The Cameraman

1928 - Dir: Edward Sedgewick
Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 26th April, 2008
“The Cameraman” is known as the film that marked the beginning of the end for Buster Keaton (he had signed a contract with MGM that gave creative control to them), but looking at the final product, it is hard to see any signs of trouble. MGM had promised that he could keep his old team and enjoy as much artistic freedom as he had as an independent. They lied. That state of affairs lasted only as long as it took to get this first movie in the can - his team were then assigned to other producers and Keaton was never again able to control his own films. The suits and control freaks ensured that one of the greatest comic talents of the 20th century never achieved his full potential. Here, however, Buster is still on top of the game but there are signs of things to come - this is the first film where Keaton is not credited as director... and the talkies were just around the corner..... A tragi-comedy really.