Earlier this year came out one of the greatest treats for silent comedy fans in a long time. This was KINO's magnificent Vitagraph Comedies Blu-Ray. This is a pure treasure trove for movie buffs exploring areas of silent film comedy that go too often overlooked. Even the most avid silent film fans will find treasures here that they may not have even known existed. I especially enjoyed watching the comedies of Frank Daniels, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew and even a short starring the comedy team Montgomery and Rock. I was not very familiar with any of these great comedians before this set. Yet watching their comedies immediately brought a smile to my face and gave me great sense of discovery and joy. Not only did these films make me smile but they even made me laugh out loud a few times. It was also wonderful to see Edith Stoney's great comedy work. I was mostly familiar with her from other genres, and it was a delight to see that she could be a wonderful slapstick comedian. Though I was already quite familiar with their work, it was wonderful revisiting the work of John Bunny and Larry Semon. Semon has a special place in my heart as he was one of my introductions to silent comedy, thanks to various Laurel and Hardy public domain DVDs (both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had worked with Semon though not at the same time and this caused many of his shorts to appear on these DVDs). This set is full of so many rarities that it is a must have for avid silent comedy collectors. Yet the shorts are more than entertaining enough for newcomers to enjoy. As well as all these wonderful films, this 3 Disc set is loaded with very informative bonus features.
Though the DVD set, Industrial Strength Keaton came out in 2006, I have just discovered this delightful set. It is full of Buster Keaton rarities from the silent era to the talkie era to TV. Not everything on here may be a gem (the talkie feature An Old Spanish Custom (1936) is definitely not one of the comedian's strongest movies). However, everything on here will have an immense interest to Keaton's many devoted followers. It is especially fascinating to watch him do multiple versions of the molasses comedy sketch. He had done this gag in his first film appearance, The Butcher Boy (1917) and would continue to do it throughout his later TV years. His various TV commercials and cameo appearances in rare short subjects are also a delight to Keaton fans who think they have seen everything. Making this set even more of a delight is the inclusion of a classic Keaton silent short, The Playhouse (1921).
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