Arbuckle & Keaton Vol. 1

Rating:
Summary: Only 5 because...
Review: ...it would deserve 10 if the music had been composed by somebody who liked Buster Keaton and not some dim-wit specialized in background sounds (or, better say noises) for Pachinko-saloons. But, once the sound set on mute (or any rag-time of your choice), even with some very dated materials, gags like the cleaning of the phone-booth window or stunts as the one from barber to restaurant should be able to convert anybody to a Keaton's fan, even if one didn't know about him before. Which would be a pity, since, although Chaplin was a master of work-polishing, Buster Keaton was (in my judgement) a top-master in inventiveness; as well, due to his very early training, I never saw anybody performing stunts and somersaults the way he could do it: just watch "The Rairodder", and think how many 70 years old could do the same.

By the way, I only noticed the pictures' imperfections after muting the sound

Rating:
Summary: The Fat Man Is Back
Review: At last the genius of Roscoe Arbuckle can finally be seen in this 2 volume series thanks to Kino International and the Douris Corporation. Volume 1 contains 5 shorts with 2 of them being all time comedy classics. THE BELLBOY features Arbuckle's famous shaving routine plus some incredible acrobatics from Buster Keaton and the unjustly neglected Al St John. It concludes with a spectacular free for all that has a trolley crashing through a hotel. THE BUTCHER BOY was Arbuckle's first solo effort away from Mack Sennett and also marks the debut of Buster Keaton. Watch Fatty roll a cigarette one handed and see the famous mollases routine. Fatty's Mary Pickford impersonation is also a scream. The remaining 3 shorts OUT WEST, MOONSHINE, and THE HAYSEED all contain several memorable bits but aren't as consistently funny as the first two. The transfers with the exception of MOONSHINE are superior to anything previously issued. The newly commissioned scores from the Alloy Orchestra are quite appropiate and make great background for the action. The only drawback as mentioned earlier is MOONSHINE. If this is the best available print then they should have used OH DOCTOR which was in Kino's earlier SLAPSTICK series. All in all an excellent introduction to Fatty for those who don't know him and a true delight for those of us who do.

Rating:
Summary: Watch it with the sound down!
Review: I love Buster Arbuckle and Roscoe Keaton. Er... I love those guys. Also, I have a crush on Mabel Normand.

I recently bought this DVD and was cringing when I did because I knew that the musical accompaniment that was thrown in was going to be terrible. And it was. It was (is) just terrrrrrible (note superfluous Rs). What ever happened to a nice little piano rag? Enjoyable, yet unobtrusive. Why must there be this bizarre, chaotic, sometimes chant-like and repetitively, illogically, annoyingly driven music score to try and match every little movement? Who is trying to be so artistic? Are they trying to be artistic? It ruins the moments and humor. It throws off the timing. It creates, at the risk of sounding repetitive, bizarre tones in every scene it occupies.

And enough with the sound effects, ok? We KNOW what's happening when the actors get hit in the face with a pie and then fall down, we don't need the silly slide-whistle and the poorly-timed bass drum strike to accentuate it. Lay off, ok, pal? (I'm addressing the guy with the bass drum mallet in his fist, the slide whistle in his mouth, the cymbals between his knees and the loads of ... well, BIZARRE ... Casio keyboard settings at his manic disposal to try and blow up every single, subtle comedy movement by these comic geniuses -- including Arbuckle, Keaton, Al St. John, and Keaton's own dad Mr. Keaton --, sucking the comedy out like some sort of unfunny vacuum cleaner.) Who needs that? I don't! And I'm upset that when I watch these comedy shorts that I'm going to have to have my little sister Ramona PLAY a musical accompaniment on the dining room piano, her only having to ignore her important school studies, which is the only thing that she really has going for her.

Who is this rotten Alloy Orchestra? What have they done to these film classics? Who let them do it? They've made them disconcerting and even frightening at times. Unbearable to listen to. Ruined? Impossible. Still, let's keep it simple from now on. After all, what can anyone else add to the screen teaming of Roscoe Arbuckle and Booster Keaton?

Concerned, Joshua M. Sparks, [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Watch it with the sound down!
Review: I love Buster Arbuckle and Roscoe Keaton. Er... I love those guys. Also, I have a crush on Mabel Normand.

