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Buster Keaton - 65th Anniversary Collection (General Nuisance / His Ex Marks the Spot / Mooching Through Georgia / Nothing but Pleasure / Pardon My Berth Marks / Pest From the West / So You Won't Squawk / The Spook Speaks / The Taming of the Snood / She's Oil Mine) [DVD]

Buster Keaton (Actor, Writer), Dorothy Appleby (Actor), Del Lord (Director), Rated:
Unrated
Format: DVD
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 64 ratings
IMDb5.5/10.0
$21.95
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DVD
March 7, 2006
65th Anniversary Edition
2
$21.95
$44.99 $6.19
Genre Drama, Action & Adventure
Format Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Contributor Beatrice Blinn, Addison Randall, Lynton Brent, Robert Sterling, Richard Fiske, Vernon Dent, Buster Keaton, Elwood Ullman, Felix Adler, Dorothy Appleby, Victor Travers, Bobby Barber, Ewart Adamson, Eddie Laughton, Clyde Bruckman, Jules White, Bud Jamison, Del Lord See more
Language English
Runtime 2 hours and 56 minutes
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Product Description

Product Description

Ten comedic shorts from the Great Stone Face himself, Buster Keaton, arrive on DVD for the first time ever in this must-own special two-disc set. The honorary Academy Award®-winner shines in rare films from Hollywood's golden - and hilarious - years. Teamed with the brilliant comediennes Dorothy Appleby and Elsie Ames, Keaton bumbles from one side-splitting mishap to another, always maintaining his famously blank expression. Whether he's a millionaire, a plumber, or a hat maker, Keaton's physical antics and hapless adventures light up the screen in these unforgettable 1940s comedies. The Buster Keaton Collection will have you doubled over with laughter.

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An entire missing segment of Buster Keaton's career is filled in with the release of this collection, which comprises the 10 shorts Keaton made at Columbia Pictures in 1939-41. If you're a Keaton fan (and why on earth wouldn't you be?) this section of the great man's work has always been in dispute--and above all, hard to see. After his career collapsed at the beginning of the 1930s, Buster Keaton struggled to find a niche in Hollywood, and the Columbia contract was essentially his last sustained opportunity to headline in films on a regular basis. It was a difficult fit from the start: Keaton did not have the artistic control he enjoyed over his 1920s classics, and director Jules White (who helmed most of the Columbia shorts) had a radically different view of comedy from his star. White guided the hijinks of Columbia's busiest comedy stars, the Three Stooges, and his leadpipe-to-the-noggin style did not mesh well with Keaton's measured, logical approach.

If one dials down expectations, some of the Columbia shorts (around 16-17 minutes long) are enjoyable in the baggy-pants style of the Three Stooges. And when it comes to searching for signs of the old Keaton, there are usually one or two blossoms poking out of the overall bluntness. Mooching through Georgia, a Civil War spoof, has moments of silent hilarity and a Keatonesque note of fatalism as Buster is marched to his own execution. Nothing but Pleasure has a terrific sequence involving a drunk woman who wanders into Buster's motel room, and Buster's efforts to get her into a Murphy bed. She's Oil Mine features a breathtaking gag in which Keaton is spun around like a tire iron in order to get a pipe unstuck from his finger. Keaton, in his mid-40s, is still in athletic form, although thanks to alcohol and disappointment he looks older than his years.

Commentaries adorn the shorts, and there's a useful 25-minute documentary giving the general outline of Keaton's life and details on the Columbia arrangement. It's refreshingly honest about the mixed quality of these films, and contains excerpts from his silent shorts that suggest how far the genius had slipped. In that sense, while this DVD package honorably presents a moment from film history (and with fine technical specs all around), the actual watching of these shorts is tinged with sadness. The casual moviegoer curious about Keaton should go elsewhere; the completist will want it; the amateur historian will want to give a look to see what the "missing years" were all about. --Robert Horton

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated)
  • Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches; 9.6 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Del Lord, Jules White
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 56 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ March 7, 2006
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Buster Keaton, Dorothy Appleby, Beatrice Blinn, Robert Sterling, Bobby Barber
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Sony Pictures
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000E1EHQI
  • Writers ‏ : ‎ Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman, Elwood Ullman, Ewart Adamson, Felix Adler
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 64 ratings

