Buster Keaton Collection Volume 4 Coming on December 8th
Fans of silent comedy, rejoice!
The Cohen Film Collection will release the latest 4K restorations of the silent comedy classics Go West (1925) and College (1927) on Blu-ray and DVD as The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 4 on December 8. The previous three volumes of The Buster Keaton Collection from Cohen have looked and sounded fantastic (especially considering the age of the films) and they have all been improvements over previous Blu-ray and DVD releases of the same titles. Consequently, Volume 4 will be a “day one” purchase for me.
The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 1 (The General / Steamboat Bill, Jr.), The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 2 (Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator), and The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 3 (Seven Chances / Battling Butler) are already available for purchase. All of the Buster Keaton Collection discs should be considered “must owns” for fans of classic comedy and of movies in general.
Here’s the description of the contents of the upcoming disc:
GO WEST
Heeding the expansionist call of Horace Greeley, an idealistic young man (though aptly named “Friendless”) hops a freight train westwa
rd to meet his destiny, first in a teeming metropolis—where he is roundly trampled by rush-hour foot traffic—then into the ranch lands of Arizona. His attempts at bronco busting, cattle wrangling, and even dairy farming all end in hilarious failure, but when a trainload of steer are unleashed on the streets of Los Angeles, “Friendless” decides to undertake an unorthodox, single-handed round-up.
COLLEGE
Keaton’s ode to varsity life demonstrates the performer’s trademark brand of visual comedy as well as his remarkable agility. He stars as Ronald, a small-town, academically-inclined freshman who applies his wiry physique to a series of sports, in order to impress a fellow student (Anne Cornwall). He seems destined for failure, but when Mary is accosted by an overzealous rival (Harold Goodwin), Ronald discovers within himself an untapped wellspring of athleticism.
Both films have been restored by Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory in association with Cohen Film Collection.
Blu-ray Extras Include:
- Go West (1923), a Hal Roach comedy short performed entirely by trained monkeys.
- “Buster Keaton: Screenwriter,” an hour-long audio recording of Keaton hashing out a story idea for TV’s Wagon Train in 1958.
