Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection (1917-1923)

[Akijama]

Kino has announced May 24th as the release date for their 5-disc presentation of the Buster Keaton Shorts Collection (1917-1923) on DVD and Blu-ray.

Marking the first time these films will be on HD, the set contains all 19 shorts the studio originally put out on disc in 2011, as well as 13 newly debuted works Keaton created alongside director Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

Bonus content includes scene comparisons as well as an alternate European version of The Blacksmith from 1922

As new generations of viewers discover the magic of silent cinema, Buster Keaton has emerged as one of the era's most admired and respected artists. Behind the deadpan expression and trademark porkpie hat was a filmmaking genius who conceived and engineered some of the most breathtaking stunts and feats of visual trickery, while never losing sight of slapstick cinema's primary objective: laughter.

Produced by Lobster Films, Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection includes all 32 of Keaton's extant silent shorts (thirteen of which were produced in collaborations with comedians Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Al St. John). These 2K restorations were performed utilizing archival film elements from around the world, and promises to be the definitive representation of Keaton's early career.

DISC 1:

The Butcher Boy (1917, 25 min.)
The Rough House (1917, 20 min.)
His Wedding Night (1917, 20 min.)
Oh Doctor! (1917, 24 min.)
Coney Island (1917, 26 min.)
Out West (1918, 21 min.)

BONUS FEATURE:

Coney Island Scene Comparison

DISC 2:

The Bell Boy (1918, 26 min.)
Moonshine (1918, 18 min.)
Good Night, Nurse! (1918, 23 min.)
The Cook (1918, 20 min.)
Back Stage (1919, 21 min.)
The Hayseed (1919, 21 min.)
The Garage (1919, 22 min.)

DISC 3:

High Sign (1920, 21 min.)
One Week (1920, 22 min.)
Convict 13 (1920, 22 min.)
The Scarecrow (1920, 18 min.)
Neighbors (1921, 19 min.)
The Haunted House (1921, 24 min.)
Hard Luck (1921, 23 min.)

DISC 4:

The Goat (1921, 23 min.)
The Play House (1921, 24 min.)
The Boat (1921, 27 min.)
The Paleface (1922, 25 min.)
Cops (1922, 18 min.)
My Wife's Relations (1922, 26 min.)

BONUS FEATURE:

My Wife's Relations Scene Comparison

DISC 5:

The Blacksmith (1922, 22 min.)
The Frozen North (1922, 18 min.)
Day Dreams (1922, 24 min.)
The Electric House (1922, 23 min.)
The Balloonatic (1923, 26 min.)
The Love Nest (1923, 23 min.)

BONUS FEATURE:

Alternate European Version of The Blacksmith

Source

[MifuneFan]

Sounds great. I do think it would have been nice if they also put out a release without the shorts they've already released.

[Bandit Tajomaru]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Sounds great. I do think it would have been nice if they also put out a release without the shorts they've already released.

Yeah, but the shorts they already released looked bad so I don't mind double dipping if the shorts look better especially if they include the ending to Hard Luck this time. Also isn't a rival company planning on releasing their own collection of Keaton shorts?

[jazzbo]

Originally Posted by Bandit Tajomaru

Yeah, but the shorts they already released looked bad so I don't mind double dipping if the shorts look better especially if they include the ending to Hard Luck this time. Also isn't a rival company planning on releasing their own collection of Keaton shorts?

Yeah these are the Lobster Films restorations, part of the "Buster Keaton Project" which was a kickstarter last year. Presumably these are the blu rays you get if you backed that (or from other regional distributors.) DVDs of the restored versions have gone out to backers, and reviews have been good. My understanding is that they are going for as complete versions as they can. They have been some reviews on nitrateville, and apparently the blu ray may end up having even more restoration done than is on the DVDs.

Unfortunately, Kino hasn't had a good track record lately with silent releases, so we'll have to wait and see how the blu-rays come out.

In addition, Cineteca di Bologna has been working for some time on separate restorations with Cohen Films of all of Keaton's silents (shorts and features). They have been showing some of their work at screenings, but I haven't heard about home video releases for those yet.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by jazzbo

Yeah these are the Lobster Films restorations, part of the "Buster Keaton Project" which was a kickstarter last year. Presumably these are the blu rays you get if you backed that (or from other regional distributors.) DVDs of the restored versions have gone out to backers, and reviews have been good. My understanding is that they are going for as complete versions as they can. They have been some reviews on nitrateville, and apparently the blu ray may end up having even more restoration done than is on the DVDs.

