, the only way these Keaton films exist in the form they do now is by using dupey 16mm, or by splicing in some digibeta of a fragment from Holland... I really wish they looked better, but we did the best we could.

The finished set is now in my hands. Here are some grabs from (one of the better looking films in the set) THE SCARECROW:

[Arn777]

Is this coming out on Monday or will it be shipping from e-tailer a bit later?

[peerpee]

Probably later in the week. Stock arrived in London last Friday and is entering distributor channels now... Lots of em have to make their way over to Jersey and then be doled out there to the myriad suppliers in the Channel Islands (amazon, play, etc etc)

[greggster59]

Don't expect every film to look like FAUST did! --- In many instances, the only way these Keaton films exist in the form they do now is by using dupey 16mm, or by splicing in some digibeta of a fragment from Holland... I really wish they looked better, but we did the best we could.

Thanks for the preview. I did a quick comparison of these grabs with the Arte version. Not much of a difference really, mainly interlaced vs. progressive. These are probably as good as its ever gonna get unless someone finds a long lost master or print such as Dryer's Passion of Joan of Arc.

[Senya]

Got it. Nice box set - thank you. But...

There is no that nice cover almost everybody loved - with a car and a lady, which was posted here before and cannot be seen now (broken link).

Also I have a question regarding the following: "There is a 16mm dupe of Moonshine which is more complete than the 35mm extracts available on this set, but which we didn't include here due to the poor image quality." Was it possible to include that more complete version into "The complete short films" box set as a bonus? Is it available anywhere?

[peerpee]

Glad you like the set.

We were going to include a set of postcards, including this image, but due to time restraints (Xmas) and a ton of last minute problems, all our time was spent fixing things and a host of other logistical issues I won't bore you with.

re: the 16mm version of MOONSHINE. The only available material was very overexposed and NTSC (the MoC set is PAL). We weren't prepared to standards convert an NTSC master to PAL, especially when faces were bloomed out - but we are looking into ways of making this available online if possible.

It was very exciting to get a new master of THE COOK at the very last minute with 3 minutes of previously lost material!

[Senya]

... re: the 16mm version of MOONSHINE. The only available material was very overexposed and NTSC (the MoC set is PAL). We weren't prepared to standards convert an NTSC master to PAL, especially when faces were bloomed out - but we are looking into ways of making this available online if possible...

That would be great. Because...

...it is most unfortunate that this film has circulated widely more recently only as a 6-minute fragment, which represents one-third or one-quarter of the total running time...

Pleeeeeese.

[Arn777]

Just received it at work this morning. That book is phenomenal! Great idea to have round table-type discussion on each film.

[godardslave]

Can anyone outline or provide the contents page of the book? So we can see the exact details?

[greggster59]

Can anyone outline or provide the contents page of the book? So we can see the exact details?

The book opens with a quote from Keaton's autobiography. Then there is a preface from MOC's Nick Wrigley called "About This Box Set". This is followed by a list of the DVD contents with cast and production info. Several pages are devoted to excerpts of Keaton's recollections from a November 1958 interview.

The bulk of the book is called 'A Roundtable On Buster Keaton". It consists of e-mail correspondence conducted during March and April 2006 between Jean-Pierre Coursodon, Dan Sallitt and Brad Stevens. Their credentials are displayed at the beginning of the section. Their discourse covers the films in this set. Some of it is highly informative and some of it reeks of over analysis. Overall, though, its a very worthy exercise.

The last pages are another excerpt from Keaton's autobiography, an article on the fate of the famous Italian Villa built by Keaton, a selected bibliography and the DVD credits. Throughout the book, there are some wonderful photographs of Keaton and company, some rarely seen.

It is evident that a lot of work went into this.

As to the quality of the films themselves they are progressively transferred from the same sources as the French Arte set of 2001 with new intertitles and some newly discovered footage to make this set as comprehensive as possible. Joseph McBride's six commentary tracks are also a nice addition. These alone make the collection a very important release.

I do have a few issue with the quality of the new transfers, however. Despite being progressive where the Arte set was interlaced, the bit rate of the new DVD's is actually lower than the Arte release. This could be attributed to improved compression technology since the release of the Arte set but it also means that the data on the DVD's do not fill up the discs and, in fact, take up less space than the interlaced Arte set. IMO, it would have been beneficial to up the bit rate as some of the titles actually look less sharp than the Arte. There are a few exceptions. Cops, for instance, looks a lot better. By comparison, Neighbors looks about the same and The Playhouse, to my eye, shows slightly more detail on the Arte version.