I recently bought this DVD and was cringing when I did because I knew that the musical accompaniment that was thrown in was going to be terrible. And it was. It was (is) just terrrrrrible (note superfluous Rs). What ever happened to a nice little piano rag? Enjoyable, yet unobtrusive. Why must there be this bizarre, chaotic, sometimes chant-like and repetitively, illogically, annoyingly driven music score to try and match every little movement? Who is trying to be so artistic? Are they trying to be artistic? It ruins the moments and humor. It throws off the timing. It creates, at the risk of sounding repetitive, bizarre tones in every scene it occupies.

And enough with the sound effects, ok? We KNOW what's happening when the actors get hit in the face with a pie and then fall down, we don't need the silly slide-whistle and the poorly-timed bass drum strike to accentuate it. Lay off, ok, pal? (I'm addressing the guy with the bass drum mallet in his fist, the slide whistle in his mouth, the cymbals between his knees and the loads of ... well, BIZARRE ... Casio keyboard settings at his manic disposal to try and blow up every single, subtle comedy movement by these comic geniuses -- including Arbuckle, Keaton, Al St. John, and Keaton's own dad Mr. Keaton --, sucking the comedy out like some sort of unfunny vacuum cleaner.) Who needs that? I don't! And I'm upset that when I watch these comedy shorts that I'm going to have to have my little sister Ramona PLAY a musical accompaniment on the dining room piano, her only having to ignore her important school studies, which is the only thing that she really has going for her.

Who is this rotten Alloy Orchestra? What have they done to these film classics? Who let them do it? They've made them disconcerting and even frightening at times. Unbearable to listen to. Ruined? Impossible. Still, let's keep it simple from now on. After all, what can anyone else add to the screen teaming of Roscoe Arbuckle and Booster Keaton?

Concerned, Joshua M. Sparks, [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Great Soundtrack!
Review: I think the Alloy Orchestra does a bang up job and hold their own next to Roscoe, Buster and Al! I have many silent films in my collection with more traditional soundtracks that I like a lot too. But this is a very nice change (and not annoying or distracting...goes with the movies) They supply more mood and actual sound effects all produced through strange "found" instruments as well as traditional...normally not something I might like....but BOY! Do they know their craft!!! They have won all kinds of awards for their work on silent films! Buy this dvd
set with confidence!


Rating:
Summary: Arbuckle and Keaton Live Again!
Review: Kino Video has done us a great favor by releasing Volumes One and Two of the Arbuckle-Keaton two-reel comedies made from 1917 to 1920 for Paramount. These are digital transfers made from 35-mm stock, and the best exhibit an amazing high fidelity image for such early film. Titles are so clear and sharp they appear to be faithful recreations of the orginals. The sound track is an excellent stereo orchestral score recorded in 2001 by the Alloy Orchestra. Unobtrusive sound effects add to the pleasure of an excellent overall presentation.

Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle was at the height of his fame when he left Mack Sennett in late 1916 to join Joseph Schenck at Paramount and gain artistic control of his comedies. He was second only to Chaplin in world wide appeal. His talent and humanity are apparent in every scene. But I suspect most folks will want these films as the earliest motion images of Buster Keaton, starting at age 21. The ten films in Volumes One and Two represent the best of the surviving two-reelers of the approximate fifteen that Arbuckle and Keaton made together.

The very first film, Butcher Boy, 1917, begins Volume One and the last film, Keaton's favorite of the series, The Garage, 1920, ends Volume Two. Each of the films is a gem, such as Back Stage, 1919, in which Keaton, returned from a year in Europe in WW I, shows many of his vaudeville routines.

Arbuckle and Keaton had high regard for each other, and while Arbuckle's fame faded while Keaton's rose, they stayed in close touch with each other until Arbuckle's death in 1933.

I suppose watching silent film is an acquired taste. Silent drama, for example, is usually pretty theatrical and agonizing. But as James Agee so eloquently argued in 1949 in "Comedy's Greatest Era," silent comedies are unsurpassed for genuine belly laughs. These are MOVIES, after all. The comedy comes from pantomime and MOTION. In my view, it's what movies are supposed to do!

