In his first starring role (and the film that launched his career), Buster Keaton stars in The Saphead as Bertie Van Alstyne, the spoiled son of a powerful Wall Street financier. Unable to escape the wealth and comfort that are foisted upon him, he pursues individuality in a series of comic misadventures in the speakeasies of New York, at the altar of matrimony, and even on the floor of the American stock exchange. The Saphead was instrumental in establishing Keaton as a bona fide star and greatly influenced his formulation of the Buster persona: a lonely, stone-faced soul thwarted by circumstance yet undauntedly resourceful and indefatigable in his struggle for love and survival within a chaotic world.
BONUS FEATURES: Loaded with special features including an alternate version of the film and more (TBD).
Product details
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer
:
No
MPAA rating
:
NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions
:
0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
Item model number
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25109307
Director
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Herbert Blache, Wincell Smith
Media Format
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Multiple Formats, NTSC, Blu-ray, Silent
Run time
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1 hour and 17 minutes
Release date
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July 10, 2012
Actors
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Buster Keaton, Edward Jobson, Bealah Booker, Edward Connelly
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The story of a good guy trying to be a bad boy to get the girl he likes. some bits of the story line are odd but overal this is my Favorite Buster Keaton Full length feature film by him. It's funny and you want to see main character get the girl and be vindicated. accompanying music is perfect.
The Saphead is an underrated film. Many Keaton fans consider it to be one of his worst silent features. It is true that it lacks the comic ingenuity of his later films and does not, on the whole, show the athletic Buster flinging himself about performing ever more mind-boggling stunts. Nevertheless, The Saphead is an extremely funny film. The comedy depends not so much on various gags, but on the story and the way that Keaton looks and acts. This makes it an unusual Keaton film. It is partly because of the fact that The Saphead is unlike Buster's other films, that I found it so interesting. Although he is the main character of the film, he is part of an ensemble cast and thus there is the chance to see Keaton's interaction with other fully developed characters. This interaction is often hilarious. Buster's persona, in this film, is fully developed and his character is similar to that which appears in films like The Navigator and Battling Butler. In the Saphead, Keaton shows just how expressive his stoneface could be. The incredible thing about this film is that Buster can be so funny when he does nothing. Even when he stands still and just looks, I found myself laughing. It may be that The Saphead is not one of Keaton's very best films, but it is unusual and judged by its own standards works well. The tinted print used for this DVD is fairly good. There are times when it is a little dark and faded, but for the most part the images are clear. This DVD also includes two of Keaton's best short films The High Sign and One Week. These films show a more familiar Keaton and have some incredible comic stunts. The High Sign also features a cameo from the wonderful Al St. John, familiar from Buster's films with Roscoe Arbuckle. These two films are surreal and weird. The High Sign has Buster getting involved with a bizarre secret society the Blinking Buzzards, while One Week shows Buster's disastrous attempt to build a house with faulty plans. The result is a house which Picasso might have designed. Both these films have very good black and white prints with very little apparent damage.
I was disappointed in this one, I think it's composed from footage of two original "takes"…and has an ending like it must still have missing footage. Not the level of restoration of some Buster films, a little bit of scratchiness throughout (not as many extras either). I found a few hanging storyline threads that were left unfinished. If you like to see Buster doing his acrobatics most of the little amount is in one sequence near the end. It just isn't as funny as some of Keaton's other work.
The new Blu-ray disc (and re-issue DVD) from Kino Classics presents TWO DIFFERENT versions of THE SAPHEAD, derived from two different camera negatives. I prefer watching the "Alternate" version, it is way better in the second half with better interior details.
The first version is the standard "Rohauer" version with his re-issues titles and film tinting. The "Alternate" version (accessible from the extras menu) presents what is believed to be the foreign camera negative version that would have been sent to other countries to have the 1-frame dialogue cards translated (Kino inserted the Rohauer dialogue cards that are long enough to read).
The "Rohauer" version has new Rohauer titles and a brief history of the story on stage before the movie starts. The "Alternate" version recreates what the original title card might have looked like. Unfortunately the original title cards have not survived over time.
The "Rohauer" version is 2 minutes longer than the "Alternate" version, but this discrepancy, demonstrated in a brief bonus documentary, is due to slightly shorter cuts of some scenes. Nothing major is missing.
The "Rohauer" version may look sharper at first, but you will notice much more detail in the dark areas of the "Alternate Version". The wedding scene is particularly dark around the edges, Kino tried to compensate for the edge darkness by raising the black levels on the edges, but this does not restore the details, It just gives a weird halo effect that looks unnatural. The "Alternate" version has all details and a smooth grey-tone.
The "Rohauer" version tints all scenes various colors (muted somewhat on this new re-release) while the "Alternate" version only tints the night scenes blue. Which version is correct is unknown as the tinting continuity log is lost. The negative of the "Alternate" version had all of the night scenes mounted on one reel for tinting while all other scenes were edited together. This hints that only the night scenes were originally tinted.
The bonus documentary "A PAIR OF SAPHEADS" compares selected scenes from the two versions, showing how the camera placement differs. Sometimes one version has tighter framing, other times it is the other version with tighter framing. It is obvious that two different negatives, filmed at the same time, survive.
Comparing this new Blu-ray to the old "Art of Buster Keaton" DVD (which only contains the "Rohauer" version) shows an overall sharper, stable image. The old DVD was not bad, this is just a little better. The tints on the old DVD are much more brighter, this new Blu-ray tones them down to a more natural look.
Aside form the above mentioned bonus, there is also an audio recording from May 5th 1962 of Buster Keaton at a private intimate party. The amateur recording is primitive and often hard to hear as the microphone is too far away, so turn up the volume. This peak into his off-screen world shows his joy in social parties.
There is also a collection of stills from the movie.
A miss-named, miss-leading bonus item called "Why They Call Him Buster" would lead you to believe this is a documentary about Buster starting out in show business. But NO this is only a promo for Kino's LOST KEATON DVD & Blu-ray release. Shameful! Why didn't they just call this a promo.
I am sorry there is no audio commentary, I especially like to listen to them on silent movies. They often help you understand out-dated jokes or forgotten cameos.
As far as the movie goes, this is Buster's first feature film. Since the original title card is lost we don't know if he got star billing in the title, but in the cast credits he is last. While not his best work, Buster is still enjoyable here and this is a 'must-have' for his fans. Buster is the 'comedy hero' in this otherwise dramatic film. If you are just getting to know Buster, i direct you to his classics like "The General"The General [Blu-ray] and "Sherlock Jr." Sherlock Jr. / Three Ages [Blu-ray].
This concerns Saphead "Ultimate Edition", just a quick note. The editorial review indicates that the shorts "The High Sign" and "One Week" are part of the bonus features of the disc. Unfortunately this isn't true. The disc does have some nice Bonus Features, but not the shorts. The movie quality is better, looks better, on the Blu-ray. However my nine year old son thinks that "One Week" is one of the funniest movies ever made. To not have it on this disc was a disappointment to say the least and had I known that I would have ordered the older DVD version instead of the "Ultimate Edition".
