"Director: Charles Reisner"

• Buster Keaton: 3 Films(Sherlock Jr., The General, Steamboat Bill, Jr.) | Blu Ray | (12/08/2019) from £18.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eureka Entertainment to re-issue BUSTER KEATON: 3 FILMS, a collection of essential films from one of the greats of cinema operating at the height of his powers, taken from stunning 4K restorations, as part of The Masters of Cinema Series in a 3-disc Blu-ray set from 12 August 2019. Between 1920 and 1929, Buster Keaton created a peerless run of feature films that established him as arguably the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies. Collected here are three key films from that era; Sherlock Jr., The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr. Together they represent a true master at his peak, and The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present all three films from stunning 4K restorations. Sherlock Jr. (1924) A film projectionist (and amateur detective) offers to solve the case of a missing watch, but is instead framed for the crime himself. Desperate to clear his name, the projectionist dreams of being the great Sherlock Jr., and in one of cinemas most iconic sequences, literally steps into the screen to bring his fantasies to life. The General (1926) When union spies steal his locomotive (along with his girlfriend), a plucky railway engineer pursues them doggedly across enemy lines. Containing one of the most memorable chase sequences in the history of filmmaking, The General is widely considered to be Keaton's masterpiece. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) A steamboat captain receives a telegram informing him that his son who he has not seen for many years will be coming to visit. Eagerly expecting a strapping young lad who will help him compete with his arch-rival, he is disappointed with the effete progeny that instead shows up. Best remembered for its climactic cyclone sequence in which Keaton performs a number of death-defying stunts whilst an entire town is destroyed around him, Steamboat Bill, Jr. was Buster Keaton's last independent silent comedy and also one of his finest. Features: 1080p presentations of all three films from stunning 4K restorations Audio commentary on Sherlock Jr. by film historian David Kalat Three video interviews with film scholar Peter Kramer discussing Sherlock Jr., The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr Buster Keaton: The Genius Destroyed by Hollywood (52 mins) - A documentary on Keaton and his struggles working within the Hollywood studio system Buster Keaton on Wagon Train (58 mins) an audio recording of a then 63 year old Buster Keaton in conversation with television writer Bill Cox Sherlock Jr. Original music by Timothy Brock Sherlock Jr. Tour of Filming Locations featurette Sherlock Jr. Movie Magic & Mysteries featurette The General - Original score composed and conducted by Carl Davis The General Tour of Filming Locations featurette The General Video Tour featurette The General Home Movie Footage The General Introduction by Orson Welles The General Introduction by Gloria Swanson Steamboat Bill, Jr. - Original score composed and conducted by Carl Davis Steamboat Bill, Jr. A video essay on the making of the film A Collector's Booklet featuring writing on the films alongside rare archival imagery supplied by friends of the Keaton family

• Buster Keaton - College / Steamboat Bill Jr. / Three Ages | DVD | (13/02/2006) from £14.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (100.07%)   |  RRP £29.99

  College: Coming hard on the heels of Keaton's comic masterpiece 'The General' this was a relaxing romp in both setting and approach after the exacting precision of the American Civil War comic-drama. (Dir. James W. Horne 1927) Steamboat Bill Jr.: Steamboat Bill is William Canfield (Ernest Torrence) the larger-than-life owner of the stern-wheeler 'Stonewall Jackson' which he has operated for many years with his first (and only) mate played by Tom Lewis. Almost the e

• Marx Brothers Box Set | DVD | (23/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £61.99

  Classic comedy films from the Marx brothers including 'A Night At The Opera' 'A Day At The Races' 'A Night In Casablanca' 'The Big Store' 'At The Circus' and 'Go West'. A Night At The Opera (1935) The Marx Brothers turn Mrs. Claypool's opera into chaos in their efforts to help two young hopefuls get a break. It contains the famous scene where Groucho Chico and Harpo cram a ship's stateroom with wall-to-wall people gags one-liners musical riffs and two hard-boiled egg

