The Cameraman (1928) Review

Title: The Cameraman
Year: 1928
Director: Edward Sedgwick
Country: US 
Language: English 

 
By 1928, Buster Keaton was one of the biggest stars in the world. MGM, the motion picture company, was one of the biggest movie studios in the world. MGM, seeing Keaton as a box office giant, hired Keaton at a guaranteed salary of $3,000 per week + a percentage of his film's gross. Though seemingly a phenomenal deal for any performer, Keaton claimed it was "One of the worst career decisions of my life." The first picture he would make for them was The Cameraman. 

Hopelessly in love with a woman working at MGM Studios, a clumsy man (Buser Keaton) attempts to become a motion picture cameraman to be close to the object of his desire.

Feeling stymied by MGM studios, often claiming that there were "Too many crooks." The Cameraman was a passion project for Keaton, his last great film because he pushed to make things his way despite the studio's insistence that he remain performer only. The film is an ode to vaudeville, comedy pictures, and the great mechanical invention that made his success poular.

The Cameraman follows the standard arc of a Buster Keaton picture; entranced by love, the meek hero overcomes the odds, proves himself & wins the girl. It is an effective story because of its deliberate pace & comic rhythm. It is always exhilirating to watch Keaton run in a frantic pace; weaving through cars, vaulting over curbs and diving like an arrow for his target, Each pratfall is executed with remarkable precision; Keaton can steal the scene just by the old falling on a banana peel gag, 

The Cameraman  proved to be a success for MGM studios, who unfortunately learned the wrong lessons and thought this success was due to having Keaton on a leash. Keaton would never make a "great" picture again. Having enjoyed this picture, I grieve over the loss of such talent, but I'm incredibly thankful that many of his earlier films still exist despite being nearly a century old.