Tweet Keaton's "The Saphead" on Blu Ray 7/10/12

Apparently Kino will be releasing a blu ray edition of The Saphead on July 10. No word on extras. Not my favorite Keaton feature, but I'll still pick it up.
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Saphead-Blu-ray/42688/
If my memory is correct, I think the version already on DVD is derived from a preview version that is slightly longer than the general release version. If so, it would be nice if both versions were included on upcoming blu ray edition. Also, does Douglas Fairbanks' "The Lamb" still exist? Since it was based off the same source material as "The Saphead," it would make a neat extra assuming that it's still around.

[Christopher Jacobs]

THE SAPHEAD may not be the best "Keaton" Keaton film, but Keaton is fun in it and it's a pretty entertaining film in its own right.

As for THE LAMB, although Fairbanks may have been in the stage play, his film of that same title bears no relation to the play that became THE SAPHEAD. Instead, it's a typical pre-swashbuckler Fairbanks action-adventure in Arizona and Mexico about a weakling who finds his courage, reputedly based on a story by D. W. Griffith.

THE SAPHEAD may not be the best "Keaton" Keaton film, but Keaton is fun in it and it's a pretty entertaining film in its own right.

As for THE LAMB, although Fairbanks may have been in the stage play, his film of that same title bears no relation to the play that became THE SAPHEAD. Instead, it's a typical pre-swashbuckler Fairbanks action-adventure in Arizona and Mexico about a weakling who finds his courage, reputedly based on a story by D. W. Griffith.

I agree. The Saphead isn't a masterpiece, but it's still a pleasant little film. The stock exchange scene at the end is funny. Thanks for the information on The Lamb. I still would like to see it, and I hope that even the very tangential connection to The Saphead will provide an excuse for it to find its way on this blu ray. I rather doubt it though. I did hear a rumor recently that The Thief of Bagdad is headed for a blu ray release. So, I guess there's still hope for more Fairbanks on blu.

Now that this has been announced, only College and The Navigator remain to be announced and released (I'm not counting the two MGM silents). It would be nice if Kino ventured out and did a blu ray reissue of the Arbuckle-Keaton shorts. Perhaps they could also release Le Roi des Champs-Élysées. I finally saw that feature recently and found it very good (I would rank it around the same level as Spite Marriage). If they saw fit to release the Educational shorts on blu ray, I would think that Le Roi des Champs-Élysées would also merit consideration from them.

Do the original opening credits for The Saphead still exist?

This begs the question where is The Navigator Kino?

[Christopher Jacobs]

This begs the question where is The Navigator Kino?

Maybe they're saving the best til last? (Although SHERLOCK JR and THE GENERAL would also be likely candidates and they were among the first out on Blu-ray.)

Here's a link to the NY Times review of the original play.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fr ... 5B8784F0D3

Neat that Henry Bergman was in the cast (... small world!).

This begs the question where is The Navigator Kino?

Maybe they're saving the best til last? (Although SHERLOCK JR and THE GENERAL would also be likely candidates and they were among the first out on Blu-ray.)

Bret Wood made mention in this interview that The Navigator is slated for release sometime this year:
http://requiemforjeanrollin.blogspot.com/2012/01/fascination-q-with-kino-lorbers-bret.html
Kino is also working on a release of College. The leader of the Peacherine Orchestra made mention of being approached by Kino to record their score for the new release. They couldn't come to terms though.
http://nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11430&p=76430&hilit=kino#p76430
We're also still waiting on CineMuseum's "Blue Collar Buster" blu ray release too. I'd love to know the contents of that!

I wasn't going to get the Lost Keaton bluray of the Educational Pictures shorts, but I'm glad I did. They are more fun than I expected. There really isn't any reason for them to be on bluray though. They'd be just as good on a well mastered DVD. That's true of a lot of silents. The General and City Girl look great on Bluray, but Steamboat Bill Jr is better on DVD and Phantom of te Opera doesn't really need the additional resolution most of the time.

I wasn't going to get the Lost Keaton bluray of the Educational Pictures shorts, but I'm glad I did. They are more fun than I expected. There really isn't any reason for them to be on bluray though. They'd be just as good on a well mastered DVD. That's true of a lot of silents. The General and City Girl look great on Bluray, but Steamboat Bill Jr is better on DVD and Phantom of te Opera doesn't really need the additional resolution most of the time.

What I notice most about Blu-Rays of silent movies is how much better the audio sounds -- having the audio noncompressed makes a bigger difference than I would have thought, at least on my system.

It depends on how it's compressed. DTS generally sounds great to me. AAC audio above 192 sounds exactly like lossless. I find that how it's miked and recorded makes much more of a diffeence than the file format. Of course the dismal sound on the Educational Films Keatons doesn't see any improvement at all. Early sound is what it is.