These early films have a fairly static camera. The actors cavort in front of it with stage scenery in the backdrop. Nonetheless, the gags are wonderful to behold. For film history buffs, this is about the most watchable early stuff there is. And you can see the genesis of many of the routines that graced the best of silent comedy only a few years later. (I was unaware, for example, that Keaton's most famous stunt, the falling house facade stunt in Steamboat Bill, Jr, 1928, was preceded by a similar scene with Fatty Arbuckle in Back Stage, 1919!)

Hats off to Kino for, as usual, bringing such excellent transfers to market. Both Volumes are highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Arbuckle-Keaton DVD more historical than hysterical
Review: Kino Video probably issued the DVD Arbuckle and Keaton, Vol. 1 based on the strength of Kino's earlier, mostly flawless Buster Keaton compilations. And in spite of this DVD touting some short subjects of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle at the height of his fame, Keaton will probably remain the main draw of this DVD.

The story goes that in the late 1910's, Arbuckle was America's second-most-popular comedian, bowing only to Charlie Chaplin. When Arbuckle met up with Buster Keaton, he recognized Keaton's comedy strengths and debuted Keaton in his movies as an ever-reliable sidekick.

Yet based on the evidence shown here, Keaton in even secondary roles was someone to keep an eye on, while Arbuckle's appeal has assuredly diminished over the years. Unlike Chaplin or the solo Keaton, Arbuckle has little of a persona to fall back on. One can imagine how Chaplin's Little Tramp or Keaton's Stone Face would react in a given situation. But Arbuckle seems to change his stripes whenever any gag, in or out of character, presents itself. About the only persona that emerges for Fatty is that he's...well, fat.

And the plotlines, concocted mostly by Arbuckle, are just as arbitrary as his character. The short The Bellboy (1918) begins in a hotel and segues strangely to a bank that's being robbed. The Butcher Boy (1917, and Keaton's film debut) begins in a grocery store and switches to a girls' boarding school.

But unlike Arbuckle, who all but winks at the audience in an attempt to win their love, Keaton plays straight no matter the situation and scores points all around. Out West (1918) presents Keaton as a barroom gunslinger, and just by force of personality, he makes you believe it. And heaven knows, nobody could take a fall or elaborate a simple gag better than Buster.

Arbuckle's hoary stories are not helped by racist humor (in Out West, barroom bullies shoot at the feet of a frightened black man, and Arbuckle goes right along with the bullies) and by musical accompaniment (by "The Alloy Orchestra," according to liner notes) that rates as Kino's worst.

Anyone with an interest in Buster Keaton's humble film origins might want to give this a look. Silent-film buffs might be drawn in initially but will most likely lose interest about halfway through.

Rating:
Summary: K&A Mixed Bag
Review: Most silent comedies, aside from Keaton's classics, Harold Lloyd, Our Gang, and some of Chaplin do not hold up very well, and these are no exception.

Buster and Fatty make a good team in the "Butcher Boy" and "The Bellboy." Both of these films being with some rather amusing gags, but go haywire with wild plot twists near the end.

And then there's OUT WEST. For the most part, mighty funny stuff, especially when Fatty and Buster team up to stop the bad guy from molesting the salvation army lady. However, there is a horrible scene where a Black Man (Ernie Morrison Sr, father of Sunshine Sammy of the Our Gang silents) is made to dance as some cruel cowboys (and Fatty Himself!) shoot as his feet until the Salvation army lady comes to his rescue and shames Fatty and the cowboys. The fact that this was a common practice in the days when Black men were lynched kills any humor whatsoever in this scene. Fortuntely, Ernie Morrison Sr. (and Jr.) were to play less degrading roles at the Hal Roach studios.
That aside, worth viewing for historical purposes.

Rating:
Summary: Great films - worthless 'music'
Review: The Alloy Orchestra has no idea what they're doing - the idea is to support the film, not compete with it. The film is the star after all - in the future I would never buy a silent film on video that has the Alloy Orchestra behind it, it's the quickest way I know to obtain a massive headache.

Rating:
Summary: Great films - worthless 'music'
Review: The Alloy Orchestra has no idea what they're doing - the idea is to support the film, not compete with it. The film is the star after all - in the future I would never buy a silent film on video that has the Alloy Orchestra behind it, it's the quickest way I know to obtain a massive headache.