The world is in a difficult place right now. Unless a person has been living under a rock that should be quite obvious. To that end, the world is more in need of smiles and laughter than ever before. Late last month, Cohen Media Group offered audiences one more source of that laughter and those smiles in the form of the latest Buster Keaton cinematic catalog, The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 5: Three Ages and Our Hospitality. Released Nov. 5 on Blu-ray, the single-disc collection came nearly three years after the release of the company’s fourth Keaton collection, which featured Keaton’s 1925 feature, Go West and its follow-up, 1927’s College. This latest double feature impresses in part because of its featured films, which will be discussed shortly. While the movies featured in this set offer viewers plenty to appreciate, the lack of any bonus content detracts somewhat from the set’s overall engagement and entertainment. This will be discussed a little later. The quality of the films’ footage – its restoration/production – is just as important as the stories to the appeal. This aspect will be discussed later, too. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the collection. All things considered they make The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 5: Three Ages and Our Hospitality another largely welcome addition to any vintage film fan’s library and one more of the best of this year’s new family DVD/Blu-ray/4K UHD releases.
The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 5: Three Ages and Our Hospitality, the latest entry in Cohen Media Group’s seemingly ongoing series of Buster Keaton cinematic releases, is another largely successful entry in that series. Its success comes in part through the stories featured in both of its movies. The stories are – as with so many Keaton flicks – among the earliest rom-coms. Yet even being rom-coms, they will appeal just as much to male viewers as to women thanks to its blend of physical comedy and continued use of Keaton as the beloved underdog figure. In the case of Three Ages, the story is literally split into three ages, the Stone Age, that of the Roman Empire, and that of the “roaring 20s.” In each age, Keaton’s character is facing off against a romantic rival for the affections of a woman. How he eventually overcomes the villain in each case (yes, the bad guy is simply called the “villain” in the story’s cast listing) is unique to the age and will be left to viewers to discover for themselves. It is how he reaches that overcoming in each story that is so fun. Case in point, in the Roman Age, he is forced to take part in a chariot race (yes, cliché, obviously) but in turning his chariot into a dog-pulled sled in what is apparently a snow-covered ground makes for its own surprising laughs. Even in winning the race (not to give away too much) he is still captured and thrown into a lion’s den but ends up making friends with the lion in quite the funny fashion. As a hint, women especially will find this sequence rather entertaining.
In the case of the prehistoric era, audiences male and female alike will laugh as Keaton’s caveman tries to win the affection of the woman by trying to make her jealous. The woman he tries to be with turns out to be more than he can handle, to say the least. Again audiences will find full appreciation from this moment when they see it for themselves as things do not turn out quite how he expected. He does eventually beat the bad guy and win the woman’s adoration in the end, and the result I sure to leave audiences laughing and smiling.
In the case of the modern age, he also ends up with the woman, only after being arrested and falsely accused of having alcohol, having to evade police after he escapes their holding and intervening directly at the woman’s wedding to his romantic rival. One cannot help but wonder if that finale played any inspiration in to the finale for the finale of Lawrence Truman Productions’ 1967 classic, The Graduate. Throughout the story, all of the physical comedy that has helped keep Keaton so respected – prat falls, jumps, and more – abound as the story continues from age to age.
Speaking of the story going from one age to the next, there are those who have criticized the movie for those transitions. The fact of the matter is that the transitions between ages in the seeming spoof of Intolerance are seamless and expertly placed throughout the movie. They actually help keep the movie’s pacing remain solid throughout its 71-minute run time. To that end, the way in which the transitions happen along with how each segment is connected from age to age makes for so much enjoyment, especially in noting the aforementioned story. It is sure to engage and entertain audiences plenty.
The story featured in Our Hospitality is a little simpler. In the case of this movie, it spoofs the infamous conflict between the Hatfields and McCoys by putting Keaton’s Willie McKay as the protagonist who is trying to keep from being killed by three members of the Canfield family (get it? Canfields and McKays = Hatfields and McCoys) after heading south from New York to claim the McKay estate. It just so happens along the way that Willie meets the daughter of the father Canfield, which leads to plenty of laughs as he deals with that duality of love and staying alive. How the story ends is interesting because it brings everything full circle considering one central aspect of how it all started.
Staying on the matter of that second story, there are some shots along a waterfall (of sorts) and on what looks like some mountainous terrain. It is known among most viewers that Keaton did a number of his own stunts in his movies, and his own physical comedy. There is a lot of other content here and throughout Three Ages that raises interest, too. The problem is that for all of the interest that both movies generate, there is no commentary or any other bonus content to speak of that would address those interest points. Among the many other points of interest that could have been addressed is how Keaton’s own wife and son ended up on screen in Our Hospitality. Did his wife openly volunteer to take on the role of his love interest? What about the clear spoofing of the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys? In the same vein, was there a direct intent to spoof the presentation style of Intolerance in Three Ages or was it merely coincidental? What’s more, each movie’s credits point out that Keaton was one of the co-directors. It would have been interesting to receive some sort of insight into his role behind the lends versus in front of the camera. Sadly none of that will be known at least in this case because of the total lack of any bonus content. While not having any of this background information detracts from the overall appeal of this latest collection of Buster Keaton films, it is not enough to totally doom the double feature.
Knowing the lack of bonus content in the set is not enough to doom the presentation, there is one more item to address that is a positive to the whole. That item is the overall production of each film. Knowing that one of the pair here is a century old and the other is close to that mark, the restoration of the footage is to be applauded. Even in some of the moments in which there is some “wear and tear” noticeable in the footage, it has been handled expertly. Adding in to that is the sound from the performance of the orchestra that performed the movies’ soundtracks. Everything there is perfectly timed and sound crystal clear. That expert production for the modern sound and the result of the work to restore the negatives collectively creates such a wonderful, welcome sense of nostalgia. In other words the aesthetic element of this presentation works with the stories and their execution to make for all the more reason to take in the set. When those two elements are considered along with the one negative of the lack of bonus content, the whole is imperfect but still largely successful.
Cohen Media Group’s recently released Buster Keaton cinematic collection, The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 5: Three Ages and Our Hospitality, is another welcome pairing of Keaton classics that vintage cinema fans are sure to enjoy for the most part. The single-disc collection works in large part because of the stories featured in each movie. The stories do well to balance the familiar rom-com elements for which so many Keaton flicks have come to be known, with his equally familiar physical comedy. The result is two more movies that will appeal equally to men and women, especially considering that they are so much better than all of the run-of-the-mill rom-coms that are out there today. The stories are unique, also from each other, adding even more to the appeal. While the movies and their stories build a strong foundation for this set, the lack of any bonus content that easily could have enhanced the viewing experience detracts from the set’s appeal. Luckily that detraction is not enough to doom the set. Having noted that, the movies’ production – their sound and video presentation – make for their own appeal because of the clear time and effort that went into restoring these pieces of film history. The result is two movies that are just as enjoyable for their aesthetics as for their content. Keeping that in mind, The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 5: Three Ages and Our Hospitality is an imperfect presentation but still largely successful.
The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 5: Three Ages and Our Hospitality is available now. More information on this and other titles from Cohen Media Group is available at:
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