Caesar,

All CineMuseum releases are on the back burner while we complete the restoration of 100 Mack Sennett films for the 100th anniversary of Keystone. I do not want to hijack this thread, will post details of the project under its own heading soon.

I am looking forward to another fine Kino / Keaton release!

Paul E. Gierucki

I did a piano score for something on this...

Ben

Just pre-ordered this title today (along with the Criterion Gold Rush blu-ray). I read on the Amazon description page that the new edition is "loaded with special features including an alternate version of the film and more (TBD)." It looks like that both the pre-release and release versions will be on the same disc. I hope to see a press release sometime in the future.

Do the original opening credits for The Saphead still exist?

Yes, that nice sequence, ending with "newcomer" Keaton respectfully shaking the hand of veteran William H. Crane, was intact on the previous Kino edition.

This begs the question where is The Navigator Kino?

I'm hoping the original trailer for The Navigator might turn up. According to Buster himself, the trailer included a gag sequence of him acting as underwater "traffic cop", conducting schools of fish. He had excised this from the film itself because of poor preview reaction. "They resented it because it held up the action of me saving the girl," was his theory.

I'd read about that scene too, but didn't know it was in the trailer. I'd love to see it.

I know I've seen several Keaton trailers and I can't remember if I've seen that one or not. I may have a false memory of it because it's been so well described that I can picture how it would look.

Here are the extras according to Kino's website:
•Complete alternate version of THE SAPHEAD, comprised entirely of variant takes and camera angles.
•"A Pair of Sapheads," an eight-minute featurette comparing the two versions of the film.
•Buster Keaton: Life of the Party, a rare audio recording from 1962, in which Keaton recalls the memories and songs of his vaudeville youth, amid an intimate gathering of friends.
•Gallery of personal photographs from Keaton's childhood in vaudeville.
•Music arranged and directed by Robert Israel, in 2.0 Stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
•Music composed and performed by Ben Model, in 2.0 Stereo

My score is for the alternate version, fyi.

Ben

All the more reason to view the alternate version!

I just got a shipping notice from deepdiscount.com for The Saphead! I love how they're able to ship these so early! Also, since I haven't seen it mentioned here, I've seen a few references that Kino will be releasing "The Navigator" on blu ray on 9/4. At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised to see "College" released around Christmas time.

[Christopher Jacobs]

ImportCDs.com emailed me that my order of THE SAPHEAD Blu-ray was shipped yesterday, so it ought to be here next week, a good two weeks ahead of the official date. Not only that, but their discount price combined with the 10% sale currently in effect through this Sunday June 24th made it cost only $16.55 plus $1.49 shipping.

I also pre-ordered Kino's THE DEVIL'S NEEDLE box set, which includes John Collins' CHILDREN OF EVE (1915) and an abridgement of INSIDE OF THE WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC (1913), and is also scheduled for a July 10 release but has already shipped. The price on that one came to $18.89 plus $1.49 shipping.

I received my copy yesterday. While I haven't been able to sit down to watch the entire feature yet, I did watch a few minutes of both versions as well as the entire mini-documentary. There are two versions of the film - both the domestic and foreign cuts. The editing seems to be about the same in both versions (which I found somewhat surprising because I remember reading that the Saphead was originally a 5 reel feature and that the Rohauer version was based upon a 7 reel preview version. Perhaps I'm not remembering correctly). The foreign cut runs about two or three minutes shorter, but I don't think that anything is missing.There is also a lot more tinting in the domestic version, but the reason for that is explained in the documentary. Good job, Kino! Keep up the good work!

Doing some prowling with the Wayback Machine, I was able to find David Shepard's article "Polishing the Stone Face" on a 1990s version of Kino's website. It has some interesting information about the restoration of Keaton's films for the Art of Buster Keaton series.
http://web.archive.org/web/19980115183740/http://kino.com/shepard.html
Here's an interesting quote about The Saphead:
"In one instance, however, we knowingly present a Rohauer edition: The Saphead, released in five reels, is here offered in a seven-reel version (apparently based on a preview print). We found an excellent and probably authoritative negative of the released version but felt that Keaton enthusiasts would have regretted the absence of additional footage, even though a more languid film results."

So is this version also the 7-reel preview cut like the Kino DVD, or is it the 5-reel cut originally released?

So is this version also the 7-reel preview cut like the Kino DVD, or is it the 5-reel cut originally released?

Both versions seem to be the 7-reel version.

Gotcha. It would be nice to see the 5-reel version as well at some point, from the element mentioned by Mr. Shepard.