Although Cops is one of the all-time great two-reelers, its creator, Buster Keaton, never thought much of it. He felt it was just a run-of-the-mill chase film, which suggests that perhaps Keaton was his own worst critic — the chase is what gives the film its brilliance. The film’s beginning is a portent of things to come: Keaton longingly looks at his girl Virginia Fox through what appear to be prison bars. In reality, it’s the gate to the mansion where she lives. The girl sends Keaton away, telling him not to return until he is a success in business. Keaton attempts to do so, acquiring, through convoluted means, a horse, wagon, and a load of stolen furniture. Somehow he drives his wagon into the middle of a policeman’s parade, where an anarchist’s bomb falls in his lap. Carelessly, he lights his cigarette with it and throws it away. It explodes in the middle of the parade, and suddenly Keaton is pursued by every cop in the city. The surrealistic vision of Keaton, small and alone, evading these hundreds upon hundreds of policemen is unforgettable. The filmmaker was both athlete and comic, and here he makes maximum use of both talents, racing down streets, playing a balancing act on a ladder, and casually grabbing hold of a car as it flies past, all in an attempt to evade the cops. When it was first released, this comic short confused many people — its subtle statements (including its blend of humor and politics) went over the head of the average filmgoer of the ’20s. But those same qualities make Cops a classic today.

Cops.1922.576p.mkv

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Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	18 min 13 s
Size: 	413 MiB
Video
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Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton – Cops (1922) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Alfred’s father wants him to make of a man of himself so sends him off on a hunting and fishing trip. He doesn’t catch or shoot anything, but he does fall in love with a mountain girl. When her father and brothers laugh at this they are informed that he is Alfred “Battling” Butler, the championship fighter. From there on the masquerade must be maintained.

Battling.Butler.1926.BDRIP.576p.x264.AC3.KJNU.mkv

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Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 18 min
Size: 	1.99 GiB
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Language(s):English Intertitles
Subtitles:None

The post Buster Keaton – Battling Butler (1926) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

A man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family. Keaton stars as youthful dreamer Willie McKay, who travels westward on a rickety locomotive to claim his birthright, only to find that his inheritance is a shack. And he learns that the object of his affection (Keaton’s real-life wife, Natalie Talmadge) is the daughter of a man with whom his family has been engaged in a long, violent feud. McKay’s personal struggles are punctuated by brilliant slapstick set pieces…

	
Our.Hospitality.1923.BDRIP.Kino.2K.576p.x264.FLAC.KJNU.mkv

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Runtime: 	1 h 15 min
Size: 	2.02 GiB
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Subtitles:None

The post John G. Blystone & Buster Keaton – Our Hospitality (1923) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
The Scribe is a 1966 short comedy film directed by John Sebert and produced by the Construction Safety Association of Ontario, Canada. It demonstrates the do’s and don’ts of construction site safety.

The film is the last professionally filmed footage of film legend Buster Keaton shot months before his death from lung cancer on February 1 1966. He recreates several routines from his youth, as well as some new material for the film. Most notable was his recreation of a gag from his 1918 film The Bell Boy in which he mops the floor using only the tip of the mop, little by little while sitting on the floor.

Keaton reportedly was taken to the set in a wheelchair, using an oxygen tank to breathe.

From an article by Eric Vielette:

In 1966, Keaton came to Toronto for The Scribe, an industrial short for the Construction Safety Association of Ontario. Helming the project was John Sebert, noted photographer and author of The Nabes, a book about Toronto movie-houses, including The Revue. As a first-time director, Sebert was in awe of Keaton. Unlike the suits at MGM, he let the great Stone-Face loose: “You didn’t direct Buster too much,” he said to Marion Meade in her biography of Keaton.

Although 70 years old at the time, Keaton still performed his own stunts, although they relied more on timing than physical strength.

Sebert was also shocked to see Keaton smoking multiple packs of cigarettes per day. “He always had a cigarette in his hand,” he told Meade. “Then he’d go into these coughing fits that lasted four or five minutes. The racking that poor guy went through was terrible.”

The Scribe.1966.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv

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https://nitro.download/view/FE0DA676564E01B/The_Scribe.1966.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv

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Subtitles:None

The post John Sebert – The Scribe (1966) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

To reconcile with his girlfriend, a bookish college student tries to become an athlete.

Letterboxd review
★★★★★ Rewatched by Joe 07 Sep 2013

Not as technically audacious as Buster’s most famous movies, but I maintain it’s funner than the lot of them. Part of that can be attributed to the movie’s tight-as-a-cheap-suit-on-a-rainy-day comic construction – at least 3/4ths of the movie are devoted to the formula of watching someone perform a task expertly, then watching Buster try and fail to do the same. And yet Buster’s skills as a comedian are so vast and the level of variation on this theme is so great that it’s never boring, predictable, or less than hilarious. My dark horse candidate for Buster Keaton’s greatest work.

	
College.1927.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-HANDJOB.mkv

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Runtime: 	1 h 5 min
Size: 	1.61 GiB
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The post James W. Horne & Buster Keaton – College (1927) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Buster Keaton’s 1928 silent movie Steamboat Bill, Jr, now on rerelease, is most famous for that staggeringly clever and ambitious shot of the house front with the strategically positioned open window collapsing on top of our hero, leaving him unscathed. It is a sublime vision of innocence being protected by comically benign forces – famously pastiched by British artist and Oscar-winning film-maker Steve McQueen in his 1999 video piece Deadpan. Steamboat Bill, Jr is a Romeo-and-Juliet drama and also a gently tender story of a man coming to respect and love his son. Bill Sr (Ernest Torrence) is the captain of a tatty old pleasure boat who hasn’t seen his son since the boy was a baby. He’s hoping for a strapping lad to help out with the business. But Bill Jr (Keaton) turns out to be a delicate aesthete with an absurd ukelele and annoying bohemian beret. Even worse, he’s in love with Kitty (Marion Byron) the daughter of JJ King (Tom McGuire) the arrogant owner of a rival boat. The ensuing farce involves miraculous physical comedy and stunt-work. Keaton makes it look easy. The final storm sequence is a breathtaking apocalypse. (TheGuardian)

1.93GB | 1h 11m | 760×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/F0D9C0CEBC65A21/Steamboat.Bill.Jr.1928.Charles.Reisner.Buster.Keaton.576p.MoC.BluRay.x264.mkv

Language:English intertitles
Subtitles:French

The post Charles Reisner & Buster Keaton – Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Hopelessly in love with a woman working at MGM Studios, a clumsy man attempts to become a motion picture cameraman to be close to the object of his desire.

+Commentary by author Glenn Mitchell

1.74GB | 1h 10m | 768×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/794291055629239/The.Cameraman.1928.Edgar.Sedgwick.Buster.Keaton.576p.BluRay.x264.mkv

Language:Silent
Subtitles:English intertitles, French

The post Edward Sedgwick & Buster Keaton – The Cameraman [4K Restoration] (1928) first appeared on Cinema of the World.