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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9786305701248
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 6305701245
Label: Kino Video
Manufacturer: Kino Video
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Kino Video
Release Date: January 11, 2000
Running Time: 118 minutes
Sales Rank: 59693
Studio: Kino Video
Theatrical Release Date: September 01, 1920
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Editorial Review:
Description:
More than just a silent comedian known for his pratfalls and clever mimicry, Buster Keaton was an unqualified genius of the American cinema. This DVD presents three of his early works, displaying his extraordinary talents as actor and filmmaker alike. Keaton stars in 'The Saphead' (1920, 78 min.) 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, the altar of matrimony and even the floor of the American Stock Exchange. 'The High Sign' (1921, 21 min.) finds Buster unwittingly involved in a radical secret society known as the Blinking Buzzards, stumbling from assassin to bodyguard in a romantic adventure that climaxes in a mind-boggling romp through a booby-trapped mansion. Dreams of domesticity are systematically satirized and ultimately demolished in 'One Week' (1921, 19 min.), Keaton's bittersweet parable of one couple's unflagging determination to build a prefabricated honeymoon cottage.
Amazon.com:
Before Buster Keaton made his name as one of the silent cinema's most accomplished and creative comics, he starred in this conventional but cute comedy based on the Broadway play The New Henrietta (previously made into the Douglas Fairbanks vehicle The Lamb). Keaton plays the spoiled son of a millionaire unjustly accused of scandalous behavior and tossed into a bustling world that he's completely unprepared for. Apart from the energetic finale, in which he leaps, slides, and wrestles with Wall Street lions on the stock exchange floor, Keaton is given little opportunity for comic gymnastics and the comedy stays safe and conventional. The Saphead is a completely genial and entertaining film carried by Keaton's sweet charm and plucky naiveté and it made him a star, but it's ultimately a footnote to a career that later blossomed in creative inspiration. Keaton revived the figure of the clueless social dandy with his self-directed features The Navigator and Battling Butler. Also featured are Keaton's first two solo shorts: 'The High Sign,' a knockabout lark in which Keaton infiltrates a secret society of criminals, and 'One Week,' an inspired gem with newlywed Buster mangling a do-it-yourself house. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The blooming of a comic genius
This DVD contains one feature and two shorts from Keaton's earliest work as an independent filmmaker after he ceased his three year partnership with Roscoe Arbuckle in 1920 after Arbuckle left the Comique company to sign with Paramount.
"The Saphead" does not showcase Keaton the filmmaker, but rather Keaton the actor. The script is from a play, the directors are individuals Keaton never worked with before or hence, and the studio was Metro, predecessor of MGM. Keaton plays Bertie the Lamb, mild-mannered and spoiled son of Nick Van Alstyne, "the Wolf of Wall Street". In spite of the fact that Keaton had no creative input to the film and isn't actually its centerpiece, there is much to like about this film and much that is so Keatonesque. Keaton plays an old-fashioned romantic and someone that is thrust into the role of the fall guy by the actual bad guy - a theme he repeats in his own features. He also has down pat the part of being the well-dressed dapper man of the 1920's, which he repeats with more comic effect in "The Battling Butler".
"The High Sign" was Keaton's first two-reeler after he went solo in 1920, but it was not the first film he released. Here he plays a drifter who gets hired by a member of the gang "The Blinking Blizzards" to run a shooting gallery. In a turn of events that can happen only in a Keaton film, Buster winds up being hired to both kill the father of the girl he loves and also to protect him. The film ends with a funny chase sequence through ... Read More
Rating:  - "The High Sign" short is the 4 star gem herein; "The Week," another short, rates at least 3 stars; "Saphead," 2 stars, barely.
"The High Sign" is the gem herein. It's a delightful romp wherein Keaton's character is introduced thusly: "Our hero came from Nowhere---he wasn't going Anywhere and got kicked off Somewhere." It's a 20 minute short that was Keaton's second solo effort in this category; one moreover which he co-wrote & co-directed (unlike "Saphead" in which he had no similar imput). Ultimately he gets hired to be a wealthy man's bodyguard right before being roped into joining a gang who gives him the task to kill that same wealthy individual as his initiation rite. A cut-a-way view of a house is the set for the mile-a-minute frenzied finale herein; as Keaton flies through windows, doors, and trap doors trying to resolve the above predicament into which he stumbled. It's Keaton at his best. Do make it a point to see this short. I wouldn't suggest you buy this disc, however, as the 78 minute feature is not really even a 'Keaton film' & is not something even Buster fans will want to watch multiple times. So, borrow this disc if you can & save your money for discs that include some of Keaton's greats instead: "The General," "Sherlock Jr.," and/or "The Cameraman." Cheers!
Rating: - Henrietta Mine!
THE SAPHEAD is a rather dull romantic comedy. I'm guessing that if it didn't have Buster Keaton in the title role, this film wouldn't have seen a DVD release for another twenty years. From a historical viewpoint, I suppose we must be grateful to the film, as it established Keaton as a bankable star, thus enabling him to go to bigger and better things. But judging the film on its own merits, I can only say that I was completely bored by it.
The movie has a few major flaws. The most annoying is the fact that Keaton (although the star) doesn't have enough screen time, and the other characters are one-dimensional and simply not interesting. The script is adapted from a play by the name of THE NEW HENRIETTA, and I can only hope that the material was funnier on the stage, because it certainly didn't translate well to the screen. The story takes too long to set itself up, the plot isn't terribly inspired, and, worst of all, most of the jokes aren't all that funny. Keaton does his best with what he has to work with, but, truthfully, there isn't much to this. He livens things up a bit on a handful of occasions, but for the most part, he is overwhelmed by the leaden script.
Also included on the DVD are two short movies. Unlike the main feature, these two were co-written and co-directed by Buster Keaton himself. The difference couldn't be any more staggering. Give the man some creative control, and he turns out material a thousand times better. While the main feature is slow, ... Read More
Rating: - Art of Buster Keaton Box 1
OUTSTANDING! This is a three video set. The features are The Saphead, Three Ages, Sherlock Jr. and Our Hospitality. The shorts are The High Sign, One Week, The Goat and My Wife's Relations. This is a GREAT box set (as are Box 2 and Box 3). Three Ages is "Buster's" first feature. Sherlock Jr. is awesome. The Goat is Buster's funniest short and maybe the funniest short ever made, period!
Rating: - The Saphead/ One Week/ The HIgh Sign
THE SAPHEAD is not a true "Buster" feature. This was Buster's first feature but he is playing a role that is not 100% the Buster character. He does not have his later degree of creative control in this movie. There are some very funny moments at the stock exchange. Lots of screen time without Buster. This is a good movie but not a great one.
ONE WEEK is Buster's first short (that was released) and it a great one. Buster and his wife build a house and the results are less than perfect.
THE HIGH SIGN is the first Buster short he produced. It is another great one. There are some very funny scenes in the shooting gallery. The High Sign also contains a rare moment wher Buster gives the high sign to the viewer.
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