The early Sennett comedies are often continuous chases, featuring the bumbling Keystone Cops as they engage in increasingly slapstick shenanigans in pursuit of some character or other. The flipside to Griffith’s solemnizing of cinema’s inherent penchant for kinematics is the silent comedies of Mack Sennett, Fatty Arbuckle, and, most of all, Buster Keaton.
They epitomized the sort of “movies are art!” ethos of the medium’s early fight for legitimacy. In their adrenalin-fueled impact, Griffith’s techniques laid the groundwork for much of what we still see in action cinema today: high-speed bodies in motion. It did not take long for filmmakers and audiences alike to recognize the movies’ unique ability to exploit movement and action to create suspense, to make the pulse quicken.
Whether it be the KKK galloping toward a house under siege by blacks in The Birth of a Nation or Richard Barthelmess hurrying toward Lillian Gish trapped on an ice floe in Way Down East, a Griffith audience could count on a thrilling race to the finish, excited not only by the narrative circumstances on screen but by cinematic language itself. Griffith climaxed his films so often with this sort of “ride to the rescue,” wherein one party literally speeds to the rescue of another, that it became a trademark. Griffith, in his pioneering use of crosscutting between disparate actions with increasing frequency and intensity, is perhaps the most formative example.
#Buster keaton movies ice 1080p#
1080p presentations of all three films from the Cohen Film Collection's stunning 4K restorations, with musical scores composed and conducted by Robert Israel.When the real Butler shows up, he decided to humiliate the imposter by having him fight the "Alabama Murderer"!
#Buster keaton movies ice series#
He will only get the money if he is married by 7pm on his 27th birthday, which happens to be that same day! What follows is an incredible series of escalating set-pieces that could only have come from the genius of Buster Keaton.īattling Butler – A rich, spoiled dandy (Keaton) pretends to be a champion boxer, "Battling Butler", to impress the family of the girl he loves. Seven Chances – Jimmy Shannon (Keaton) learns he is to inherit seven million dollars, with a catch. The result was the biggest hit of Keaton's career. Keaton was unhappy with the audience response to Sherlock Jr., and endeavoured to make a follow-up that was both exciting and successful. Because the pier number is partially covered, he ends up on the wrong ship, the Navigator, which Betsy's rich father has just sold to a small country at war. When Betsy rejects his sudden offer however, he decides to go on the trip anyway, boarding without delay that night. The Navigator – Wealthy Rollo Treadway (Keaton) suddenly decides to propose to his neighbour across the street, Betsy O'Brien (Kathryn McGuire), and sends his servant to book passage for a honeymoon sea cruise to Honolulu. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present all three films from stunning 4K restorations in their UK debuts on Blu-ray. Collected here are three further films from that era The Navigator, Seven Chances and Battling Butler. Between 19, Buster Keaton created a peerless run of feature films that established him as "arguably the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies".
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