Buster Keaton Short Films Collection 1917-1923 Blu Ray

[silentmovies742]

The Eureka collection certainly seems to be very good to my eyes, although I'm certainly not interested in checking frame by frame with any earlier copies I might have had to see if something is missing. The book is very nice indeed, and the price isn't half bad either. Surprisingly, I managed to buy my copy from my local, relatively small, HMV who told me they had got in three copies on release date and I had bought the last one (at about 3pm) which is pretty good going for a silent film set in a small city. Oddly, the same assistant told me they had got in three copies of the Criterion edition of Speedy as well a month or two earlier...and not yet sold one of them.

[Scoundrel]

My set arrived today.

It was worth the wait.

[Stephen Horne]

Richard Warner wrote:
Message for bigshot re Electric House. Just checked the very nice Stephen Horne alternate score for you. That's in perfect sync throughout and there have been no sync issues on the other three shorts I've watched.

Thanks for the compliment, Richard. You may be interested to know that my score for Electric House was a second out of sync in the initial Lobster release, which was due to a technical glitch between recording and mastering. I wonder if something similar happened with Robert's score? My music also went out at the very end of Hard Luck - there was a vibraphone glissando which was meant to sync with Buster's high dive, but actually came early, meaning that he dived in silence. I haven't been able to check out the Kino and MoC versions yet but it is good to know that the problems seem to have been ironed out, at least in the most recent release.

[bort]

(Immediately after Buster does his dive and misses the pool)
ARTE: no intertitle
MoC: It was here that Buster did his spectacular dive and missed the pool.

This last change is clearly wrong. We've just seen Buster DO the dive and that title was written by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill for the 1987 version where the dive footage was missing! Whoops!

Is this fixed in the new Kino set?

[Rick Lanham]

(Immediately after Buster does his dive and misses the pool)
ARTE: no intertitle
MoC: It was here that Buster did his spectacular dive and missed the pool.

This last change is clearly wrong. We've just seen Buster DO the dive and that title was written by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill for the 1987 version where the dive footage was missing! Whoops!

Is this fixed in the new Kino set?

It is correct on the latest Kino blu-ray set. I assume it's OK on the DVD set, but I don't know.

Rick

[bort]

It is correct on the latest Kino blu-ray set. I assume it's OK on the DVD set, but I don't know.

Rick

Thank you!

[Richard Warner]

Thanks for the compliment, Richard. You may be interested to know that my score for Electric House was a second out of sync in the initial Lobster release, which was due to a technical glitch between recording and mastering. I wonder if something similar happened with Robert's score? My music also went out at the very end of Hard Luck - there was a vibraphone glissando which was meant to sync with Buster's high dive, but actually came early, meaning that he dived in silence. I haven't been able to check out the Kino and MoC versions yet but it is good to know that the problems seem to have been ironed out, at least in the most recent release.

Enjoyed your scores very much, Stephen. I tend to notice sync issues only if they are way out.

I haven't checked all of the MoC set yet, but the one score really puzzling me is Gunter Buchwald's for The Frozen North. Either it's a very loose score or it's way behind the action by the time it ends. At times, there seems to be musical punctuation for nothing in particular, while expected punctuation doesn't happen. Also, the guitar starts way after Big Joe has started strumming and the music stops very abruptly at the end as if suddenly cut off. It's the same on the French Arte set, where it's first choice score. Interestingly, it's second choice on MoC, with Antonio Coppola's score first.

[Stephen Horne]

Richard Warner wrote:
'Enjoyed your scores very much, Stephen. I tend to notice sync issues only if they are way out.

I haven't checked all of the MoC set yet, but the one score really puzzling me is Gunter Buchwald's for The Frozen North. Either it's a very loose score or it's way behind the action by the time it ends. At times, there seems to be musical punctuation for nothing in particular, while expected punctuation doesn't happen. Also, the guitar starts way after Big Joe has started strumming and the music stops very abruptly at the end as if suddenly cut off. It's the same on the French Arte set, where it's first choice score. Interestingly, it's second choice on MoC, with Antonio Coppola's score first.'

I can't speak for the other composers but I know that Gunter is a very conscientious musician. I have had a couple of experiences where music that was perfectly synched to image during the recording has subsequently slipped out during the authoring process. It can be frustrating, as viewers sometimes lay the blame at the door of the musician. However Lobster / Kino / MoC have been great at sorting out the glitches with my scores.

[Richard Warner]

Stephen, as a (long-retired) semi-pro musician, I can understand the frustration of being blamed - and I'm certainly not blaming Gunter! His score for Convict 13 is first-rate. It's nice to know that the folks who hire you are willing to fix things on subsequent releases. Judging by the comments here and elsewhere, out-of-sync scores are a big issue for many purchasers.

[bigshot]

My copy arrived in Los Angeles today. Can't wait to dive in. The book is VERY nice! Is there any reason to keep my old Kino set if I have this one?

[s.w.a.c.]

Unfortunately, unless I get an All Region Blu-ray Player (Which may prove my most viable option), I'm in a sort of Catch 22, with the Kino Blu-ray set being insanely expensive to get from Canada. If I get a month that things aren't so financially tight, unless the Kino set goes on sale at Amazon.ca, I'll likely just take my chances with the Region B set - Heck, I've gotta try the Leawo Blu-ray Player Forced Region feature out sometime!

As a fellow Canadian, I opted for the UK set for the same reason. But Kino frequently has great sales (it pays to be on their email newsletter list), and if you place a larger order (I think it's $100 for Canadians, $50 for the U.S.) your shipping is free. So save your pennies and keep an eye out for a sale, and it'll probably cost less to order directly from Kino than to go through Amazon.ca (which also has free shipping, but frequently inflated prices on U.S. import titles from labels like Kino and Criterion).

