Customer Reviews

Krazy Keystone Komedies

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This disc contains the following 14 Keystone Komedies:
Mabel's Wilful Way (1915) with Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand
Ambrose's Nasty Temper (1915) with Mack Swain and Don Barcley
That Little Band of Gold (1915) with Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand
Ambrose's Sour Grapes (1915) with Mack Swain and Barry Gibson
Mabel & Fattys Married Life (1915) with Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand
When Ambrose Dared Walrus (1915) with Mack Swain and Frank Alexander
Wandering Willies (1926) With Billy Bevan and Andy Clyde
Ambrose's Lofty Perch (1915) with Mack Swain and Cecile Arnold
Fatty's Spooning Days (1915) with Fatty Arbuckle and Minta Durfee
Ambrose's Fury (1915) with Mack Swain and Chester Conklin
Fatty's Suitless Days (1915) with Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chase
Wilful Ambrose (1915) with Mack Swain and Louise Fazenda
Little Billy's Triuph (1914) with the Keystone Kids
Those Bitter Sweets (1929) with Billy Bevan
The picture and sound quality of these shorts is ok, as long as you are not expecting anything special like a David Sheperd restoration. (They are similar in quality to Grapevine Videos product).
I also suspect that this disc has been ported from a couple UK (PAL) DVD's released a couple years ago by a company called IVL. My reasons for this assumption are as follows:
1. The two uk disc's released in 2004 have exactly the same shorts in exactly the same order as this new Televista disc.
2. The running time of the two UK disc's added together is exactly the same as the total running time of this new Televista disc.
3. The last 10 or 20 seconds on the second UK had a fault on the sound track (a loud hiss), this fault is present on the Televista disc right at the end.
In summary this is quite a good collection that I would recommend if you do not already have most of the titles on it.

This DVD contains a lot of great, old Keystone comedies. The quality of the films is acceptable. However, production of the DVD was fairly amateurish. There is no track list, which lists the films. Also, the chapter menu does not index the films correctly. For instance, "Ambrose's Sour Grapes" begins towards the end of track 4. The remainder of the film is on track 5. "When Ambrose Dared Walrus" begins in the middle of track 8 and continues on tracks 9 and 10. Other films are indexed in similar manner. These include "Wandering Willies," "Ambrose's Lofty Perch" and "Those Bitter Sweets." The omission of a film/track list and the problems with the chapter menu make the DVD very difficult to navigate. For the price, however, it's still a DVD worth having. (Hopefully, the producers and/or distributors of this DVD will offer a revised disc, to those of us who have already bought the DVD.)

The list of films has been provided, in another review. Notable actors include Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Al St. John, Mack Swain, Chester Conklin, Billy Bevan, Andy Clyde, Edgar Kennedy, Ford Sterling, Charley Chase, Slim Summerville, Louise Fazenda, Mae Busch, Minta Durfee, Phyllis Haver and Marie Prevost.

The chapter stops on this disc are confusing because some of the shorts are broken down into individual scenes and some of them are not. In the following list the numbers are the chapters listed in the menus, and I've included the names of the shorts they are taken from:

1. "Mabel's Wilful Way" (1915) [11:22]
2. "Ambrose's Nasty Temper" (1915) [10:51]
"That Little Band of Gold" (1915)
3. That Little Band of Gold [4:19]
4. Ready for Anything [13:31]
5. Wine with a Strange Woman [12:37]
"Ambrose's Sour Grapes" (1915)
6. I Refuse to Listen - Go [11:46]
"Mabel and Fatty's Married Life" (1915)
7. Married Life [7:13]
8. Police! Police! [14:08]
"When Ambrose Dared Walrus" (1915)
9. Pay the Insurance [8:42]
10. Refuses to Listen [9:48]
"Wandering Willies" (1926)
11. The Restaurant [12:36]
12. Sorry to Trouble You! [1:10]
"Ambrose's Lofty Perch" (1915 )
13. Ambrose's Lofty Perch [4:37]
14. Seeks his Lost Sweetheart [7:05]
"Fatty's Spooning Days" (1915)
15. Spooning Days [6:49]
16. Thirty Dollars or Thirly Days [4:40]
17. "Ambrose's Fury" (1915) [11:29]
18. "Fatty's Suitless Day" (1914) [12:15]
19. "Willful Ambrose" (1915) [11:28]
"Little Billy's Triumph" (1914)
20. Little Billy's Triumph [7:25]
21. He Took My Dime [6:59]
"Those Bitter Sweets" (1915)
22. Here's Where You Get Out [4:58]
23. A Jealous Impulse to Slay [1:56]
24. His Race With Death [3:56]

The "Krazy Keystone Komedies" DVD is hilarious! Who ever said "Black & White" is out never saw this collection! I laughed myself silly [er...sillier].

If you want a great set of laughs, you ought to buy this DVD!

Thanks,
Brad F
Tampa Bay, FL

This dvd is old short, silent movies. I was hoping for the keystone cops who would drive in front of trains at ridiculous speeds, barely escaping, and guys falling off the back and just chaos in general. Wanted the grandkids to see that kind of behavior.

I enjoy silent films, and this is one that is very enjoyable. They did a good job of putting this one together. If you like silent films, this one is just right.

This DVD is a collection of various Keystone comedies. The majority of this collection features the likes of Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Chester Conklin, and Ford Sterling. All of the films are in watchable condition, which is all you can ask for with these shorts (they're almost 100 years old). You get great value for your dollar--14 shorts on 1 disc can't beat that.

What I didn't like about this collection, and why it didn't get 5 stars from me, is the chapters aren't broken up correctly. You'll choose a chapter thinking it will begin a short, only to discover it's at a random place of the film itself. Very annoying, but you can work around this by manually fast forwarding to the short you wish to view. Plus, the bio section is pointless since it only shows a title card that reads "Starring Mack Sennett, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, and Ford Sterling". No big deal, but that seems to be on there for no real reason.

Overall, I love this DVD. It's a great way to view random Keystones all in one place. It's fun to pop in the disc and let it play from start to finish--as if you're doing a "silent movie night" in your living room. If you're looking for Keystones at a very affordable price, do yourself a favor and pick this up. I'm happy I did.

SlapHappy Movie: Silent Comedy's Funniest Compilation of Silent Comedians with Chaplin, Keaton, Keystone Cops, Laurel, Hardy, Lloyd, Arbuckle, Normand, Langdon, Our Gang, Ben Turpin, Charley Chase, Lupino Lane, Lloyd Hamilton, WC Fields, Will Rogers, etc.