Review by Gary Tooze

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Audio:

• The Iron Mule (1925, 19 Min. - 1080i), with music by Ben Model
• Original documentary on the making of the film, written by film historian Patricia Eliot Tobias with David B. Pearson (26:01 in 1080i)
• Hospitality, a 49-minute alternate cut of the film, with an explanatory introduction, and an organ score by Lee Erwin
• 2 Galleries: Photos & Snapshots

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Description: Like his 1926 film The General, this elaborate historical comedy broadened the boundaries of slapstick and proved that Keaton was not just a comedian, he was an artist. Keaton stars as youthful dreamer Willie McKay, who travels westward on a rickety locomotive to claim his birthright, only to find that his inheritance is a shack. And he learns that the object of his affection (Keaton s real-life wife, Natalie Talmadge) is the daughter of a man with whom his family has been engaged in a long, violent feud. McKay s personal struggles are punctuated by brilliant slapstick set pieces that involve an exploding dam, raging waterfalls, and a primitive steam engine. Keaton supervised the design and construction of the train, which he revived two years later for the short The Iron Mule (in which he appears without credit as an Native American chief). This definitive edition of OUR HOSPITALITY features an exquisite orchestral score by Carl Davis, performed by the Thames Silents Orchestra; a documentary on the making of the film; and a rare alternate cut entitled Hospitality.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Our Hospitality appears on Blu-ray superior to the last SD-DVD edition but the interlaced, and still damaged, image quality is not as impressive as Kino's The General or even their The Black Pirate. and certainly not at the level of Masters of Cinema amazing Blu-ray of City Girl. There doesn't appear to have been any film-level restoration but the improved resolution brings out certain attributes to greater prominence - both positive (some depth, improved detail) and negative (scratches / damage). Contrast is not dominant and grain appears to be more smoothed out that visibly textured. On the big screen it can look decent and has far less artifacts than we have seen in the past for home theater presentations. We have provided screen grabs below for your own judgment.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The music defaults to a lossless Carl Davis conducted and composed score performed by The Thames Silents Orchestra in DTS-HD Master 5.1 at, an occasionally potent, 2876 kbps. As an option you can select the same rendition in a linear PCM 2.0 channel stereo at 2304 kbps or a less dynamic score compiled by Donald Hunsberger in a standard 2.0 channel Dolby track. the intertitles are in original English and there are no subtitle options offered. My Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

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BOTTOM LINE:
I don't want to be the judge whether the interlacing is an error or a factor of the original frame rate - but I suspect with enough investment Our Hospitality could have been 'bumped' to a progressive transfer. This remains one of the great Silent comedies and it is still a formidable, if imperfect, presentation via Blu-ray. Fans of the Silent Era, Keaton, vintage comedy - or just serious film enthusiasts in general should strongly consider indulging. 

Gary Tooze

March 17th, 2011