Industrial Strength Keaton
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Buster Keaton, Laughsmith Entertainment Inc., Paul E. Gierucki with Bruce LawtonDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 330 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Mackinac Media
Movie Reviews of Industrial Strength Keaton
Movie Review: Keaton's later work; fascinating, sometimes bad, often hilarious
Summary: 5 Stars
This collection is certainly for Keaton fans and silent comedy completists. But if you're "in the tent," then you'll agree it's a very wide and satisfying collection of Keaton at his best during the second and third acts of his long career.
Although this 2-disc set suggests it is mostly concerned with the "industrial" films of BK's later career, the first disc is filled with material from his early years and stuff from the first years of sound and the MGM years in the 30s. The producers have found a restored and presumably more complete copy of Keaton's amazing 1921 short "Playhouse" which isn't much different than the Kino version (including framing) except it's a little cleaner, and for a segment in the middle amounting to about 10 seconds which have been in the wrong spot in the short all these years! ISK's version finally fixes that editing problem. The commentary, by 3 of the producers of this set, is knowing, good-natured, non-stop, and not academic at all, although clearly these guys have done their research and know their subject.
Also on disc one is a cleaned-up 16mm print of "Parlor, Bedroom, and Bath," one of the MGM talkies from 1931 that isn't as terrible as its reputation may suggest, and actually is a strong example of an early MGM-era talkie, and how Buster was managing to fold in his own gags and concerns. The best part of the film is extended footage actually shot at K's home in Hollywood, the fabled "Italian Villa" and a redo of a train gag from his earlier silent short "One Week." Again, the audio commentary is fun, very knowledgeable (these guys seem to know EVERY bit actor in this film), revealing and very good-natured. The key to enjoying this film is to understand that it isn't (and can't be) another brilliant silent-era Keaton classic, but is instead a different type of film from another style of filmmaking. P,B,&B is good enough fun.
As a bonus, there is a mini-documentary by historian Jack Dragga on Keaton's Italian Villa, called "1 Parlor, 5 Bedrooms, and 6 Baths" produced for this disc. It runs about 20 minutes and is a treat as it properly acknowledges how cool it is to see Keaton's Hollywood mansion in "P,B,&B" and get an insight into his lifestyle in the early 30s.
Also on disc one are a couple of early sound-era Shorts, "Voice of Hollywood" and a snippet from "Hollywood on Parade" (these kinds of things are mentioned in Eyman's "Speed of Sound" book about the talkies). Finally, we end with "An Old Spanish Custom," a 1935 feature (at barely 60 minutes) that Keaton did in England during his worst drunken years. Interestingly, the film although very low-budget, also has obvious gag contributions by Keaton, and has the familiar plot in which a conniving girl pretends to be in love with Buster to make another man jealous (we see it in "Parlor, Bedroom..." and in "Spite Marriage" as well). The cinematography is by Eugen Schufftan, who worked for Rene Clair, Marcel Carne, and G. Pabst as well!
The commentary as well is knowledgeable, fascinating, and affectionate for this ugly runt of a film. (Keaton would remake this film as a short at Columbia 4 years later, using some of the same gags.)
Disc 1 has 2 features, 2+ shorts, commentaries, extras, and we're not even to the "industrial films" yet!!
Disc two of ISK has commercials and the industrial films. The first selection is of some sketches he did on live tv over the years, 4 of them are based on his first appearance in Arbuckle's "The Butcher Boy" with a can of molasses. The version from 1957, with an actor that looks a lot like Billy Gilbert, has the best timing and is the funniest version, in my opinion. There's some other bits (a Martha Raye version of the scene from "Limelight" (she ain't no Chaplin)) and a pretty good and elaborate paper-hangers bit from 1956 (and it's all done live!). Then there is an extended collection of bits from commercials, ranging from Simon Pure Beer (these are great short black-out jokes - Keaton's in top form) to Country Club Malt Liquor (hmmmm), Alka Seltzer (very fun!), and a series of Jeep commercials called "Lessons in Living" from 1960. Most of this stuff is really great. You understand by watching this hour or so of stuff that Keaton really found a new niche in his "third act" of his life, being a funny often silent foil to sell products on t.v.. The comedy business is almost always pure Keaton-esque, and although he's quite older, he still takes great falls.
Finally, there are 3 "industrial films." "The Devil to Pay" is indeed like an Ed Wood film, as mentioned in the notes, with voice-over, theremin-type cheesy music, and terrible acting and compositions, EXCEPT for the weird and out-of-place framing segments in which Buster, as the devil from another planet, comes down to Earth and inadvertently "eliminates the middlemen" in the US. It's a gruelling, fascinating (and not very good) 20 minutes.
The next industrial is a recent find, "The Home Owner" from 1961 in which Buster demonstrates the joy of ownership for a company that was building houses in Phoenix, AZ. This 20-minute film is an absolute joy. Keaton was in charge of the writing (and probably the direction as well) and there are great timed bits of business, jokes, and the whole time this film really sells you on owning a house and living in this new (1961) community in Arizona. Great work that really harkens back to the silent days, and is a great example of what an industrial film should do.
The set rounds out with the complete "Triumph of Lester Snapwell," the Kodak promo film that was excerpted on Kino's "Keaton Plus."
If you're a fan of BK, and you've seen all the silents, and want to know more about the man, what he did after sound came in, and may even remember his face on t.v. in the 50s and 60s (am I aging myself?) this is an indispensible collection for you. Much of this stuff is really rare and not to be seen since original broadcasting over 40 years ago. The joy of the producers in having collected this package is also clear in the design and menus and commentaries. Turns out BK was not a washed-up failure after 1929. He just changed his career path.
"Keaton Plus" another collection of this type, was light on the later commercials and industrials, but is worth owning for the fascinating "Silent Echoes" tour of K's L.A., the restored "Hard Luck," and 2 of the better of the Educational Shorts. This collection is different, but just as worth owning.
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