Capturing Keaton’s first steps in front of a camera, this box set charts his early association with ex-Keystone Kop Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle through to starring in, headlining, and directing his own box office smash hits. Using Chaplin’s old Hollywood studios in 1920, Keaton’s sophisticated technical inventiveness coupled with his haunted-yet-handsome ‘Stone Face’ persona, created a succession of the most timeless, classic comedy shorts ever realised. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present these films on Blu-ray from meticulous restorations.

 

Featuring: The Butcher Boy (1917), The Rough House (1917), His Wedding Night (1917), Oh, Doctor! (1917), Coney Island (1917), Out West (1918), The Bell Boy (1918), Moonshine (1918), Good Night Nurse (1918), The Cook (1918), Backstage (1919), The Hayseed (1919), The Garage (1919), The “High Sign”* (finished 1920, released 1921), One Week* (1920), Convict 13* (1920), The Scarecrow (1920), Neighbors (1920), The Haunted House (1921), Hard Luck (1921), The Goat (1921), The Playhouse* (1921), The Boat* (1921), The Paleface (1922), Cops* (1922), My Wife’s Relations (1922), The Blacksmith (1922), The Frozen North (1922), Daydreams (1922), The Electric House (1922), The Balloonatic (1923), The Love Nest (1923)

 

* Audio Commentary available

 

SPECIAL FEATURES

4 Blu-ray discs housed in a single case, with slim cardboard packaging

1080p presentations across four Blu-ray Discs

Multiple scores on selected titles

Archival audio commentaries by Joseph McBride on The ‘High Sign’, One Week, Convict 13, The Playhouse, The Boat, and Cops

Version of The Blacksmith containing four minutes of previously unseen footage

Alternate ending for Coney Island

Alternate ending for My Wife’s Relations

That’s Some Buster, video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns

An introduction by preservationist Serge Bromberg

The Art of Buster Keaton, actor Pierre Étaix discusses Keaton’s style

Life with Buster Keaton, Keaton reenacts Roscoe Arbuckle’s Salomé dance performed in The Cook

Audio recording of Keaton at a party in 1962