To sum up, this is the collection of Keaton shorts to own if you don't already have the Arte set. For those that do, the book and commentaries may be a reason to upgrade.

[Bleddyn Williams]

If anyone has a copy and a digital camera, I would dearly love to see some pics of the finished set, and I'm sure I'm not alone! I'm thinking about asking for this for Xmas, and would like a little more feedback on how it all turned out.

Seems a shame that such a substantial set doesn't seem to have online reviews so far. Everybody too busy writing their Superman-related reviews, perhaps!

[BradStevens]

Also I have a question regarding the following: "There is a 16mm dupe of Moonshine which is more complete than the 35mm extracts available on this set, but which we didn't include here due to the poor image quality." Was it possible to include that more complete version into "The complete short films" box set as a bonus? Is it available anywhere?

The longer version of MOONSHINE is available on a US DVD entitled ARBUCKLE & KEATON VOLUME ONE, on the Kino label. The quality is abysmal, and the intertitles seem to have been rewritten, but it's still worth seeing for that wonderful sequence in which Keaton becomes a monkey (which I suspect Keaton directed).

[greggster59]

I will be doing a comparison of this set with the Arte release and perhaps some Kino captures early next week complete with screen captures at DVDBeaver.com.
Hopefully, this will satisfy the curious as to the quality of this release.

Best,
GF

[Senya]

Regarding "The Play House"...

MoC:









Industrial Strength Keaton DVD (not exact frames)









Screenshots were resized to 640x480.

It looks the Industrial Strength Keaton version is based on 16mm edition with restores the film's original title cards.

[Bleddyn Williams]

Thanks for these, Senya. The lack of detail in the MoC version in the last picture is a bit shocking. Think I will wait for greggster's comparison before pulling the trigger on this one.

[souvenir]

My set arrived today from Amazon UK. I've uploaded a few crude pictures. The box cover is the image on the MoC website and it's on nice, thick stock. The cases are all clear amarays with the last being a two-discer. The book is a very impressive 184 pages.

Disc 1


Disc 2


Discs 3 & 4


Book

[Bleddyn Williams]

That looks very nice - thanks so much, souvenir!

[HerrSchreck]

God bless Christmas! God do I love that fucking little maniac's shorts.

[What A Disgrace]

I have to agree with everyone else, fortunately. This is a fabulous, beautiful set, and an essential DVD release. Easily the best release Nick and co. have put out.

A deliciously attractive set, too. Cardboard casing is niiiice and sturdy, and the book is simply exhausting. And you gotta love that new-DVD smell.

Well worth the wait. I'm sure the Naruse set will be equally amazing.

I do have one question: is Sherlock, Jr. generally not considered a short film? For the longest time, a friend of mine and myself have always referred to it as the greatest short film of all time. Its not included in this set, needless to say, but I don't know of anywhere else that does consider it as such.

[CSM126]

Sherlock Jr. is a short for sure. It's only 44 minutes long, no?

I think the reason it isn't here is that this is a 1917-1923 collection, and Sherlock Jr. came out in 1924.

[MichaelB]

44 minutes is a feature according to the original definition of the term (i.e. longer than three reels, or approx. 33 minutes). Certainly, Sherlock Jr has always been regarded as one as far as I'm aware.

[tryavna]

44 minutes is a feature according to the original definition of the term (i.e. longer than three reels, or approx. 33 minutes). Certainly, Sherlock Jr has always been regarded as one as far as I'm aware.

This has always been my sense as well. I don't think it's written down in law or anything like that. But like the man says, anything with four reels or more has generally been considered a feature.

[CSM126]

Funny, I've always defined a short film as simply a film that is short, and less than an hour is pretty darn short. Might just be me.

[HerrSchreck]

Naw... in the silent era, which is what we're talking about here (moreso the early silent era) full features regularly ran under an hour. For stellar examples of just how full of a melodramatic narrative arc can be fit into 45-55 minutes watch the films of Yevgeni Bauer, or the 1912 RICHARD III.

Even in the modern era, you have films in the B genra... the 30's exploitation masterpieces by Dwain Esper NARCOTIC, MANIAC, & MARIHUANA (sic) along with so many others, running between 50-59 minutes. DEMENTIA a.k.a. DAUGHTER OF HORROR are approx 57 & 55 min, respectively (the latter slightly truncated due to edits).

Don't break Nick's balls for nitpicking. The set is glorious I'm sure without the neccessity of short features to be throw in. If any set doesn't need padding it's this one...

[bufordsharkley]

My personal definition of a feature film is one that's 44 minutes or longer.

...A direct result of Sherlock Jr...