4 Star

Keaton Kickstarts the Guffawing 20s

The Saphead is based on two plays, The Henrietta, 1887 (Bronson Howard) and The New Henrietta, 1913 (Victor Mapes), and due to Douglas Fairbanks (The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro) Buster Keaton got his first starring role, under the direction of Herbert Blaché (The Million Dollar Robbery, The Star of India), and Winchell Smith (Brewster’s Millions (1914), The Boomerang (play)). Keaton brings his comic timing and that soon to be his trademark Stoney face. The start of an era.

New York is a bustling city, and it is driven by one street, that is Wall Street and the Stock exchange, where fortunes are made and lost. There is one King of Wall Street, ‘The Old Nick of the Street’ Nicholas Van Alstyne (William H. Crane, Souls for Sale, True As Steel) who has made a fortune over the years trading in stocks. His family consist of his adopted daughter Agnes (Beulah Booker, The Boomerang, The Dwelling Place of Light), his daughter Rose (Carol Holloway, The Stranger, The Love Pirate), and the ire of his life, his son Bertie (Buster Keaton, BUSTER KEATON – The Complete Short Films 1917-1923, Buster Keaton: 3 Films (Volume 3), Buster Keaton 3 Films, Buster Keaton: 3 Films (Volume 2)) who spends his days in bed and his nights on the town, because this is what the modern woman wants. And the modern woman he wants to impress is Agnes, his adopted sister, who is away at finishing school. She feels the same way as Bertie, but she is unaware of her beaus’ behaviour.

Nicholas has a new venture, the Henrietta mine, and he believes that this is going to be a very lucrative venture. Rose is married to a failed lawyer Mark Turner (Irving Cummings, Cameron of the Royal Mounted, The Man from Hell’s River) and doing the best for her husband she asks her father to help Mark, he agrees and has him work on the mine project. Meanwhile, Bertie is out with his friends gambling and even though he is distracted by the thoughts of Agnes he wins a fortune. The gambling joint is raided by the police, all his friends are rounded up, but because he is the son of the richest man in the city he is overlooked.

When he is finally reunited with Agnes, they pledge their love for one another, this angers the father who disowns his son and gives him a one-off payment to set Bertie and Agnes up in a cottage.

To make a go of things, Bertie not knowing what he is doing buys a seat at the Stock Exchange. This is where the fun starts and Keaton’s genius shines bright.

All they do here is knock off hats, but I enjoy it. It occupies the mind.

Comedy, slapstick, evil doings and love, what more could you wish for?

Thanks to the Keaton Project, that in 2015 vowed to restore all of Keaton’s films from 1920-1928 by Cineteca di Bologna and the Cohen Film Collector. And now another release by Eureka and The Masters of Cinema.

The Saphead is available on Blu-ray

 

SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY CONTAINS

Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase [First print-run of 2000 copies only] | 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a restoration undertaken by the Cohen Film Collection from a first generation nitrate print | Score by Andrew Earle Simpson (presented in uncompressed LPCM stereo) | Brand-new audio commentary with film historian and writer David Kalat | Brand new video essay by David Cairns | Complete alternate version of The Saphead, comprised entirely of variant takes and camera angles | A Pair of Sapheads–featurette comparing the two versions of the film | The Scribe (1966, dir. John Sebert) [29 mins] – In his last film role―produced to promote Construction site safety―Keaton plays a janitor who in his attempt to educate workers on safe practices, causes more accidents than he prevents | Previously unheard audio commentary on The Scribe with director John Sebert (recorded before his death in 2015) and writer / silent cinema aficionado Chris Seguin | Buster Keaton in conversation with Kevin Brownlow– a 2-hour audio interview with Keaton and film historian Kevin Brownlow from 1964 | 1958 Buster Keaton Interview[90 mins] | Buster Keaton: Radio Interview[*runtime currently unconfirmed]– a rarely heard interview with Keaton | PLUS: A collector’s booklet featuring new essays by journalist Philip Kemp and film writer Imogen Sara Smith, as well as an appreciation of The Saphead by film writer Eileen Whitfield | *All extras subject to change at time of announcement