Product Description

A rising star who rose from bit player to writer, director, and star of comedies for Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle recruited up-and-coming vaudeville comic Buster Keaton for a series of films from 1917 through 1919. Presented chronologically, these shorts demonstrate Keaton's evolution from bit player to full partner as both men honed their comedic skills. Following the 1921 scandal that was inflamed by a publicity-seeking prosecutor and the tabloid press, Arbuckle's films were withdrawn from circulation in America. The films in this collection were gathered from international archives and private collections, with new English intertitles and digitally mastered from 35mm, some directly from the nitrate originals. Shorts: The Butcher Boy, The Rough House, His Wedding Night, Oh Doctor!, Coney Island, Out West, The Bell Boy, Moonshine (fragment), Good Night, Nurse, Back Stage, The Hayseed, The Garage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60510 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2002-10-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 248 minutes

Amazon.com
The Best Arbuckle/Keaton Collection literally defines the phenomenon of genius in the making. While showcasing the formidable slapstick talents of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle as director and star, this 12-title compilation is also a remarkable study of Buster Keaton's rapid evolution as a silent comedy master. Made in swift succession from 1917 to 1919, these chronologically sequenced two-reelers serve a dual purpose, re-establishing Arbuckle as an underrated talent (his career was tragically curtailed by an infamous rape scandal, despite his eventual exoneration), while crediting his mentorship of Keaton from Vaudeville veteran to inspired movie pioneer. The "Great Stone Face" had yet to emerge (though it's evident in Keaton's 1917 debut, "The Butcher Boy"), so Buster's innately amusing countenance is wondrously animated here, especially in "Coney Island," which doubles as an illustrious postcard from a bygone era. The final collaboration, "The Garage," was Buster's favorite, and it's easy to see why: with a giant turntable, fire hoses, grease buckets, and all varieties of gag-laden shtick, it's a sublime (and like most of these films, well-preserved) example of two gifted comedians at the peak of their craft. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

A great collection - but the best?
This is a very nicely done collection of the Buster Keaton - Fatty Arbuckle Comique comedies made between 1917-1919. The collection contains almost all of their existing comedies, with the exception of "The Cook" which was recently discovered.

The presentation is very well done, although there appears to be no "View All" option, so you must go to each comedy seperately. A minor problem, to be sure.

The films often come from different copies than the 2 disc Kino collection of most of these films. "The Butcher Boy" looks about the same, as does "The Rough House". "His Wedding Night" and "Oh Doctor!" are both new to this collection, and look pretty good, although they don't have a lot of Keaton in them. "Coney Island" is slightly improved, and "Out West" is from a MUCH better copy that ever seen before, more complete, much better condition - but with some splices that could have been fixed by editing in footage from the other version. Why wasn't this done?

"The Bell Boy" is exactly the same as on Kino, but "Moonshine" is very different. There are two existing copies of this film - one is a complete copy on 16mm with very poor contrast and lots of missing detail, the other a very fragmentary but high-quality version on 35mm. This set features the 35mm version, the Kino set the 16mm. Once again, why weren't these two edited together? The 16mm could use the quality improvement, and the 35mm just doesn't make sense and is really missing most of the good parts, not to mention the poorly done titles.

On Disc 2, "Good Night, Nurse", "Back Stage", "The Hayseed", and "The Garage" are all in fine condition.

Picture wise, this set is very well encoded, without much artifacting at all.

Musically, the accompaniment is very nicely done. The Kino set suffered from some very bizarre accompaniment by the "Alloy Orchestra", which really detracted from the material and tends to annoy people who are trying to do other things in the room.

The best part of this set, really, is the price, much less expensive than the Kino discs, and with more material. But really, if you are a fan, you need both, don't you? :)

Enjoy!

Now We Have A Choice.
I have been awaiting this set ever since Image Entertainment announced it's release in order to make a comparison with the earlier one from Kino. Although the two volume ARBUCKLE & KEATON set is very fine (see my other reviews), this set features a new comedy not included in the other one (HIS WEDDING NIGHT) plus mostly original nitrate prints of the other shorts gathered from foriegn archives. There are more complete versions of OUT WEST and THE ROUGH HOUSE here as well as a much better print of MOONSHINE although it's only a fragment. However some of the Image prints (THE BUTCHER BOY, THE BELLHOP, and especially BACK STAGE) are not as pristine as those offered by Kino. They also lack the color tinting of the other set and feature a more traditional music accompaniment (piano and synthesizer) compared to the raucous although endearingly colorful scores by The Alloy Orchestra. The title cards are also different.

While not as funny, they are probably closer to the originals. In fact the major difference in these two sets is authenticity in presentation (although in CONEY ISLAND Luna Park is misspelled as Luma). The Image shorts are even arranged chronologically so that we can see Arbuckle and Keaton progress together although the shorts are unevenly distributed among the two discs (8 on Disc 1, 4 on Disc 2). So where does that leave us? For the general public the Kino edition is probably a better introduction to Arbuckle's work although it's on two seperate discs and therefore more expensive. This set is more complete and offers more for the silent film enthusiast who will be more forgiving of its few shortcomings. While I heartily recommend the Kino edition, my nod goes to this set.The important thing is that now there are two quality sets of the Arbuckle comedies available and the choice will be up to you. It's a win/win situation.

Keaton's Remarkable Apprenticeship
Without the support of comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, the cinematic art of Buster Keaton may never have blossomed. The 12 existing shorts in "The Best Arbuckle/Keaton Collection" display Arbuckle's comedic skill while revealing the astonishing speed in which co-star Keaton mastered the medium. After 15 two-reelers from 1917 to 1920, Buster was ready to fly solo with a remarkable string of masterpieces. Sadly, Arbuckle's subsequent career in features was unjustly destroyed by the 1921 scandal, yet he persevered and made a brief comeback before his death in 1933. Admittedly, not all the Arbuckle-Keaton shorts are gems, but "The Butcher Boy" (1917), "Back Stage" (1919) and "The Garage" (1920) remain memorable comedies that showcase Fatty and Buster's effortless rapport. Despite some unfortunate racial humor, "Out West" (1918) is a wild, fast-paced romp that satirizes the Westerns of William S. Hart. Though the prints vary in quality, one must be grateful that they exist at all. "The Best Arbuckle/Keaton Collection" represents a valuable chapter in the history of film comedy.