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
64 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Randy E. Halford
5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Stone Face in the Land of Violent Slapstick
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2012
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Survival has always been the theme in Buster Keaton's earlier work, not necessarily happy endings. And that would also serve as a reason for Buster's real life: Work is work, and Buster needed the money. Thus, in 1939, Keaton joined Columbia Pictures to do ten comedy shorts. The result? Well, remember that this is the same studio that gave us the Three Stooges. And Keaton's producer-director Jules White specialized in the head-conking, face-slapping slapstick (one imagines him directing Road Runner cartoons instead) augmented by those phony sound effects. It works for the Stooges, whose broad, rowdy humor these things became their trademark. However, it didn't always work so well for Buster, whose subtle, calculated style went beyond hitting & falling down a lot. Obviously, this was a difficult adjustment for Keaton; he had no creative control (he fared better at Educational Films because he had more input) & therefore, just had to go along with it.
On the other hand, no picture is without merit, simply because Buster's in it. Although he looks far older, he could still move funny, do funny takes with that wonderful blase face, and do pratfalls like no one could. There's a gag in "She's Oil Mine" in which Buster gets his finger stuck in a pipe; his friend proceeds to twirl Buster around like a tire iron until the finger pops free. Now picture any other comedian trying that; only Keaton could pull that off. Recycling bits from earlier pictures (The Army examination, putting the drunk woman to bed, the duel, swinging a jack hammer & not connecting as he spins in midair like a top) sometimes worked or were pale imitations of the original. But Buster always gave it his all, so when things weren't exactly perfect, the blame could not be placed on him.
He was accompanied by some very familiar faces on the Columbia lot: Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison & Eddie Laughton, to name a few. His leading ladies were either Dorothy Appleby or Elsie Ames (the latter was quite a good female clown & physical comedienne; she deserved a series of her own, and when paired with Buster, produced some wild moments). My faves? "Mooching Through Georgia" is a Civil War comedy that concentrates more on style & situation, with pleasing echoes of silent comedy. "Nothing But Pleasure" recalls Keaton's ealier "disaster comedies" such as "The Boat" as Keaton & wife encounter all kinds of frustrations travelling. "Pest from the West" has a funny running gag of Keaton continually falling into the drink between his yacht & the pier, and an amusing music solo.
So why did I rate this collection five stars? Because it's a pivotal moment in Keaton's career, the last of a series in which he appeared regularly. After that, Keaton fell in line at the other studios to do miscellaneous appearances in both film & TV until his death in 1966.
Also, there's a dandy featurette in the Special Features called "Keaton: Silents to Shorts" that's a must-see.
Glad to own this piece of film history that finally fills in the blanks on Keaton's career!
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Scott MacGillivray
5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars for the presentation. The films themselves run hot and cold, but all contain something worthwhile
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2006
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Bravo for Columbia consulting its considerable short-subject library and coming up with something besides The Three Stooges. Fans of "old-time" comedy will be very happy with this new two-DVD set, showcasing all of Buster Keaton's Columbia comedies, vintage 1939-41. The prints are stunning, with razor-sharp picture and excellent sound. It's great to have such beautiful restorations in one complete set.

There are those who don't care for anything Buster did after the silent-film era, particularly the seldom-seen, low-comedy Columbias. If you're willing to give the Columbias a chance, you'll see some choice Keaton bits. Granted, most of the Columbias were directed by Stoogemeister Jules White, whose broad, blunt approach clashed with Keaton's quiet antics, but in all 10 Columbias you can depend on Buster doing something special: a spectacular acrobatic stunt, a wild visual gag, a funny pantomime reaction, a cute throwaway bit with a stray prop, an unexpected song, or a reprise of a favorite old routine.

The best of the films are laugh riots. "Pest from the West," directed by Keystone and Columbia stalwart Del Lord, is a magnificent short with Buster as an international traveler running afoul of a murderous Latin; Buster's ukulele number, "In a Little Spanish Town," is a scream. "So You Won't Squawk?," the other Del Lord effort, has Buster mistaken for a public enemy, with an elaborate car-chase windup. "She's Oil Mine" is a surprisingly funny reworking of Buster's 1932 feature "The Passionate Plumber."

Much of the material in this set is standard Columbia slapstick fare, strongly reminiscent of Jules White's Stooge shorts. You'll see many of the Stooges' supporting players (Richard Fiske, Bud Jamison, Vernon Dent, Dorothy Appleby, Bruce Bennett, Ned Glass), and you'll hear the same exaggerated sound effects punctuating the visual action. Kids will love "The Spook Speaks," a regulation haunted-house comedy that could have been played by any Columbia comedian. Buster is nearly submerged in Jules White-induced mayhem in the noisy "His Ex Marks the Spot," which plays like a Harry Langdon script gone astray.

Still, there's much to enjoy in even the lesser films. Watch "The Taming of the Snood" when Buster is forced out on a window ledge -- he balances himself on the ledge, drops his arms to his sides, and plunges straight down to grab the cornice beneath him with precision, split-second timing worthy of his silent comedies. "General Nuisance" is an Army comedy notable for a musical number by Buster. In some of the films Buster is given a partner, each a Jules White favorite: Monty Collins is Buster's straightman in a few, and Elsie Ames joins Buster for some roughhouse acrobatics in several. If you're expecting a tired, depleted Buster Keaton going through the motions in a hapless daze, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Keaton is always working for laughs, and it's easy to see why his Columbias were very well received in the theaters.