Unfortunately, Kino hasn't had a good track record lately with silent releases, so we'll have to wait and see how the blu-rays come out.

In addition, Cineteca di Bologna has been working for some time on separate restorations with Cohen Films of all of Keaton's silents (shorts and features). They have been showing some of their work at screenings, but I haven't heard about home video releases for those yet.

I was thinking this was going to be Cohen release. Kind of disappointed it's Kino, to be honest.

Though as far as I know nothing was particularly wrong with any of their previous Keaton releases... and actually I thought the full length films were mostly pretty good. I have them all. The shorts on the other hand... were in more dire shape, or at least highly inconsistent in quality. Now I know part of that was them lacking restoration, but I always suspected that something could have been done with them and Kino pretty much just dumped whatever on to disc. I mean some of them had stretches that were completely unwatcheable. Are these going to be better repaired? Hopefully so, if some of the most severe print damage can be cleaned up via a proper new 2K restoration this would be a no brainer double dip. If the damage remains even after a brand new pass at a 2K restoration, then I guess it is what it is.

Are you saying that Cohen is also working separately on these same shorts (difference source?) - or just Buster Keaton in general? I know they acquired a huge film library that has Keaton and Douglass Fairbanks Jr... so I was hoping for some blu-ray upgrades (and in fact, Kino's Douglass Fairbanks DVD's and even Black Pirate on blu are going OOP - so I'm thinking those might be coming up soon from Cohen). Hopefully Cohen has plenty in the pipeline for blu-ray out of that library, including (if not especially) silents.

[Martin_31]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

I was thinking this was going to be Cohen release. Kind of disappointed it's Kino, to be honest.

Though as far as I know nothing was particularly wrong with any of their previous Keaton releases... and actually I thought the full length films were mostly pretty good. I have them all. The shorts on the other hand... were in more dire shape, or at least highly inconsistent in quality. Now I know part of that was them lacking restoration, but I always suspected that something could have been done with them and Kino pretty much just dumped whatever on to disc. I mean some of them had stretches that were completely unwatcheable. Are these going to be better repaired? Hopefully so, if some of the most severe print damage can be cleaned up via a proper new 2K restoration this would be a no brainer double dip. If the damage remains even after a brand new pass at a 2K restoration, then I guess it is what it is.

Are you saying that Cohen is also working separately on these same shorts (difference source?) - or just Buster Keaton in general? I know they acquired a huge film library that has Keaton and Douglass Faribanks Jr... so I was hoping for some blu-ray upgrades (and in fact, Kino's Douglass Fairbanks DVD's and even Black Pirate on blu are going OOP - so I'm thinking those might be coming up soon from Cohen). Hopefully Cohen has plenty in the pipeline for blu-ray out of that library, including (if not especially) silents.

Isn't Cohen in the process of restoring some Buster Keaton films?

[jacksparrow900]

If you own any of the recent blu rays of the Chaplin Essanays or Mutuals. That is the kind of restoration work. This has been a 20 year project just recently last year they were ready to start restoration work after a 20 year search of elements. The Cohen project is focusing on the everything of his silent work except the Arbuckle and Keaton shorts that are included in this collection for the first time in HD. But the Cohen project is suppose to take 5 years.

The process they went through for this
The first step is the most important. We look for the best elements (original camera negative, vintage print...) from all around the world. The Lobster Films collection is of course our first source, but we are also in contact with many international institutions. Libraries, cinematheques, archives are determining collaborators. For that matter, we would like to thank for their long-time support :
If it wasn't done beforehand, we draw the preservation print in a laboratory. This new element will transfer the film in its actual shape, on a stable material, ready to face time. This print will be used for the digital restoration, preserve the original elements from further manipulation.
The transfer from the film roll to digital files is performed through a scanner. The machine photographs the film frame by frame in very high definition, storing the files on back-up hard drives. The maintenance of the scanner as well as some other technical tools are a very important investment: for each film, up to 5 different materials can be scanned for comparison.
Once the scanning is done, the comparison work begins. Each element is carefully compared to the other, in order to edit the film in the version that would be the most faithful to the original director’s cut. It’s not about re-editing the movie ! Films might have suffered from projectionists cuts or random re-editing. Some missing shots or decomposed parts of the best element are completed with the other material on hand.
It’s the most time-consuming step of the restoration. Due to some printing problems, every shot has to be stabilized to remove the “shaking” effect of the images or the framing difference between two shots. Once stabilized, images are inspected by a film restorer. Scratches, dust, stains, hair, finger prints are manually removed thanks to different kinds of retouching softwares. It is a frame by frame work: a few minutes of restored film requires hours of work, and the patience of a saint!
As the quality of each element may vary, so could the light and contrast of the images. Color grading is a step that consists in applying a general correction on the entire film, to make all shots from different elements even. This will also correct density or contrast problems that could have occurred during the printing of the different materials.

