The Buster Keaton Collection

The Buster Keaton Collection is a mixed blessing, consisting of one flawed masterpiece, The Cameraman, plus the so-so Spite Marriage (Keaton's last silent film), and the depressing Free and Easy, Keaton's 1930 debut in a talkie. All three features were made under a new contract Keaton signed with MGM, forcing the ever-innovative, brilliant star-director of numerous American classics (Sherlock Jr., The General, Our Hospitality, etc.) to give up creative control (including his off-the-cuff storytelling methods), and the results are painfully visible in each of the movies included in this set. Still, The Cameraman is built around a great story about a tintype photographer who tries to win a girl's heart by becoming a fearless newsreel cameraman, and boasts several set pieces memorable for their knockabout comedy, including a tong war in New York's Chinatown (in which our stone-faced hero is caught in the crossfire) and a visit to Yankee Stadium (where Keaton mimes pitching). Spite Marriage has a couple of funny scenes, particularly one in which Keaton's trouser-pressing hero makes a shambles of a Broadway play, but the less said about Free and Easy, the better. DVD extras include an all-new documentary on Keaton's MGM stint by renowned film historian Kevin Brownlow, as well as audio commentaries on both The Cameraman and Spite Marriage. Recommended, overall. (T. Keogh)