DVD revival — Buster Keaton’s The General

Posted on November 15, 2008 by lmharnisch
1927_0312_general
1927_0312_general_review

 I am unfamiliar with the reviews of Katherine Lipke, a movie critic for The Times from 1922 to 1927. (She also wrote a novel published in 1932, "Rain on the Roof"). Given her tepid review of Buster Keaton’s "The General," it’s probably not a subject I’m going to explore too much.

To be fair, Lipke had no idea she was seeing what we now consider one of the great movies of the 20th century. Beyond that, I’ll let her speak for herself.

But let it be noted that "The General" is being released by Kino International in a two-disc DVD edition. The DVD offers a choice of three soundtracks: One by Carl Davis that I would expect to be pretty good; one by prominent movie organist Robert Israel; and another by Lee Erwin. It lists at $29.95. You can ferret out reviews of the DVD here.

 

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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2 Responses to DVD revival — Buster Keaton’s The General

  1. Arye Michael Bender's avatar Arye Michael Bender says:
    November 15, 2008 at 5:07 pm

    Hard to imagine anyone not enjoying ‘The General”, particularly a critic. Keaton is sublime. Everyone I’ve introduced to the film, regardless of age or era, has loved ‘The General’. The only thing I can imagine improving on the picture, would be Carl Davis music. His scores in scores of BBC works about the silent era always have just the right feel.
    Would love to see any Keaton silent feature on a big screen again, accompanied by Carl Davis.
    If God is reading this blog (and why not) then He-She-It will create such an event. God, if you are following, I’ll even come down from San Francisco for the experience.
    God. Do you follow?

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  2. vwalker's avatar vwalker says:
    November 16, 2008 at 6:47 pm

    I guess I’m a wretched old pervert, but I’m curious to see the rest of the ad below the one for The General. What exactly is happening below the point where the image is cropped? Might the gentleman be enjoying one of those seductive native caresses?
    By they way, The General is a great film.

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