Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A lot of fun.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The Cameraman is my 2nd favourite Buster Keaton feature after Sherlock Jr. A film which manages to hit every beat and even MGM themselves believed in the film enough that it became their comedy training film for new writers as the example of a perfect comedy; I can't argue with that. Like the aforementioned Sherlock Jr, The Cameraman reflects a fascination with filmmaking in which Keaton has to act like he doesn't know anything about the anatomy of a camera.Once again Keaton (playing a character conveniently called Buster) is competing for dominance and the love of a woman in a world of alpha males. What makes the relationship between Buster and love interest Sally (Marceline Day) work so well? Her sympathy, or the fact that she is one of the few people in the film who doesn't act like a complete jerk towards Buster, even the bell boy at the fictionalised MGM newsreel department is a jerk to him when Buster simply asks about the woman in his photograph despite him being a super sweet guy. Does MGM want people thinking their newsreel department is full of jerks? Or is it the little things such as her first encounter with Buster when he first bumps into her he smells her hair and goes into a trance without her noticing. You can feel the chemistry between them from their body language and even from close-ups of the two starring at each other. Likewise there is the relatability of any man who has tried to impress a girl only for his effort to be a failure by the presence of a bigger, stronger man. - Plus there is the adorable factor from seeing the two of them together. When Buster gets a kiss from Sally as he leaves her off at an apartment and then walks away in the rain with a sense of elation has Singin' In The Rain vibes; was Gene Kelly inspired by this?The Cameraman is one of those rare films which is comprised of one great moment after another. The scene in Yankee Stadium for example has no effect on the rest of the plot but there's no justification required in order to watch Keaton's athletic prowess as he pretends to play baseball by himself. Likewise the sequence on the stairs is a wonder of Keaton's ability to use the frame in what looks like to modern eyes as a 2D platforming video game. Another superb use of this comes in the pool sequence in which Sally walking by the poolside in a swimsuit then suddenly all of the men get out of the pool entering from the bottom of the frame out of nowhere. Likewise keep an eye out for the on screen nudity. This sequence also gives arise to possibly the most bizarre moment in The Cameraman in which Keaton after losing his bathing suit in the pool begins eyeing a woman wearing an excessive bathing suit and starts approaching her while Jaws-like music plays (as part of the wonderfully quirky modern score by Arthur Barrow). Off-screen he steals the suit but we never see how; just what exactly did he do to her? It's both creepy and funny at the same time. I have to ask if automobiles back then were designed for use in comedy such as an open top double decker bus which creates so many possibilities for physical comedy. However the most oddly designed vehicle present in The Cameraman has to be the 1927 LaSalle Convertible Coupe Fisher with its seat on the back of the car separate from the main seats of the vehicle. The seat is already inherently de-emasculating by itself, even worse when your girl is at the front with another guy and you're completely cut off from them because the roof is up to protect them against the rain. Oh yeah, that's another thing, when it rains you have no protection. Again I have to ask, was this vehicle designed for use in comedy?The Tong War is among one of the greatest of Keaton spectacles with its large-scale carnage and extras galore; plus I do love the fascinating underworld of the tongs and opium dens as a setting. The moment in which Keaton is confronted by gangsters and is cornered is one of those oh so glorious "how is he going to get out of this?!" moments. By the end of the film Keaton goes through so much misfortune that you badly want to see him succeed in the end. At the end he gets his sweet, satisfying revenge while the douche who takes credit for rescue Sally from the out of control speedboat gets his comeuppance. The revenge is unintentionally obtained but more than very well deserved.

