Kino Lorber: New 2K Restorations of Classic Buster Keaton Films Coming to Blu-ray
Posted November 25, 2016 06:24 PM by Webmaster
Kino Lober have confirmed that they will release on Blu-ray the recent 2K restorations of Buster Keaton's films Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), College (1927), Three Ages (1923), and The General (1927). The releases will be available for purchase on February 7.
A brilliant historical satire teeming with inventive flourishes, Buster Keaton's THREE AGES is a silent comedy of truly epic proportions. This clever parody of D. W. Griffith's INTOLERANCE follows Buster's hard-luck romantic adventures throughout world history: form the dawn of man in the Stone Age, through the gladiatorial arenas of Ancient Rome, to the city streets of the American Jazz Era.
By flavoring the ancient stories with bits of modern comedy (e.g. the "spare tire" with which Buster repairs his chariot, the "home run" that he scores against an angry caveman), Keaton not only won raucous laughter from the audience but forged an original approach to history, humor, and cinema that clearly foreshadowed the Mel Brooks and Monty Python films that followed half a century later.
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, substituting a Mississippi paddlewheel for the locomotive, and replacing the spectacle of the Civil War with a catastrophic hurricane. 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 Willie's sweetheart (Marion Byron).
Special Features:
NEW 2K restoration by Lobster Films
NEW Audio commentary by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Stan Taffel
Consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made, Buster Keaton's THE GENERAL is so brilliantly conceived and executed that it continues to inspire awe and laughter with every viewing. This Kino Ultimate Disc Edition was mastered in HD from a 35mm archive print struck from the original camera negative.
Rejected by the Confederate army 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. "Every shot has the authenticity and the unassuming correct composition of a Mathew Brady Civil War photograph," wrote film historian David Robinson, "No one - not even Griffith or Huston and certainly not Fleming (Gone With the Wind) - caught the visual aspect of the Civil War as Keaton did."
Special Features:
NEW 2K restoration by Lobster Films
NEW Audio commentary by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Stan Taffel
Orchestral score by Robert Israel
Orchestral score by Joe Hisaishi
Introduction by Orson Welles
Introduction by Gloria Swanson
"Return of The General," a vintage short film on the restoration of the legendary locomotive
Buster Keaton goes back to school and stages a hilarious send-up of university life in COLLEGE. Keaton stars as Ronald, an idealistic freshman who attends Clayton College in pursuit of higher learning, but finds himself instead embroiled in a war of athletics as he fights for the heart of his beloved coed, Mary (Anne Cornwall).
More than he had in any other feature, Keaton stretched the boundaries of solo physical comedy. In a series of unforgettable vignettes, stone-faced Ronald tries his hand as a baseball player, soda jerk, waiter, coxswain, and track star, perfomring each task with a steady determination but with consistently disastrous results. These scenes are especially amazing because in demonstrating Ronald's athletic inadequacies, Keaton reveals a surprising degree of physical prowess and finesse, particularly during the film's exhilarating climax.
Special Features:
NEW 2K restoration by Lobster Films
Music by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Organ score by John Muri
Audio commentary by Rob Farr
Tour of filming locations, by John Bengtson, author of Silent Echoes
Introduction by Serge Bromberg
Introduction by Lillian Gish
"Run, Girl, Run," a 1928 collegiate comedy starring Carole Lombard
"The Scribe" (1966), Keaton's final on-screen performance
*Cohen Media has done 4K restorations on multiple Buster Keaton films. Currently, there are no preliminary release dates for them, but they are expected to be made available on Blu-ray in 2017.