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Spite Marriage
(1929)

 

Buster Keaton’s last silent film is a very good comedy, but shows emerging signs of studio meddling and the restriction of Keaton’s creative process. Tightly scripted and shrewdly planned to hold down production costs, Spite Marriage (1929) nonetheless still succeeds with modern audiences.

coverThe Criterion Collection
2020 Blu-ray Disc edition

The Cameraman (1928), black & white, 69 minutes, not rated, with Spite Marriage (1929), black & white, 76 minutes, not rated.

The Criterion Collection, CC3158BD, collection number 1033, UPC 7-15515-24731-3, IBSN number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc, 1.37:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 19:6 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 29.8 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 1.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 14 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $39.95.
Release date: 16 June 2020.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 6 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
This Blu-ray Disc edition has been produced from a new 2K digital restoration. A very-good 35mm duplicate print has been scanned for this edition. Image stabilization and dust removal has been performed.

The film is accompanied by its original synchronized Movietone optical soundtrack.

The supplementary material contains an audio commentary on The Cameraman recorded in 2004 by Glenn Mitchell, author of A-Z of Silent Film Comedy: An Illustrated Companion; Time Travelers, a new documentary by Daniel Raim featuring interviews with John Bengtson and film historian Marc Wanamaker; Spite Marriage (1929), Buster Keaton’s next feature for MGM following The Cameraman, in a new 2K restoration, with a 2004 commentary by film historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance; So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM, a 2004 documentary by film historians Kevin Brownlow and Christopher Bird; The Motion Picture Camera (1979), a documentary by A.S.C. cinematographer and film preservationist Karl Malkames; an interview with James L. Neibaur, author of The Fall of Buster Keaton: His Films for MGM, Educational Pictures, and Columbia; plus a 40-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Imogen Sara Smith. Mitchell’s commentary is entertaining but a little uninformed, as he makes a small number of unresearched and inaccurate statements regarding actors’ filmographies and the survival status of a couple of films. Mitchell also manages to mispronounce Marion Davies’ name more than once.

With the tremendous improvement in visual quality in this disc, we highly recommend this edition of The Cameraman as the best DVD available on home video.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
coverThe Criterion Collection
2020 DVD edition

The Cameraman (1928), black & white, 69 minutes, not rated,
with Spite Marriage (1929), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

The Criterion Collection, catalog number, collection number 1033, UPC 7-15515-24741-2, ISBN number.
Two single-sided, single-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD discs, 1.37:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 19:6 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive? scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, English, Spanish and French language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 16 June 2020.
Country of origin: USA
This DVD edition has been produced from a new 2K digital restoration. A very-good 35mm duplicate print has been scanned for this edition. Image stabilization and dust removal has been performed.

The film is accompanied by its original synchronized Movietone optical soundtrack.

The supplementary material contains an audio commentary on The Cameraman recorded in 2004 by Glenn Mitchell, author of A-Z of Silent Film Comedy: An Illustrated Companion; Time Travelers, a new documentary by Daniel Raim featuring interviews with John Bengtson and film historian Marc Wanamaker; Spite Marriage (1929), Buster Keaton’s next feature for MGM following The Cameraman, in a new 2K restoration, with a 2004 commentary by film historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance; So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM, a 2004 documentary by film historians Kevin Brownlow and Christopher Bird; The Motion Picture Camera (1979), a documentary by A.S.C. cinematographer and film preservationist Karl Malkames; an interview with James L. Neibaur, author of The Fall of Buster Keaton: His Films for MGM, Educational Pictures, and Columbia; plus a 40-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Imogen Sara Smith. Mitchell’s commentary is entertaining but a little uninformed, as he makes a small number of unresearched and inaccurate statements regarding actors’ filmographies and the survival status of a couple of films. Mitchell also manages to mispronounce Marion Davies’ name more than once.

With the tremendous improvement in visual quality in this disc, we highly recommend this edition of The Cameraman as the best DVD available on home video.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
coverTCM Archives
2004 DVD edition

Buster Keaton Collection (1928-2004), black & white and color, 245 minutes total, not rated,
including Spite Marriage (1929), black & white, 76 minutes, not rated.

Warner Home Video, 67009, UPC 0-12569-70092-5.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 4.5 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, English, Spanish and French language subtitles, 15 chapter stops; two plastic trays in cardboard wrap in cardboard slipcase; $39.95.
Release date: 7 December 2004.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition has been mastered from 35mm source materials that range from very-good to excellent.

The film is presented with its original synchronized music score from 1929, well-reproduced in digital mono sound.

The collection’s supplementary material includes the modern documentary So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton at MGM by Kevin Brownlow. Also included is audio commentary by Glenn Mitchell, author of A-Z of Silent Film Comedy: An Illustrated Companion on The Cameraman; commentary by John Bengston, author of Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton and Jeffrey Vance, author of Buster Keaton Remembered on Spite Marriage; and photo montages from the silent films.

Highly recommended, even though it is out-of-print.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Other silent era BUSTER KEATON films available on home video.
Buster Keaton filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
 
 
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