The Cameraman (1928) is Buster Keaton's last great film, before drink and MGM's misguided stifling of his creativity effectively ended his career as a director-star. It is about an aspiring newsreel man who seeks the love of a secretary at MGM studios (a little self-promotion never hurt Leo the Lion, it seems). He looks for any kind of action to capture on the streets, contends with a slimy rival for his lady love's affections, and befriends a monkey. Like Keaton's best films, we have his sly and dry humor, action scenes, and lots of imagination.Of course, the movie differs from Keaton's pre-MGM work in key ways: it is incredibly romantic in a way Keaton avoided being in his earlier work. The love stories in some of Keaton's earlier films are fraught with misery and seem to promise little lasting happiness for both partners. Other ones are more grounded though pleasant, such as in The Navigator and The General, where Keaton's heroes end up with feisty girls who are more like comic partners than passive love objects who wait impatiently for Buster to man up and win their respect. In TC, Marceline Day is a different sort of love interest for Keaton: she is sweet, an ideal, a light in the young cameraman's seemingly dreary and lonely existence. In The General or Sherlock Jr., the young hero is lovelorn but also independent. He can live with or without love, though he's willing to fight for love at all costs. Here Buster's character lacks that kind of toughness and seems more vulnerable. This vulnerability allows Keaton to show a little more tragedy in his acting than what we normally get to see and it is fascinating. No one who has ever seen this film can forget the "descent into the sand" scene, where Buster thinks he has lost the girl of his dreams forever. The heartbreak and longing in Keaton's eyes, hands, his posture are so potent that it shocks me that viewers still call him stone-faced and cold.But don't let us forget this is a romantic comedy and there are lots of laughs to be had. It's Keaton last great silent film, a sort of walk into the sunset for his golden age.

The films kickoff — the first 15 minutes or so — had me exceedingly apprehensive. The slapstick was easy and uninspired, and to top that off, was shot and edited awkwardly; the Keaton that I knew was unrecognizable. Very worried was I at the thought of the first feature film of Buster's that I'd see, going on to be the first bad one as well. Perhaps that level of anxiety is what caused the eventual, stretched sigh-of-relief, I let go of, to be *so* heavy.The exact point where the dispassionate- faced, insecure, and unwittingly suave Buster that I've quickly grown to love, done with his stretching, came to play, was at the scheduling of the walk. That second onwards: smooth sailing! Whatever the task was — slips, slides, and falls, to something as elementary as running — Keaton performed it to perfection, and all, *impressively*, topped, and perhaps made, with his facial expressions (or lack thereof). *This*, and his creative touch are what were missing in those drab 15 minutes.The, as always, inventive gags, while each being funny, steadily improved. Beginning at the simple and grin-inducing stairs sequence, and ending at the invigorating spectacle that was the Tong War — where, unlike the muddled parade scene at the start, it was able to be chaotic/hectic while simultaneously being comprehensible.If you've seen the picture, you've probably realized I've gone without speaking of the final 10 minutes. I wish I could say that because its predecessor (Tong) was such an exhilarating experience, the ending just couldn't follow and ultimately underwhelmed me. But the sad truth is that it simply felt tacked on. I'd like to think that there wasn't enough room in the budget, rather than them just not knowing how to end it. But whatever the reason, it's a bummer. That the film's edges were both disappointing is, well...disappointing; the scenes linking the two were such a delight however, that in the end, the film won me over.

There are things that immediately encourage the will of man: to know that earn a good sum of money, to help someone feel important in his life, offering a high recognition... and above all, the belief that, with such action will conquer the heart of the woman who now occupies the most beautiful dreams. Luke Shannon was taking unpretentious life. He was content with having a camera -which looked more like a cocktail-, with the which attracted in the streets some passers, until one day, a throng of cameramen crowd around... and he is pushed a girl to in turn, is pushed toward him, until by force of destiny, their heads come together... and the scent of her hair, and the warmth of your skin, make the cameraman sits in heaven, and did not think of another thing in it.It begins as a sweet romance filled with anxieties, solidarity, high aspirations... and also obstructed by the blunders by the opposition in love for the setbacks of life.This is, perhaps, the most romantic film he made in his life Buster Keaton. Sally, the girl used a room at MGM photographers, showing deep solidarity with the cameraman, and privileges it offers alternatives progress, and to feel valued, he puts on a hilltop (excluding any gag, as not the case with many other partenaires), and assumes, since, as a major objective of his life. And the actress, Marceline Day, gives the most pleasing part because it has a romance angel and flows quite persuasive. Additionally, the film offers many hilarious and very creative gags that make it a very pleasant experience everywhere you look at it. Dreaming, tenderness, warmth, humor and a fierce temper struggle to win a heart, we entered into an unforgettable comedy that, without objection, it enriches the art. People like Buster Keaton, ennobles the cinema and make more pleasant the existence.