The Cameraman (1928)
Summary: In order to gain his crush's attention, a tintype photographer trades in his camera for an old movie camera so as to get a job in the newsreel department for which she works.
This was Buster Keaton's first film under contract to MGM.
1) This character is quite a bit more socially awkward/inept than previous Keaton characters. The way he quickly clung the idea of this woman, chased her down to her work, and then almost immediately gave up his profession just to start a new one in the hopes of impressing her came off as terribly sad. And the unknown hair sniffing during their first meeting was more than a little creepy. That said, there were moments when it worked. After everyone had seen his first reel, he quickly leaves the viewing room; she follows. While in the hallway, he looks positively dejected and quickly turns away when he sees her coming. He was appropriately dejected and heartbreaking.
2) He also seems to be set up more as the "little man in the crowd" in this picture than in others. While his earlier films didn't necessarily shy away from making jokes about his height, they seem more prominent here. He's often being picked up, pushed, or smacked around by the other men (rarely women).
3) His one man baseball game was absolutely inspired.
4) She seems to take a shine to him rather quickly. At first, he obviously makes her nervous. But she's quickly giving him scoops and encouraging him to try harder.
5) The race for the community phone bits were fun. Very stylistic. As for their date, it was nice to see a bit more dexterity out of the character (ex: hanging onto the outside of the bus so that he might be closer to her). He looked like such a little gangster in his good suit (it was the hat). The pool stuff was, in general fun, although it did include alot of the awkward, lets smack the little man stuff. And he does get his kiss in the end, even if he had to be sit soaking in the back of someone's car before it happened.
6) There was surprising amount of nearly nude Buster in this ( the dressing room and the "oops, you lost your bathing suit" bits).
7) I love the monkey. I cannot say that enough. She's quite adorable and she had great rapport with Keaton.
8) The Tong War section is chaotic but very well choreographed.
9) And the Policeman never gets his man. Their scenes, in general, were good.
10) There were so many intertitles in the beginning. It seemed superfluous, especially in 1928 as most films had moved away from back-and-forth dialogue in the intertitles.
While it started off somewhat slow and awkward, I eventually enjoyed it. It didn't have the same kind of inventive, kinetic feel that his previous films had. That said, there were a few fabulous moments that made up for the down times.
I will post about Manhatta and N.Y., N.Y. tomorrow.
This was Buster Keaton's first film under contract to MGM.
1) This character is quite a bit more socially awkward/inept than previous Keaton characters. The way he quickly clung the idea of this woman, chased her down to her work, and then almost immediately gave up his profession just to start a new one in the hopes of impressing her came off as terribly sad. And the unknown hair sniffing during their first meeting was more than a little creepy. That said, there were moments when it worked. After everyone had seen his first reel, he quickly leaves the viewing room; she follows. While in the hallway, he looks positively dejected and quickly turns away when he sees her coming. He was appropriately dejected and heartbreaking.
2) He also seems to be set up more as the "little man in the crowd" in this picture than in others. While his earlier films didn't necessarily shy away from making jokes about his height, they seem more prominent here. He's often being picked up, pushed, or smacked around by the other men (rarely women).
3) His one man baseball game was absolutely inspired.
4) She seems to take a shine to him rather quickly. At first, he obviously makes her nervous. But she's quickly giving him scoops and encouraging him to try harder.
5) The race for the community phone bits were fun. Very stylistic. As for their date, it was nice to see a bit more dexterity out of the character (ex: hanging onto the outside of the bus so that he might be closer to her). He looked like such a little gangster in his good suit (it was the hat). The pool stuff was, in general fun, although it did include alot of the awkward, lets smack the little man stuff. And he does get his kiss in the end, even if he had to be sit soaking in the back of someone's car before it happened.
6) There was surprising amount of nearly nude Buster in this ( the dressing room and the "oops, you lost your bathing suit" bits).
7) I love the monkey. I cannot say that enough. She's quite adorable and she had great rapport with Keaton.
8) The Tong War section is chaotic but very well choreographed.
9) And the Policeman never gets his man. Their scenes, in general, were good.
10) There were so many intertitles in the beginning. It seemed superfluous, especially in 1928 as most films had moved away from back-and-forth dialogue in the intertitles.
While it started off somewhat slow and awkward, I eventually enjoyed it. It didn't have the same kind of inventive, kinetic feel that his previous films had. That said, there were a few fabulous moments that made up for the down times.
I will post about Manhatta and N.Y., N.Y. tomorrow.