Search

Description

Cohen Film Collection is proud to present 4K restorations of two of Buster Keaton’s greatest works, both featuring orchestral scores by Carl Davis. Many critics consider THE GENERAL to be the last great comedy of the silent era, and it consistently ranks as one of the greatest films of all time on international critics’ polls. Set during the Civil War and based on a true incident, the film is an authentic-looking period piece that brings the scope and realism of Matthew Brady-like images to brilliant life. Keaton portrays engineer Johnnie Gray, rejected by the Confederate Army and thought a coward by his girlfriend (Marion Mack). When a band of Union soldiers penetrate Confederate lines to steal his locomotive, Johnnie Gray sets off in pursuit. And in STEAMBOAT BILL, JR., as the son of a steamboat captain, Buster falls in love with the daughter of a rival steamboat owner. When a cyclone rages, Buster proves himself a hero by rescuing his love and her father from a watery grave. Special Features: -Reflections on THE GENERAL -Buster Keaton: The Luminary -THE GENERAL Restoration Trailer -STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. Restoration Trailer

Description

STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. was Buster Keaton s last independent silent comedy and also one of his finest. He stars as the effete son of a gruff riverboat captain (Ernest Torrence), who struggles to earn his father s respect (and the love of beautiful Marion Byron). But the film is best remembered for the climactic cyclone sequence a slapstick tour-de-force in which Keaton s comedic stunts are performed amid the full-scale destruction of an entire town. A stone-faced response to Harold Lloyd s The Freshman, COLLEGE follows a frail scholar as he tries to win the heart of a girl (Anne Cornwall) through athletics. Keaton used his own physical agility to brilliant comic effect, as his character suffers a series of crushing failures. But the greatest surprise comes at the end, when the scrawny intellectual finally releases the physical tiger within. Special Features: New 2K restoration by Lobster Films, Orchestral score by Timothy Brock, Organ score by Lee Erwin, Audio commentary by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Stan Taffel, Introduction by Serge Bromberg, Vintage Alka-Seltzer commercial starring Buster Keaton/New 2K restoration by Lobster Films, Music by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Organ score by John Muri, Audio commentary by Rob Farr, Tour of filming locations, by John Bengtson, author of Silent Echoes, Introduction by Serge Bromberg, Introduction by Lillian Gish, Run, Girl, Run, a 1928 collegiate comedy starring Carole Lombard, The Scribe (1966), Keaton s final on-screen performance