[Red Bartlett]

My Masters Of Cinema Keaton set finally arrived from the UK. Wow. This thing is huge! I didn't realize there'd be such a massive book with it either. Just thumbing through it -- it's fantastic!!! High quality paper, lots of big glossy pics. I am sort of surprised they didn't combine disc cases to save some space (disc 1 and 2 get their own case) -- but what a handsome collection this is. Now... only thing left to do, is dig in!!!

[Tboneator64]

Unfortunately, unless I get an All Region Blu-ray Player (Which may prove my most viable option), I'm in a sort of Catch 22, with the Kino Blu-ray set being insanely expensive to get from Canada. If I get a month that things aren't so financially tight, unless the Kino set goes on sale at Amazon.ca, I'll likely just take my chances with the Region B set - Heck, I've gotta try the Leawo Blu-ray Player Forced Region feature out sometime!

As a fellow Canadian, I opted for the UK set for the same reason. But Kino frequently has great sales (it pays to be on their email newsletter list), and if you place a larger order (I think it's $100 for Canadians, $50 for the U.S.) your shipping is free. So save your pennies and keep an eye out for a sale, and it'll probably cost less to order directly from Kino than to go through Amazon.ca (which also has free shipping, but frequently inflated prices on U.S. import titles from labels like Kino and Criterion).

Thank you very much for your helpful posting, s.w.a.c.

The thing is, $100 is simply far more than I'll likely ever put down for a single order, sad to say! I'm tempted to ask why the minimum $$ for free shipping is so much higher for Canada than the U.S. with Kino, but I suppose the same question could be posed why Amazon Canada's minimum for same is so much lower than Amazon U.S. - It simply is what it is.

As it happens, unforeseen family circumstances have meant an extra tight budget at the present, so I likely won't be getting either the UK or U.S. sets for the time being, unfortunately.

CHEERS!

[Red Bartlett]

... been digging through the set over the weekend, it's been such a blast. I'm still geekin' out about the book, by the way, which I didn't know was going to be included. It's chock full of amazing stuff; interviews, pics. I don't have any silent film-era books, so of course, I'm loving this.

As for the films, I've watched only a few of the shorts on disc 1, so I'm still in the Fatty years. I've seen some of these I believe -- but I have to admit, I'm sort of a Fatty-newbie --- so their inclusion was a huge selling point. Ok... I am absolutely loving the fearless Arbuckle. I'm a fan. I need more. He had to have been absolutely maddening to watch in 1917!! Obscene and crude to no end. And to witness how Keaton first emerges as one of Arbuckle's bombastic numskull rabble-rousers, provides that much-appreciated context which you just won't see in the Kino.

Fantastic set. Bravo!!!

[bigshot]

I watched the first few shorts on disc 2 tonight. I've never seen these films look so good. There are little bits and pieces missing here and there, but the films play wonderfully. Great set! I agree about the book. That is a huge advantage over the US version.

[WaverBoy]

(Immediately after Buster does his dive and misses the pool)
ARTE: no intertitle
MoC: It was here that Buster did his spectacular dive and missed the pool.

This last change is clearly wrong. We've just seen Buster DO the dive and that title was written by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill for the 1987 version where the dive footage was missing! Whoops!

Is this fixed in the new Kino set?

It is correct on the latest Kino blu-ray set. I assume it's OK on the DVD set, but I don't know.

Rick

Uh-oh...which set contains the most fixed errors then, Kino or MOC?

[fullrotor]

Does anyone know if the MOC version has an alternate score for Coney Island without vocals? Any general recommendations of one or the other set?

[Mitch Farish]

It is disappointing to be faced with having to pick from the version with the least errors, but on the other hand, the films themselves have never looked or sounded so good. I got the MOC (haven't watched it yet), but I'm hanging on to my old Kino Keaton blu-ray.

[fullrotor]

I suppose eventually there'll be a Keaton Project set from the 4k restorations which will look amazing. Hopefully whoever puts that out will choose multiple musical scores, properly sync them, etc.

[Richard Warner]

Uh-oh...which set contains the most fixed errors then, Kino or MOC?

Finally got through all of the MOC. Don't have the Kino but from what I've read it's identical to my French Arte, so, on that basis......
KINO's got one messed up title on Love Nest & a few on Day Dreams, but NONE on Hard Luck. Robert Israel's score for Electric House in sync.
MOC's got a messed up title on Hard Luck, but NONE on Love Nest or Day Dreams. Robert Israel's Electric House score a bit out-of-sync.

Not much to complain about! In any version, Arte, Kino, MOC, it's a superb set with some magnificent clean-up work and great music.
Hope this helps
Richard

[Red Bartlett]

One scene that's been stuck in my head -- cracking me up all weekend -- is in "Convict 13." Buster wakes up to find himself wearing prison stripes with two prison guards standing next to him.

Last thing he knew, he was playing golf -- and without batting an eye, he assess his dire situation and casually brushes the two guards to the side so he can hit his next shot. The guards, of course, have to oblige and while they're watching the shot, Buster calmly makes his exit.

Foreshadowing Bugs Bunny by a few decades! Just classic.

[wich2]

That's conscious!

The Termite Terrace gang were big Silent Comedy fans, and their work was the genuine child of same.

[s.w.a.c.]

The Termite Terrace gang were big Silent Comedy fans, and their work was the genuine child of same.

No kidding, I was so surprised when I saw that the gag that shows Bugs Bunny tunneling just under the surface of the ground done a decade or so earlier in a live action silent comedy short. Wish I could remember which one, I think it was on the second Slapstick Encyclopedia set, maybe a Larry Semon short.