I LOVE this movie; it's one of my favorite Buster Keaton films of all time! :-) Here, the focus was on the story, so don't expect any jaw-dropping sequences like in "Sherlock Jr." or "Seven Chances", for instance. It's a sweet old-fashioned love story, where one "girl" helps Buster win the girl of his dreams. And unlike some of Buster's love interests, Sally is genuinely a kind, understanding sweetheart who truly cares about him and allows him to care about her without guilt and reproach.
Anyone too, who thinks Keaton was any less of an actor or less capable of pathos than Chaplin may well think twice after seeing this film. If you've seen it, you can probably guess when and how Chaplin would've ended this it had it been his. But this was Keaton, and of course he had different ideas of mixing pathos with comedy. Compare "The Circus" ending to "The Cameraman" ending for a good example.
Oh, but if only this hadn't been the last of its kind...
As a Christian, I know I shouldn't harbor any deep-seated hatred and un-forgiveness towards anyone. But as an imperfect human being, to me it was inexcusable and incomprehensible how HORRIBLY stupid and disrespectfully MGM treated the great Buster Keaton. Even just thinking about it makes me sick at heart. It's not like he was some unknown, unproven talent. And aside from the the then-disappointing box office and critical response (and profit loss) on "The General", he had long proved himself to be one of the best (and profitable) comedians of the day.
The Talmadges and Joe Schenck weren't totally blameless, either. They certainly used Buster up: they took away nearly all he had and, along the way, helped grease the skids on his tragic, descending ride on the oppressive MGM studio system train.
Of course, Buster himself bears some of the blame, and I'm not talking about his drinking problems. Right from the start, unlike Chaplin, I doubt he was as demanding and insistent when it came to standing up for himself and his art. (I'll bet Charlie would just as soon have given an arm and a leg before giving up his film-making independence!).
Buster may not have been as good a businessman as he was a comedian, and his wanting some degree of financial security is understandable. But surely, wouldn't he have known of the growing control grab of performers' independence by the big studio systems - why United Artists was formed to start with (in 1919)?
Certainly the Malicious Greedy Morons had lots of money, but unlike a VERY select few, they had NOTHING on knowing even a fraction about comedy as Buster did. One of the worst cases of blind, cruel arrogance I've ever heard of.
For instance, one point in the trivia section mentions how "The Cameraman" was used for years by MGM as an example of a perfect comedy. The studio would make all its directors and producers watch it and learn. But from my understanding, that's only part of the story. Reportedly, MGM presented this comedy masterpiece as a sample of THEIR superiority in making comedies, especially over the likes of Buster Keaton. In their minds, they had already "won" the battle for total creative control in all present and future MGM Keaton films.
But I believe the justice of it all is that even today, almost 85 years after the last scene was shot - and over 45 years since his passing - it's Buster Keaton who's still universally known, respected, and loved, not "them". He got the last laugh, after all!
At the film's conclusion, I see that ticker-tape parade as a very fitting salute to Buster's incomparable and timeless legacy in the annals of silent film, of comedy, and all of movie history. Thank you, Buster. :-) R.I.P.
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(9 out of 10 stars only because I was hoping to see Buster and Sally in a least ONE tight squeeze that was inescapable: one with locked lips! *sigh*)
Anyone too, who thinks Keaton was any less of an actor or less capable of pathos than Chaplin may well think twice after seeing this film. If you've seen it, you can probably guess when and how Chaplin would've ended this it had it been his. But this was Keaton, and of course he had different ideas of mixing pathos with comedy. Compare "The Circus" ending to "The Cameraman" ending for a good example.
Oh, but if only this hadn't been the last of its kind...
As a Christian, I know I shouldn't harbor any deep-seated hatred and un-forgiveness towards anyone. But as an imperfect human being, to me it was inexcusable and incomprehensible how HORRIBLY stupid and disrespectfully MGM treated the great Buster Keaton. Even just thinking about it makes me sick at heart. It's not like he was some unknown, unproven talent. And aside from the the then-disappointing box office and critical response (and profit loss) on "The General", he had long proved himself to be one of the best (and profitable) comedians of the day.
The Talmadges and Joe Schenck weren't totally blameless, either. They certainly used Buster up: they took away nearly all he had and, along the way, helped grease the skids on his tragic, descending ride on the oppressive MGM studio system train.
Of course, Buster himself bears some of the blame, and I'm not talking about his drinking problems. Right from the start, unlike Chaplin, I doubt he was as demanding and insistent when it came to standing up for himself and his art. (I'll bet Charlie would just as soon have given an arm and a leg before giving up his film-making independence!).
Buster may not have been as good a businessman as he was a comedian, and his wanting some degree of financial security is understandable. But surely, wouldn't he have known of the growing control grab of performers' independence by the big studio systems - why United Artists was formed to start with (in 1919)?
Certainly the Malicious Greedy Morons had lots of money, but unlike a VERY select few, they had NOTHING on knowing even a fraction about comedy as Buster did. One of the worst cases of blind, cruel arrogance I've ever heard of.
For instance, one point in the trivia section mentions how "The Cameraman" was used for years by MGM as an example of a perfect comedy. The studio would make all its directors and producers watch it and learn. But from my understanding, that's only part of the story. Reportedly, MGM presented this comedy masterpiece as a sample of THEIR superiority in making comedies, especially over the likes of Buster Keaton. In their minds, they had already "won" the battle for total creative control in all present and future MGM Keaton films.
But I believe the justice of it all is that even today, almost 85 years after the last scene was shot - and over 45 years since his passing - it's Buster Keaton who's still universally known, respected, and loved, not "them". He got the last laugh, after all!
At the film's conclusion, I see that ticker-tape parade as a very fitting salute to Buster's incomparable and timeless legacy in the annals of silent film, of comedy, and all of movie history. Thank you, Buster. :-) R.I.P.
******************
(9 out of 10 stars only because I was hoping to see Buster and Sally in a least ONE tight squeeze that was inescapable: one with locked lips! *sigh*)