I have seen
The Cameraman at the theatre and a couple of times on cable since then. I've also watched it twice in the last two days. I really don't consider it a Buster Keaton Classic but it does have many classic scenes. One of the reasons I can't consider it a "Buster Keaton Classic" is because some of the best scenes involve the monkey which never would have happened in Buster's independent flicks. Now, I want to make it clear that monkey is damn funny but it is an example of how this is less a Buster movie and more an M-G-M movie. One of the reasons why M-G-M pimps the Buster movies is because they not only seemed to hire Buster to make movies for them but they apparently bought much of his catalogue to reuse for remakes. In this case, it wasn''t necessary since M-G-M made
The Cameraman, but they basically retooled it for Red Skelton and called it
Watch the Birdie. Before that, they used several gags from Keaton's
Our Hospitality and
The General in Skelton's
A Southern Yankee.
As far as what I consider classic scenes, the wonderful, if all-too-brief, bit at Yankee Stadium would have made a good short if it were stretched out. Anyone who loves and understands baseball can see that Buster knows the game inside and out, and his body language and eye movements are picture perfect. Hopefully you baseball fans will know what St. Louis team was in the American League in 1927, just as my wife Brenda did. Just in case anybody is unclear that the film is set in 1927, the film begins and ends with references to Charles Lindbergh and his historical solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean during that year and subsequent ticker tape parade in NYC.
As is usual with a Keaton flick, the romance is very sweet, and leading lady Marceline Day (
The Beloved Rogue, London After Midnight) is very attractive and lovable as Sally. She shows up right at the beginning of the film and is very helpful in getting him switched over from selling tintype photos for a dime to trying to become a professional newsreel cameraman. However, some of Buster's early work isn't too good, although he seems to invent a technique later used by Leni Riefenstahl in
Olympia (!!) and also accidentally incorporates some double exposures in his footage. Unfortunately, this makes him a laughing stock amongst everyone but Sally.
There are other "classic" scenes including the one where Buster and Sally go to the indoor swimming pool (it was called the plunge when I was growing up). Buster has to share a dressing room with a much larger man and ends up in the wrong swimsuit. Then he loses it in the water at just about the time he's surrounded by several young women. Actually though, I'm not sure if anything in the movie tops the Tong War scene near the end which is fast-paced and hilarious at the same time. I can't for the life of me understand why the internet doesn't seem to have tons of images of that scene.
Anyway, I'm already starting to feel as if I'm going overboard here so I'd better stifle myself. I will say that the musical score on my DVD included excerpts from a few famous songs later written but overall it wasn't all that distracting although it seemed to mostly consist of synthesizers or modern keyboards. I do like
The Cameraman, but I don't think it ranks with the top tier of Keaton. Those films would include
Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr., Seven Chances, College, Steamboat Bill, Jr., and
The General. Now, I'm certainly not trying to turn off anybody from watching it because it's a fun movie and hopefully a stepping stone to some of his other films for some of you. It's just that I give it
, but if you know me, that's definitely a positive rating.