• Buster Keaton: 3 Films (Sherlock Jr., The General, Steamboat Bill, Jr.) | Blu Ray | (20/11/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eureka Entertainment to release BUSTER KEATON: 3 FILMS, a collection of essential films from one of the greats of cinema operating at the height of his powers, as part of The Masters of Cinema Series on Blu-ray from stunning new 4K restorations in a lavish limited edition (3000 copies) 3-disc hardbound boxed set on 16 October 2017. Between 1920 and 1929, Buster Keaton created a peerless run of feature films that established him as arguably the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies. Collected here are three key films from that era; Sherlock Jr., The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr. Together they represent a true master at his peak, and The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present all three films from stunning new 4K restorations available for the first time on Blu-ray anywhere in the world. Sherlock Jr. (1924) A film projectionist (and amateur detective) offers to solve the case of a missing watch, but is instead framed for the crime himself. Desperate to clear his name, the projectionist dreams of being the great Sherlock Jr., and in one of cinemas most iconic sequences, literally steps into the screen to bring his fantasies to life. The General (1926) When union spies steal his locomotive (along with his girlfriend), a plucky railway engineer pursues them doggedly across enemy lines. Containing one of the most memorable chase sequences in the history of filmmaking, The General is widely considered to be Keaton's masterpiece. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) A steamboat captain receives a telegram informing him that his son who he has not seen for many years will be coming to visit. Eagerly expecting a strapping young lad who will help him compete with his arch-rival, he is disappointed with the effete progeny that instead shows up. Best remembered for its climactic cyclone sequence in which Keaton performs a number of death-defying stunts whilst an entire town is destroyed around him, Steamboat Bill, Jr. was Buster Keaton's last independent silent comedy and also one of his finest. BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES: 3 x Blu-ray discs plus 60-page book all housed in a hardbound slipcase 1080p presentations of all three films from stunning new 4K restorations Audio commentary on Sherlock Jr. by film historian David Kalat Three new video interviews with film scholar Peter Kramer discussing Sherlock Jr., The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr Buster Keaton: The Genius Destroyed by Hollywood (52 mins) - A new documentary on Keaton and his struggles working within the Hollywood studio system Buster Keaton on Wagon Train (58 mins) an audio recording of a then 63 year old Buster Keaton in conversation with television writer Bill Cox Sherlock Jr. Original music by Timothy Brock Sherlock Jr. Tour of Filming Locations featurette Sherlock Jr. Movie Magic & Mysteries featurette The General - Original score composed and conducted by Carl Davis The General Tour of Filming Locations featurette The General Video Tour featurette The General Home Movie Footage The General Introduction by Orson Welles The General Introduction by Gloria Swanson Steamboat Bill, Jr. - Original score composed and conducted by Carl Davis Steamboat Bill, Jr. A video essay on the making of the film PLUS: A 60-PAGE BOOK featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp; notes on each film; archival writings; Keaton Family Scrapbook, a selection of Keaton family photographs generously supplied by friends of the Keaton family; and a stunning array of archival imagery

• Steamboat Bill Jr | DVD | (10/11/2003) from £5.94   |  Saving you £-0.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Steamboat Bill Jr dates from 1928 and is the last great film Buster Keaton made before he gave up his independence and signed for MGM. Buster is the rather fey son of an elderly steamboat owner who is being driven out of business by a wealthy competitor. More by accident than intention Buster turns things around and gets the girl as well. The last 15 minutes are truly astonishing: a storm sequence in which a whole town is blown apart, with Buster experiencing a series of amazing escapes as buildings fall down around his ears. On the DVD: The print is a good one, best seen in the 4:3 ration, with unobtrusive organ music added. As a nautical extra there's The Boat, a 1921 short (the print not in such a good state as the feature), in which in the course of launching his newly built craft Buster manages to wreck his house, tip his car into the river and sink the boat. And that's only the beginning. --Ed Buscombe

