After serving a three-year apprenticeship under slapstick superstar Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, former child vaudevillian Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was promoted from supporting player to comic lead, and hired to star in a series of twenty two-reel comedies (usually written and directed with Eddie Cline). This collection of Keaton's seven initial solo efforts-authorized by the estate of Buster Keaton and mastered in HD from archival 35mm elements-reveals his cinematic genius just as it was beginning to flower. Already one can see the qualities that would define his later work: the fascination with oversized mechanical props (the prefabricated house of ONE WEEK), dynamic stunts and chases (THE SCARECROW, THE HAUNTED HOUSE), and a penchant for darkcomedy (CONVICT 13, HARD LUCK).THE "HIGH SIGN"1920/21 B&W 19 Min.Directed by Buster Keatonand Eddie ClineAlso presented in a digitally enhanced version. Visual essay by R. Emmet SweeneyONE WEEK1920 B&W 24 Min.Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie ClineVisual essay by David B. PearsonCONVICT 131920 B&W 19 Min.Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline THE SCARECROW1920 B&W 18 Min.Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie ClineVisual essay by Ken GordonNEIGHBORS1921 B&W 19 Min.Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline THE HAUNTED HOUSE1921 Color Tinted 20 Min.Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie ClineVisual essay by Jack DraggaHARD LUCK1921 B&W 21 Min.Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie ClineVisual essay by Bruce Lawton
