Buster Keaton Rides Again: Featuring the Railrodder

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Product Details

Director : John Spotton
Actor : Buster Keaton, Eleanor Keaton, Gerald Potterton, Michael Kane (III)
Format : NTSC
Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0014381024029
Product Group : DVD
Release Date : 2003-05-26
Studio : Image Entertainment
UPC : 014381024029

ASIN : B000056N93

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.ca Canadian EssentialAmazon.ca

Buster Keaton went to Canada in 1965 to star in The Railrodder, a National Film Board production. The Canadian railroad is one big playground for an aging Keaton to perform some of his best stunts in this classic slapstick travelogue. The Railrodder, a silent, "modern short," is one of the last movies of a true cinema icon--and one of the more unusual DVDs on our Canadian Essentials List.

From Amazon.com

In 1965 the National Film Board of Canada lured Buster Keaton north to star in The Railrodder, Gerald Potterton's slapstick travelogue of Canada as seen from the seat of an open railway track speeder. The twilight companion to Keaton's great railroad comedy The General is a modern silent film, accompanied only by a bouncy score, cartoonish sound effects, and the ever-present putt-putt sound of the chugging car. At almost 70 years old, the Great Stone Face lacks the acrobatic agility of the old days, but his timing is impeccable and he executes physical gags with the effortless ease of a master.

John Spotton recorded some behind-the-scenes events during the film's shooting in the 55-minute documentary Buster Keaton Rides Again. Spotton supplements the production with perfunctory biographical background (which is better explored in Kevin Brownlow's brilliant documentary Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow), but at heart it's a loving, revealing portrait of the aging master at work. Priceless footage shows Keaton brainstorming comic bits, schooling his young director on the proper staging of gags, relaxing over a hand of bridge, and stewing over a disagreement when Potterton overrules a stunt Keaton has developed. The bit involves Keaton fumbling blindly behind a giant map while the car rides over a trestle, and Potterton worries about the safety of his aging star. "Dangerous?" growls Keaton. "It's kid stuff." The core of Keaton bubbles out in the battle of wills: professionalism, pride, stubbornness, and the primacy of the gag. Keaton wins, and the gag is in. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

very interesting documentary on some of the making of one of Keaton's later short films (2007-03-25)

This is a documentary on some of the making of "The Railrodder"one of Keaton's later short films.it is a "National Film Board Of Canada" documentary,which is the same company that made "The Rairodder".i really liked it.i thought it was insightful and enlightening.it showed a bit of Keaton in his early years.it was very interesting and entertaining,even humourous at times.it was a bit sad to see Keaton as an aged man.but he still shows of the comedic genius he once had.if you're a Keaton fan,which i am, you might enjoy this.even if your not,you might.unlike many documentaries,which are dry and drawn out,this one isn't.i give "Buster Keaton Rides Again" a well deserved 4.5/5

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