• Buster Keaton | DVD | (01/05/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Buster Keaton at his very best, with his trademark stoic, deadpan expressions that earned him the nickname The Great Stone Face . The General. Consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made. THE GENERAL is so brilliantly conceived and executed that it continues to inspire awe and laughter with every viewing. Rejected by the Confederate army as unfit, and taken for a coward by his beloved Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), young Johnny Gray (Keaton) is given a chance to redeem himself when Yankee spies steal his cherished locomotive. Johnny wages a one-man war against hijackers, an errant cannon and the unpredictable hand of fate while roaring along the iron rails. Steamboat Bill Jr. The last of the independent features made in the prime of Buster Keaton s career. STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. is a large-scale follow-up to The General. Keaton stars as William Canfield, Jr., a Boston collegian who returns to his deep-southern roots to reunite with his father, a crusty riverboat captain (Ernest Torrence) who is engaged in a bitter rivalry with a riverboat king coincidentally, the father of Willies sweetheart (Marion Byron). Keaton s athleticism and gift for inventive visual humor are in top form, and the cyclone that devastates a town (and sends houses literally crashing down around him) is perhaps the most ambitious, awe-inspiring and hilarious slapstick sequence ever created. THE NAVIGATOR. In a return to the pampered youth role he had played in The Saphead (and would return to in Battling Butler), Keaton stars as Rollo Treadway, an inexperienced lad of extraordinary wealth and surprisingly little common sense, who finds himself adrift on The Navigator with no one else on board except an equally naive girl (Kathryn McGuire). After discovering each other s presence in an ingenious ballet of unintentional hide-and-seek, the couple resourcefully fashion a home for themselves aboard the derelict boat, in spite of their unfamiliarity with the tools of domesticity. They then embark on a series of misadventures on the ocean floor (where Rollo in a diving suit must parry the attacks of an aggressive swordfish) and upon the high seas, surrounded by a fleet of menacing cannibals, where the film reaches its explosively funny climax, with the aid of a crate of rocket flares.

• Buster Keaton Collection | DVD | (14/04/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  The Buster Keaton Collection (3 Discs)

• Buster Keaton - Vol. 2 | DVD | (26/03/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £23.99

  Steamboat Bill Jnr. / 1928: A spoiled young man is forced by his father to learn the ropes of river-boating on the Mississippi. After a series of mishaps which land the captain in jail Buster tries unsuccessfully to spring him. The highlight comes in the shape of a hurricane which smashes and destroys buildings and the pier and allows Buster to prove his worth by saving the Captain who is up to his neck in water. Convict 13 / 1920: Golf is the game that brings out the best in

• The Buster Keaton Collection | DVD | (08/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Buster Keaton's 1926 masterpiece The General shows the great stone-faced comedian at the height of his powers. Buster is a train driver from the South who's caught up in the American Civil War. The film is basically an extended chase, with trains pursuing each other up the track. The level of stuntwork (including a huge train wreck) has to be seen to be believed, but it's the deftness and elegance of Keaton's comedy that is ultimately most memorable. For many, Buster Keaton is the greatest comedian of the silent era rated even above Chaplin, and College (1927) is one of his finest films. A poor student who has to work his way through college, Buster is desperate to win the attention of a pretty girl so takes up sports. Through every disaster, the great "stone face" as he was nicknamed betrays not a flicker of emotion, enduring all humiliations with aplomb. College shows Keaton at the top of his form. Steamboat Bill Jr dates from 1928 and is the last great film Buster Keaton made before he gave up his independence. Buster is the rather fey son of an elderly steamboat owner who is being driven out of business by a wealthy competitor. More by accident than intention Buster turns things around and gets the girl as well. The last 15 minutes are truly astonishing: a storm sequence in which a whole town is blown apart, with Buster experiencing a series of amazing escapes as buildings fall down around his ears. Tragically, the following year he lost his independence when he signed for MGM. His career collapsed, his marriage broke up and he became an alcoholic, never to regain former glories. On the DVD: The organ music accompanying this silent feature is pleasantly unobtrusive, and apart from a short section in the middle where it deteriorates, the print quality is a reasonable 4.3. In addition there are five excellent Keaton shorts, One Week (1920), The Boat (1921) Cops (1922), The Blacksmith (1922) and The Balloonatic (1923). --Ed Buscombe

