Kino To Release Buster Keaton Classic, Steamboat Bill, Jr., On Blu-ray

Coming hot off of the heels of Janus Films picking up the rights to the Charlie Chaplin catalog, it looks like Kino is set to bring to DVD and Blu-Ray one of Buster Keaton’s, Chaplin’s silent counterpart, most legendary films, Steamboat Bill, Jr. Several months back,

Kino leapt into the world of Blu-ray with the Buster Keaton film, The General.

Kino International released a press release this weekend announcing that the film is set to come to DVD and Blu-Ray, with some really excellent special features. Included in the release will be three different musical backing tracks in the form of two scores (one organ and one piano) as well as a complete score by the Biograph Players, as well as a documentary on the making of the film, a stills gallery, a musical montage of stunts and pratfalls, and two recordings of the folk song, Steamboat Bill.

However, one of the coolest features comes in the form of a complete, alternate version of this classic silent comedy. The secondary version of the film is made completely out of variant takes and camera angles, giving the viewer a real reason to watch the film a second time.

Silent films are always some of the toughest for the average film viewer to really get into; however, if there is one way to really get into the era, it’s through films like Steamboat Bill, Jr. It’s still a very funny film, and is one of the more engaging pieces of that era. Hopefully this release will help urge the folks at the Criterion Collection and Janus to make use of their recent Chaplin purchase, and give us the singular releases and the box sets of that film legends films that we so longingly crave. Here’s to hoping.

In the meantime, definitely pick this one up in either DVD or Blu-Ray when it hits shelves on July 6th.

New York, May 14, 2010 – Kino International, the leading distributor of silent cinema in the United States, is proud to release a two-disc edition of Buster Keaton’s STEAMBOAT BILL, JR., on both standard DVD and Blu-Ray (released in a single Blu-ray disc).

Kino’s STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. DVD and Blu-ray, as well as the upcoming LOST KEATON DVD, are set to prebook on June 8, 2010, with a street date of July 6. Kino’s 2-disc STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. DVD comes with a SRP of $29.95, while its Blu-ray counterpart is priced at $34.95. Kino’s LOST KEATON 2-Disc DVD will be available for $34.95.

This definitive edition of Keaton’s classic comedy is newly mastered from archival 35mm materials and is accompanied by a complete alternate version. It was not unusual for filmmakers and studios during the silent era to create two or more versions of a film for the international market, often using different takes and camera angles. The alternate version here also comes from an archival 35mm print.

This special edition offers viewers three optional musical scores: a new score from The Biograph Players, an organ score by Lee Erwin, and a piano score by William Perry. Also included is a 15-minute documentary by film historian Bret Wood exploring the making of the film and the differences between the two versions of the film; “Why We Call Him Buster,” a musical montage of pratfalls and stunts; two vintage recordings of the folk song “Steamboat Bill,” which inspired the film; and a stills gallery.

Synopsis:

William Canfield, aka Steamboat Bill, is the seasoned captain of a rundown Mississippi paddlewheel who finds his business threatened by the arrival of a new competitor, a self-proclaimed riverboat king with deep pockets.

He’s excited, however, by the impending visit of his son, William Canfield Jr. (Keaton), who has been raised and schooled in Boston and whom Canfield hasn’t seen since he was a baby. Much to his shock – and chagrin – young Willie turns out to be far too pampered for the tastes of the crusty old captain, and even worse, Willie sparks up a romance with the daughter of Canfield’s bitter rival. Thus is set in motion a quintessential Keaton scenario: Keaton must prove his bravery and manhood, while battling against the encroachment of modernization.

Filled with  classic Keaton gags – from Willie unsuccessfully trying on a series of hats to his pathetic (and hysterical) attempt to break his father out of jail – STEAMBOAT BILL JR. climaxes with one of the most spectacular sequences in all of silent cinema: Buster Keaton getting caught in the middle of a terrific cyclone as it wipes out much of the town, forcing him to save his girl, his father, and his father’s business. Houses are tossed about, flood waters rage, and Keaton takes a ride through the air on an uprooted tree. But the highlight of the sequence, is the eye-popping shot of a house front collapsing onto a seemingly oblivious Keaton, who miraculously emerges unscathed. It is a shot which film historian Kevin Brownlow has justly called “probably the most celebrated Keaton moment,” and it remains astonishing more than eighty years later.

In addition to Keaton, the cast also includes Ernest Torrence and Marion Byron. Torrence (1878-1933) was among the most recognizable character actors of the 1920s, with prominent roles in such silent-era classics as TOL’ABLE DAVID, THE COVERED WAGON, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and THE KING OF KINGS.  He was also a memorable Captain Hook in the 1924 version of PETER PAN.

Byron (1911-1985) was just sixteen when she made her film debut here. After working with Keaton, she bounced around Hollywood for a few years, co-starring in some comedy shorts for the Hal Roach studio and playing second leads in a few features into the early 1930s, before moving into increasingly smaller parts. STEAMBOAT BILL JR. would remain her best-known role.

Today, STEAMBOAT BILL JR. is widely regarded as one of Buster Keaton’s greatest achievements. When it was initially released in 1928, however, it was considered a commercial disappointment – just like Keaton’s THE GENERAL, now judged as his best film – and, as such, it became the last of his independently-made features and marked the end of the most productive and creative period of his career.

After STEAMBOAT BILL JR., he was forced to enter into a production deal with MGM, an agreement he would later call the worst decision of his career. But over the decades, the reputation of the film, like Keaton’s reputation as a whole, would continue to grow. The critics Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris notoriously didn’t agree on much, but they both ranked the film among their favorites and were early champions of it. Kael wrote in her book 5001 Nights at the Movies, “One of the least known of the Buster Keaton features, it probably ranks right at the top.”

Special Features

Complete alternate version of Steamboat Bill, Jr., comprised entirely of variant takes and camera angles.

Music by The Biograph Players in 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround

Organ score by Lee Erwin

Piano score by William Perry

Documentary on the making of the film and comparison of the two versions

Stills gallery

“Why They Call Him Buster,” a musical montage of pratfalls and stunts

Two vintage recordings of the folk song “Steamboat Bill”

Specs

U.S.  1928  B&W  69 min.  Full-frame

Directed by Charles F. Reisner

Story by Carl Harbaugh

Photographed by Dev Jennings and Bert Haines

Technical direction by Fred Gabourie

Presented by Joseph M. Schenck

Released through United Artists

Starring Buster Keaton, Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron, Tom McGuire, Tom Lewis