In 1920, Metro Pictures planned to remake a film version of the successful stage play The New Henrietta, a play that had helped propel Douglas Fairbanks to Broadway stardom. Fairbanks made his film debut in the first film adaptation of the play, The Lamb (1915), but was not to be lured into a remake at a time when he had only recently begun to make films for his own distribution company, United Artists. Fairbanks suggested Buster Keaton for the part of Bertie, which seemed an odd choice. At the time, Keaton was a lifelong vaudevillian and a two-reeler comedian who was just beginning to make his own films after just three years as Roscoe Arbuckle’s sidekick. But Metro was Keaton’s distributor and that made the project easy to negotiate from both sides. However odd the choice may have seemed at first, the eventual casting of Keaton turned out to be brilliant.

Bertie van Alstyne is a saphead, the son of a wealthy New Yorker. Bertie is kicked out the house until he gets makes something of himself, and Bertie and Agnes want to get married. Son-in-law Mark Turner is given temporary power of attorney by old man van Alstyne, but he has a dark secret — Henrietta. Henrietta has died leaving a young child fathered by Mark, and secret letters show up just as Bertie and Agnes are getting married. But Mark swiftly accuses Bertie of being the author of the letters. Bertie is too much of a saphead to realize what has happened and just accepts fate unquestioningly. Turner plans to clean up during old van Alstyne’s absence, dumping stock in the Henrietta mine. Turner plans to buy the Henrietta stock at fire sale prices. Bertie, still a saphead, unwittingly manages to buy the stock back and saves the day.

The film is straight-forwardly directed by Herbert Blaché, and there is a good concept shot in Agnes’s vision of a partying Bertie seen among the flames of a fireplace. But Keaton’s performance is surpringly low-key until the real Buster Keaton comes out during the Henrietta stock-buying frenzy. — Carl Bennett

This Kino presentation is produced by David Shepard and appears here as released by Kino on videotape in 1995. The video transfer was taken from a 35mm rerelease print prepared by Raymond Rohauer in 1974, which was itself most likely copied from a print previously in Buster Keaton’s collection. The print is nearly immaculent, with very little in the way of speckling, dust, scratches, scuffing, processing flaws and other damage. The print does have a minor problem, where the darkest areas of the image are a slightly lighter shade than some of the transitions of shadows to lighter shades.

The Saphead presentation features another fine stereo music score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel and performed by a small orchestra. The music is tasteful, entertaining and always appropriate.

The disc includes the Keaton short The High Sign (1921) which has has been transferred from a very good but worn 35mm print, with some constant emulsion scuffing. The film is accompanied by an older orchestra recording, with sound effects, from a previous sound film rerelease. Buster is hired as a bodyguard to protect a man from a secret society of killers. The High Sign was actually the first Keaton short produced by his own company in 1920 but was held for later release. Also featured is the brilliant One Week (1920), with theater organ accompaniment by Gaylord Carter. The transfer utilizes a very good to excellent 35mm print. Buster and his new bride are gifted a kit home and Buster builds it with predictable results. The film features the first of Buster’s daredevil gags with a falling wall and an open window (modeled after a similar gag in an earlier 1919 Arbuckle/Keaton film Back Stage), which led to the same gag in Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928).

This fine edition of Buster Keaton’s first feature film will please viewers with its quality picture image and pleasant musical accompaniment.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.
This Region 1 NTSC DVD is also available directly from Kino International.

Buster Keaton filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List