• Steamboat Bill Jr | DVD | (18/06/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Steamboat Bill Jr dates from 1928 and is the last great film Buster Keaton made before he gave up his independence and signed for MGM. Buster is the rather fey son of an elderly steamboat owner who is being driven out of business by a wealthy competitor. More by accident than intention Buster turns things around and gets the girl as well. The last 15 minutes are truly astonishing: a storm sequence in which a whole town is blown apart, with Buster experiencing a series of amazing escapes as buildings fall down around his ears. On the DVD: The print is a good one, best seen in the 4:3 ration, with unobtrusive organ music added. As a nautical extra there's The Boat, a 1921 short (the print not in such a good state as the feature), in which in the course of launching his newly built craft Buster manages to wreck his house, tip his car into the river and sink the boat. And that's only the beginning. --Ed Buscombe

• Comedy Greats | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A "two-plus-one" package from Siren, Comedy Greats features classics from the two greatest silent-screen comics, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, plus a rather dreary effort from Danny Kaye. Never the most scintillating of comedians, Kaye's personable talents are thinly spread in 1949's The Inspector General. Distantly(!) based on a short story by Russian satirist Nikolay Gogol, this tale of mistaken identity enables Kaye to indulge in obvious wisecracks and not-so-smart dialogue. Sylvia Fine's songs are mildly amusing, and Henry Koster draws capable support from Walter Slezak and Elsa Lanchester, but it's a long haul. When he made Tilli's Punctured Romance in 1914, Charles Chaplin had yet to perfect the "little man" routine which made him the most popular 1920s screen star. His loveable rogue is well displayed opposite Marie Dressler's formidable country maid, whose unexpected windfall becomes the real object of his desire. Mabel Normand contributes an attractively period chic, and if, in the hands of Mack Sennett, the humour tends to fall back on music-hall slapstick, the historical significance of the film is undoubted. Yet it's Buster Keaton's 1928 classic Steamboat Bill Jr which comes out on top here. Keaton is perfectly cast as the put upon student, whose bravery saves both his father and his steamboat-owning rival, and wins the hand of the latter's daughter. Solid support comes from Ernest Torrence and the winsome Marion Byron, with Charles Riesner getting maximum drama from the cyclone sequence, but it's Keaton's soulful expression and breathtaking stuntwork which are the most potent reminders of a talent only later to receive its due. On the DVD: Comedy Greats is acceptably remastered, with 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 12 chapter headings per film, and decently packaged, this is worth acquiring--even though Keaton's film is the only one you're likely return to often. --Richard Whitehouse

• Buster Keaton-Steamboat Bill Jr. | DVD | (26/10/2009) from £12.13   |  Saving you £-2.14 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Steamboat Bill is excited that his son (Steamboat Bill Jr.) is coming to visit him. When he does he tries to turn him into a proper person for working on the boats while his son resists. Meanwhile Kitty a girl that he knows from school in Boston spots him and introduces him to her father a rival of Steamboat Bill. He tries to be alone with her but gets caught several times and is given a ticket back to Boston. Steamboat Bill gets arrested for unruly conduct (on a condemnation notice of his boat) and it's up to Bill Jr. to rescue his dad - in the middle of a cyclone storm.

• Steamboat Bill, Jr. | DVD | (26/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.36

  Steamboat Bill Jr dates from 1928 and is the last great film Buster Keaton made before he gave up his independence and signed for MGM. Buster is the rather fey son of an elderly steamboat owner who is being driven out of business by a wealthy competitor. More by accident than intention Buster turns things around and gets the girl as well. The last 15 minutes are truly astonishing: a storm sequence in which a whole town is blown apart, with Buster experiencing a series of amazing escapes as buildings fall down around his ears. On the DVD: The print is a good one, best seen in the 4:3 ration, with unobtrusive organ music added. As a nautical extra there's The Boat, a 1921 short (the print not in such a good state as the feature), in which in the course of launching his newly built craft Buster manages to wreck his house, tip his car into the river and sink the boat. And that's only the beginning. --Ed Buscombe