Buster Keaton : The Saphead (Masters of Cinema) Special Edition Blu-ray

The Saphead is notable as Buster Keaton's first starring feature role and it's a mix of light comedy and melodrama rather than out-and-out comedy. Keaton plays the saphead of the title, a naive son of a Wall Street tycoon who loves his father's adopted niece and gains, then loses, the regains her. Along the way there are estrangements, blackmail, fraud and stock trading shenanigans through all of which Keaton proceeds stony-faced (of course).Famously Keaton was recommendd to producers by the original star of the Broadway play this is based on, Douglas Fairbanks, and so Keaton is playing a part rather than writing or directing but he holds the film together well, managing osme genuine and unusual pathos and a couple of signature falls among the old-fashioned action. Overall it's a nice film rather than a vital one.The disc is the latest Keaton release fromMasters Of Cinema who have now released restored blu-rays of all of Keaton's independent pre-1928 shorts and features (except The Three Ages for which good materials are hard to find) and, like those others, is an excellent package. This one comes with two versions of the main film, a commentary, some featurettes and Keaton's last film, 1966's The Scribe, an industrial short about building site safety (yes, really, and it comes with a commentary too). I haven't listened to the commentaries yet but I have no reason to suppose they'll be anything but fascinating. There's a booklet too but this may be only with the first run of the discSo -- a 3-star film with a 4-star presentation and worth a punt for completists. If you're new to Keaton, buy Sherlock Jr first -- it comes with The General and Steamboat Bill Jr as a 3-pack but if you have the rest, this is well worth adding to the collection.Now, about The Three Ages...