Cat. No. DVDM 1762: COLLEGE ~ BUSTER KEATON / FLORENCE TURNER / ANNE CORNWALL / FLORA BRAMLEY / HAROLD GOODWIN. BOUNTY BF74.
SILENT MOVIE
FULL FRAME 4x3. DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1. SINGLE SIDED. SINGLE LAYER DVD.FORMAT: PAL REGION: 4.
BLACK & WHITE RUNNING TIME: 66 MINS.
REVIEW: Coming hard an the heels of Keaton’s comic masterpiece, The General, this was a relaxing romp in both setting and approach after the exacting precision of the American Civil War comic-drama. It was very typical Keaton material and fine comedy but did not sustain the tone Buster had achieved in The General.
Although Buster did not achieve the same in College, there is nothing to indicate that he attempted anything other than to provide a lot of fun for his fans – and that’s exactly what it proved to be. Those knowledgeable of silent comedy may wish to compose it with Harold Lloyd’s earlier movie The Freshman.
While both Keaton’s and Lloyd’s approach to college life bore considerable similarity in theme, the difference rested in their comic characters. Lloyd was the go-getting American boy who triumphed by that predestination seemingly the right of all Horatio Alger heroes; the pawn of fate, Buster came through by virtue of a miracle!
Had he realized that his professional independence was soon to end with the sale of the contract to MGM by Joe Schenk, he might not have been as happy-go-lucky, but when College was released on 9 September, 1927, Buster was at the top of the heap with every intention of staying there.
DVD
