Film historians know that Buster Keaton signed on as a contract player with MGM Studios after his contract with independent producer Joseph M. Schenck expired in 1928. His signing was done at the urging of his relatives but against the advice of mega-star comedians Charlie Chaplain and Harold Lloyd. An advantage of the new arrangement was that there would no longer be problems of raising cash since MGM was large and rich. A disadvantage is that Keaton gradually gave up his filmmaking independence, like directing and improvising, to a studio that insisted upon strict control. Even though the box office tabulation would undeniably improve – MGM moguls could claim that they were right after all – the payoff over time would be disastrous for one who was a silent film giant. But the day seemed to be ending for 1920s slapstick silent stars. New comedians were on the rise, like the Marx Brothers (whom Keaton loathed).
Whatever Keaton's future problems, the new agreement certainly began well, as his first MGM effort, The Cameraman, shows little, if any, waning from some of his great movies. There are gags galore, and pathos, and on-location shooting, and more. Keaton is a clumsy tintype photographer (appropriately named Buster) who desires to become a great studio newsreel cameraman at MGM Offices in order to impress Sally, a lovely lass. He had met her at a ticker-tape parade (which looks very much like a World War I coming-home gala, 1919). But Buster's first efforts are hopeless, as his double-exposures leave the studio chiefs laughing in stitches. Meanwhile he has inadvertently broken the door glass at MGM several times. So it is that Buster embarks upon New York City to find stories to film while wielding a lumbering movie camera. The upshot is that there are many funny vignettes. Here are a few:
(1) The one-man baseball-pantomime at Yankee Stadium with a Ruthian figure in civilian clothes – with hands on hips – observing the action. Actually Buster, looking for action, did not realize that the Yankees were playing the St. Louis Browns on the road that day. (2) Buster running non-stop from his Manhattan place to Sally's before she has hung up the telephone. (3) Buster's attempts to break into his piggy-bank to gather his precious dimes; he damages his apartment. (4) The separation of Buster and Sally on two different levels of the over-crowded Manhattan bus. (5) The clothing change in a locker room. By the way, Sally (Marceline Day) looks fabulous in her 1920s bathing gear. (6) Buster losing his over-sized bathing outfit while in the pool. (7) The hilarious Tong War in Chinatown, with a monkey in a sailor-suit using a machine gun. This scene reminds one of Cheetah machine-gunning Nazis who had invaded Tarzan's African domain years later (1943). (8) The boating scene whereby Buster saves Sally from an unmanned motorboat. His rival, though, initially received the credit and left the romantic Buster heartbroken. It's serendipity that the monkey knew how to operate the movie camera!
Look fast for Charles Lindbergh in the parade at movie's end (newsreel footage). This film was followed by Keaton's last silent (with sound effects but without dialog) – the humorous but underrated Spite Marriage (1929). Soon after conditions deteriorated, as 1930 was just around the corner, and the decade of the 1930s was Keaton's worst decade in more ways than one. The star's later state of affairs was not helped along by his extramarital affairs and his drinking. But, for now, the situation looked fine for one whom Roger Ebert ultimately considers the most courageous silent movie comedian of all time. Indeed, Buster Keaton was a unique comedy talent, maybe the greatest one in world cinema history.
Whatever Keaton's future problems, the new agreement certainly began well, as his first MGM effort, The Cameraman, shows little, if any, waning from some of his great movies. There are gags galore, and pathos, and on-location shooting, and more. Keaton is a clumsy tintype photographer (appropriately named Buster) who desires to become a great studio newsreel cameraman at MGM Offices in order to impress Sally, a lovely lass. He had met her at a ticker-tape parade (which looks very much like a World War I coming-home gala, 1919). But Buster's first efforts are hopeless, as his double-exposures leave the studio chiefs laughing in stitches. Meanwhile he has inadvertently broken the door glass at MGM several times. So it is that Buster embarks upon New York City to find stories to film while wielding a lumbering movie camera. The upshot is that there are many funny vignettes. Here are a few:
(1) The one-man baseball-pantomime at Yankee Stadium with a Ruthian figure in civilian clothes – with hands on hips – observing the action. Actually Buster, looking for action, did not realize that the Yankees were playing the St. Louis Browns on the road that day. (2) Buster running non-stop from his Manhattan place to Sally's before she has hung up the telephone. (3) Buster's attempts to break into his piggy-bank to gather his precious dimes; he damages his apartment. (4) The separation of Buster and Sally on two different levels of the over-crowded Manhattan bus. (5) The clothing change in a locker room. By the way, Sally (Marceline Day) looks fabulous in her 1920s bathing gear. (6) Buster losing his over-sized bathing outfit while in the pool. (7) The hilarious Tong War in Chinatown, with a monkey in a sailor-suit using a machine gun. This scene reminds one of Cheetah machine-gunning Nazis who had invaded Tarzan's African domain years later (1943). (8) The boating scene whereby Buster saves Sally from an unmanned motorboat. His rival, though, initially received the credit and left the romantic Buster heartbroken. It's serendipity that the monkey knew how to operate the movie camera!
Look fast for Charles Lindbergh in the parade at movie's end (newsreel footage). This film was followed by Keaton's last silent (with sound effects but without dialog) – the humorous but underrated Spite Marriage (1929). Soon after conditions deteriorated, as 1930 was just around the corner, and the decade of the 1930s was Keaton's worst decade in more ways than one. The star's later state of affairs was not helped along by his extramarital affairs and his drinking. But, for now, the situation looked fine for one whom Roger Ebert ultimately considers the most courageous silent movie comedian of all time. Indeed, Buster Keaton was a unique comedy talent, maybe the greatest one in world cinema history.