Buster is a sidewalk tintype photographer. One day, he takes a picture of a very distracted Sally. While he’s developing the shot, though, a cameraman (with a real film camera!) shows up and they catch a cab together, leaving Buster holding her picture. Buster eventually tracks her down at the MGM Newsreel office. Buster decides he’s through taking tintypes and starts agitating for a job, romancing Sally along the way.
This 1928 time-capsule of a movie bears a lot of similarity to Harold Lloyd’s Speedy. They both have the same basic structure: a less-than-ambitious, somewhat lazy young man meets an attractive woman who inspires him to greater achievements. After many mishaps, a lengthy date sequence, and a street riot, the young man succeeds and wins both financial success and his girlfriend’s hand in marriage.
![Buster looking out the door](/_astro/that-window.DyPAQnA5_Z92STY.webp)
That window… it looks so… breakable.
The date takes place at the Venice Plunge, an enormous, now-razed, public swimming pool in Los Angeles. We get to see a lot of how this pool operated, from the ticketing at the front to the bathing suit rentals. There’s a great comic sequence in the dressing rooms, where Buster and a random stranger try to change into their outfits in a cramped changing room at the same time. Lots about this pool is a shock, from the size to the crowds, but what really gets me is the idea of renting a bathing suit. No thank you.
The street riot sequence is a “Tong war” Buster attempts to film. It is elaborately choreographed and shot on a set in the MGM movie lot. Buster does several stunts, but the real breath-taker is a scene where he rides a one-story shelter down to the ground, filming the whole way. Although maybe this isn’t Buster. MGM, nervous about their investment hurting himself, insisted on stunt doubles for some scenes.
![Buster and Sally at the Plunge](/_astro/pool.D8xl5Wks_1DM7qi.webp)
“So… would you like to see my Leo Bloom impersonation?”
Buster was more or less forced into selling his studio by the expensive flop that was The General, a Civil War comedy that took decades to find its audience. He threw in with MGM, just a few blocks down, but they didn’t trust his judgement anymore. Shooting The Cameraman was apparently a nightmare, the studio meddling in Keaton’s already famous formula and a company director (Edward Sedgwick) to butt heads with. MGM even insisted that Keaton, whose reputation was so deadpan he was called the “Great Stone Face,” end the film with a smile. According to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, test audiences revolted and the movie was released sans grin.
Once believed lost in a film vault fire, a print was discovered in Paris in the late sixties. Almost twenty-five years later, a better (but less complete) print was found. Criterion used both to produce a high-quality restoration they released on blu-ray in 2020. Some of the footage looks a little rough — these are presumably from the Paris print — but much of the film is sharp and stable with excellent contrast. I am constantly surprised at how well modern film restoration methods work on century-old fragile stock. If you are not used to watching silent films, this is an excellent place to start.
![Buster tries to share a changing room with a large stranger.](/_astro/dressing.D6-RESfj_1juSsv.webp)
It’s hard enough to imagine the awkwardness of a rented swimsuit; having to change in such close quarters is a nightmare.