[biglou114]

Just read on the Nitrateville board that Hard Luck does include the ending this time!

[bigshot]

Man! Talk about confusing... This set is like the Chaplin Mutuals and Essanays? But those were restored by Cineteca Bologna who is working with Cohen on the *other* Keaton restorations, right? These are the restorations from Lobster Films, aren't they? So they would be like the Saved From the Flames, Charlie Bowers or Melies sets, not the Bologna Chaplin ones.

[happydood]

Well, I only recently got the last short films collection, so that totally figures.

[jacksparrow900]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Man! Talk about confusing... This set is like the Chaplin Mutuals and Essanays? But those were restored by Cineteca Bologna who is working with Cohen on the *other* Keaton restorations, right? These are the restorations from Lobster Films, aren't they? So they would be like the Saved From the Flames, Charlie Bowers or Melies sets, not the Bologna Chaplin ones.

Just think of this as like the Chaplin project without the Cineteca Bologna but everyone else involved with the Chaplin Project. As I said before this project has been going on for 20 years just searching for materials.

[bigshot]

Cineteca Bologna was in charge of the Chaplin project. Am I supposed to think of everyone except the people responsible for it?

I like the work of Cineteca Bologna. And I like the work of Lobster Films. I just don't understand why the representation of who is doing what on the Keaton stuff has gotten so mixed up.

[gates70]

So this set is from 1917-1923...so does that make this set obsolete, or is it different ? https://www.amazon.ca/Buster-Keaton-...=buster+keaton

[Professor Echo]

The new set from KINO dropped in price today on Amazon, from $59.99 to $42.99, more or less matching the Amazon Canada price, depending on if you are charged tax or not in the U.S.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Buste...lu-ray/143249/

[Akijama]

Originally Posted by gates70

So this set is from 1917-1923...so does that make this set obsolete, or is it different ? https://www.amazon.ca/Buster-Keaton-...=buster+keaton

It's all in the description posted in the OP:

Marking the first time these films will be on HD, the set contains all 19 shorts the studio originally put out on disc in 2011, as well as 13 newly debuted works Keaton created alongside director Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

Bonus content includes scene comparisons as well as an alternate European version of The Blacksmith from 1922

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Akijama

It's all in the description posted in the OP:

Well it's because the thread is soooo long that I didn't read Thank you, I usually read the original post, but I guess this morning I didn't for some reason.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Cineteca Bologna was in charge of the Chaplin project. Am I supposed to think of everyone except the people responsible for it?

I like the work of Cineteca Bologna. And I like the work of Lobster Films. I just don't understand why the representation of who is doing what on the Keaton stuff has gotten so mixed up.

Both reviews here for Mutuals and Essanay state they were restored by both Cineteca Bologna and Lobster so I am not sure what each exactly did, also not sure exactly what is up with the other Keaton project from Cohen I know they did restorations for at least The General, Sherlock Jr. and Steamboat Bill Jr. but it seems weird if they will also restore the same shorts all over again.

[Tboneator64]

Originally Posted by biglou114

Just read on the Nitrateville board that Hard Luck does include the ending this time!

While that would be fantastic if it does, having read the posts on that board, that HARD LUCK will include the ending this time doesn't appear conclusive at all, merely assumptive: http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopi...+1921+#p167853

CHEERS!

[jabba359]

Blu-ray.com review just got posted. Not sure how 11 minutes of special features and a 26 page booklet warrant 4 stars for special features. Has the state of extras gotten so bad that this is all it takes to get that high of a score?

[Bandit Tajomaru]

Originally Posted by jabba359

Review finally posted. Not sure how 11 minutes of special features and a 26 page booklet warrant 4 stars for special features. Has the state of extras gotten so bad that this is all it takes to get that high of a score?

I hear the UK version will have more extras.