Bottom line: the Keaton Columbias are a mixed bag, nowhere nearly as "cerebral" as his often ingenious silents are. But if you just want some easy laughs and slapstick fun -- and a few surprises from Buster -- this set is highly recommended.
8 people found this helpful
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calvinnme
3.0 out of 5 stars This set won't make you a Buster fan...
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2008
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...but it won't prevent you from becoming one either.

Buster did these short films for Columbia between 1939 and 1941, and the pace of production was frantic, so there was really no time for the Keaton finesse you see in Buster's short silent films of the 20's. These films have always had a pretty bad reputation, but they are amusing enough, especially for a Keaton completist. The problem is that Jules White's brand of comedy that worked so well for the Three Stooges was just not suited to Buster. White was head of the Columbia shorts department at the time, and he had a tendency to be autocratic. Buster ceased making shorts for Columbia after he decided he just couldn't go on working this way in spite of the fact that his financial position was still not good at this time.

The commentaries on the ten shorts are very good. The commenters are quite knowledgable about Keaton and his career as well as Columbia's supporting comedy players, and don't limit themselves to the things that every Keaton fan already knows. Neither are they shy about mentioning the shortcomings of Buster's Columbia shorts. Included is a shooting script from "She's Oil Mine" with a forward by Melissa Talmadge Cox, Buster's granddaughter. There is also a mini documentary on Keaton's career on the second disc. If you already know Buster's story there's nothing new here, but it is still well done.

You'll notice that Keaton recycles gags from many of his earlier films, from his silent films up through his MGM talkies. Everybody did this, the trick was to do it well, and Buster does. Without home video or television, once a film stopped its short run in the theaters it was forgotten, and largely so were the gags. This is how comics got away with this.
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scherrer gilles
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrible !!!
Reviewed in France on May 28, 2019
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Merveilleux coffret avec bouquin,et Buster au TOP...
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noonefamous
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice set for Keaton fans
Reviewed in Canada on April 21, 2014
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You get 2 discs in this set. The only language/subtitle option is English. All the shorts have commentary tracks that are very informative. There is a Play All option on both discs. The collection also contains a reproduction of an annotated script with a foreward from Buster Keaton's granddaughter - the script is for the short She's Oil Mine and is 28 pages.

Disc 1 - General Nuisance - 1941, 17:38,
His Ex Marks The Spot - 1941, 17:45
Mooching Through Georgia - 1939, 18:41
Nothing But Pleasure - 1939, 17:20
Pardon My Berth Marks - 1940, 18:09
Pest From The West - 1939, 18:33

Disc 2 - She's Oil Mine - 1941, 17:28
So You Won't Squawk? - 1941, 16:12
The Spook Speaks - 1940, 18:29
The Taming Of The Snood - 1940, 15:46
Extra: featurette - Buster Keaton: From Silents To Shorts (24:50)
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Veronique Guemise
5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Surprise
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2007
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This collection includes ten ot Keaton's Columbia Shorts produced in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

General Nuisance
His ex marks the spot
Mooching through Georgia
Nothing but pleasure
Pardon my Berth Marks
Pest from the West
She's Oil Mine
So you won't squawk
The Spook Speaks
The taming of the Snood

After hearing for years how poor these films were I was expecting to see a sad collection of films starring Keaton in a sharp decline. With such low expectations I was very surprised to see the quality of this collection. The quality of the films are, on the whole, very good - and certainly a huge improvement over most of his 1930s output. Keaton does of course look older than most people will remember him (much older than the image used on the front of the box), but he is still able to do some amazing falls and stunts that are comparable to what he could do in his prime.

Keaton is surrounded by a good cast of comedy character actors and seems determined to lift even an average scene into something special. He really looks like he is trying his hardest to produce something special.

I would even be tempted to say that these rank among the best of Keaton's talkie films.

All ten films come with enlightening audio-commentaries from Keaton experts, and there is also a very entertaining biography on Buster. I awarded five stars not for the high quality of the films (they are not comedy classics)but for an excellent overall package. You even get a reproduction annotated script for one of the films (she's oil mine).

This collection will not disappoint Keaton fans.

After you have seen all ten films you will be left wishing he had signed the new contract he was offered by columbia and produced more of these little gems.
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mr john popey
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2015
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excellent
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Cheryl
4.0 out of 5 stars legendary performer, but no stone face
Reviewed in Canada on September 7, 2009
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Though the cover (in smaller print) claims 'The Great Stone face', this two-disc collection of shorts shows him as anything but. It can be shocking watching Buster Keaton ham it up in this Three Stooges-type slapstick format, but despite the awkward pairing of style and performer, he gives it his all, and these shorts are still fun for what they are. There are interesting extras - a 24 min. documentary which is too short, and commentaries on each film by historians. (These shorts might be better appreciated by those not familiar with Keaton's earlier masterpieces - if there is anyone.)
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