The Cameraman (1928)

Director:

Edward Sedgwick
(more)

Writers:

Clyde Bruckman (story)
Joseph Farnham (titles)
(more)

Release Date:

22 September 1928 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Family | Drama

Plot:

After becoming infatuated with a pretty office worker for MGM Newsreels, Buster trades in his tintype...

Plot Keywords:

Rescue From Drowning | Monkey In Sailor Suit | Motorboat | Tong War | Man In Love

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Buster Keaton	...	Buster
Marceline Day	...	Sally
Harold Goodwin	...	Stagg
Sidney Bracey	...	Éditor (as Sidney Bracy)
Harry Gribbon	...	Cop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Alexander	...	The Big Sea Lion (uncredited)
Edward Brophy	...	Man in bath-house (uncredited)
Ray Cooke	...	Office worker (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	Man in tight bathing suit (uncredited)
William Irving	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Harry Keaton	...	Extra in swimming pool (uncredited)
Louise Keaton	...	Extra in swimming pool (uncredited)
Charles A. Lindbergh	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Randall (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward Sedgwick
Buster Keaton		(uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Al Boasberg		uncredited
Clyde Bruckman		story
Joseph Farnham		titles (as Joe Farnham)
Lew Lipton		story
Byron Morgan		story (uncredited)
Richard Schayer		continuity

Produced by
Buster Keaton	....	producer
Lawrence Weingarten	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Reggie Lanning
Elgin Lessley

Film Editing by
Hugh Wynn

Set Decoration by
Fred Gabourie		(settings)

Production Management
Edward Brophy	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Art Department
Ernie Orsatti	....	assistant property master (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Dugas	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
George Gordon Nogle	....	camera operator: New York (uncredited)
Melbourne Spurr	....	publicity photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
David Cox	....	wardrobe

Other crew
Tony Campanaro	....	wrangler (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1928) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Facets Multimedia Distribution (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

67 min | USA:75 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 | Sweden:Btl | Spain:T | UK:U | Australia:G | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Balboa, Newport Beach, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The Cameraman was used for many years by MGM as an example of a perfect comedy. They would get all their directors and producers to watch it and learn. Only two scenes were improvised on the spot by Keaton, one was the baseball scene, and the other is the piggy bank scene.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Yankee Stadium sequence, an elevated train goes by in the background in one shot, but disappears before leaving the frame in the next shot.

Quotes:

Sally Richards: [advice to the aspiring cameraman] You must always grind forward... never backward.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)

Keaton's last "true" silent.

THE CAMERAMAN is Keaton's last true silent (SPITE MARRIAGE was without dialogue, but was a "sound" film). Feared lost until a print was discovered in Paris in 1968 and finally made available on video in 1991 when an incomplete master positive was found and merged with the inferior 1968 print, this is very close to Keaton's original "conception" process when creating a feature film. He meets the unattainable girl and then tries to win her. She is uncertain but eventually chooses Buster.

A delightful new piano score accompanies the MGM/UA VHS of this work- sadly now out of print. There are five main characters. There are a number of memorable gags:

1. Breaking the MGM newsreel office door glass times three; 2. Solo on the empty ball field; 3. Running down multi flights of stairs to basement and up to roof; 4. The ride on the tire hub of the E37st bus; 5. Sharing the pool dressing room; 6. Diving and loosing his bathing togs; 7. Riding in the jump seat in the rain; 8. The collapse of the platform during the Tong War.

A delight in the last half of the film is the adorable monkey who interacts so well with Buster and in the course of the plot, saves the day by cranking Buster's camera.

It's a delightful film and full of invention. Very worth seeing.

The master positive used as the basis for the VHS release was missing the entire first reel, plus eleven "bits" ranging from whole sequences (the ball field, for instance) to simple three second reaction shots. When the stock suddenly changes from crystal sharp and clear to washed out and grainy, it makes the single strongest statement for film preservation and makes it "silently."

Don't miss this one!