DVD/Blu Ray review: Cohen restorations of Buster Keaton’s Go West and College

Buster Keaton is certainly among the most well-represented filmmakers on DVD and blu ray, with nearly all of this films readily available, including his oft-neglected work from the sound era. Cameos in the beach party movies, industrial films, TV commercials, all of these are available somewhere.

In 2015, Cohen Film/Media set out to restore all of Buster Keaton’s silent work from his debut starring short One Week, through his final indie feature Steamboat Bill, Jr, leaving off before he ventured to MGM in 1928. Kino Lorber has become the home video distributor of these restorations, probably due to their track record in putting out many volumes of Keaton silents from this period, including several restorations, each better than the previous one.

Perhaps the best material on Keaton prior to this Cohen project were the restorations done by Lobster Films, which Kino Lorber distributed. For instance, in 2016 all of Keaton’s silent short films were combined on one blu ray set, including the apprenticeship years with Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle and all of his own starring short films, restored to their best available level. That set included more recently discovered footage among its special features (e.g. an alternate cut of “The Blacksmith” that contains four extra minutes). Then in 2017, two blu ray sets offered newly restored 2K versions of The General and “he Three Ages in one set, and Steamboat Bill Jr. with College on the other. That was followed in 2019 by a new 2K restoration of Our Hospitality offering even sharper image and some new special features.

So why would we need new copies of these Buster Keaton silent that have enjoyed top restorations from exceptional source material? Well, surprisingly enough, the Cohen restoration of Go West actually is much better than that which was previously available. According to information provided by the blu ray, for this restoration of Go West, nine elements were inspected and analyzed, eight of those-deposited in Columbus and at the Library of Congress by the Cohen Film Collection- were digitized and compared. The four reel original camera negative was not complete; some portions were severely affected by chemical decay and it only included flash titles. It was therefore necessary to integrate it with three other elements: a first generation nitrate positive, a second generation safety dupe negative, a third generation safety positive.

However, the print of College featured on this disc is only as good as the Lobster restoration. According to information provided, the Cohen restorations were restored in 2018 by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Cohen Film Collection at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory.

For the restoration of College, nine elements were carefully inspected and analysed. Five of them – from the Cohen Film Collection deposited in Columbus and at the CNC – were digitized and compared. Based on their photographic quality and completeness, two elements were selected for restoration: a third generation safety dupe positive and second generation safety dupe negative. Whereas the former served as main elements and included the original main and end titles as well as all intertitles, the latter was used to replace several sections of the dupe positive showing visible printed chemical decay.

While College is only up to the level of the Lobster restoration, which itself is very good, Go West really is the most superior quality print one can currently obtain on that film. As a result, this blu ray really is recommended.

As far as the films themselves are concerned, Go West is an unfairly overlooked gem in which Buster Keaton explores the western genre with subtle humor, and some genuine warmth crowding his usual comic cynicism. College is not only unfairly overlooked, it is just as unfairly dismissed. Perhaps because it is sandwiched between The General before and Steamboat Bill Jr after, it seems inferior by comparison. College is, in fact, a very clever comedy filled with typically creative Keaton ideas.

Both films further benefit from all new music scores. The music for Go West is an excellent score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, which enhances the action beautifully without distraction. Rodney Sauer provides typically outstanding music for College, a service he also provided for the Lobster release. Sauer told this reviewer: “I did the music on both versions of College, but consciously took very different approaches.”

As a master of cinema’s form and function, anything Buster Keaton created during the silent era demands to be seen. And it should be seen in the best manner possible. That is why this blu ray is essential. It can be purchased here: Cohen Keaton