Buster Keaton’s first feature as an MGM player is often cited as a sort of departure point for his career. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that the 32-year-old comedian’s best work was already behind him and a cloudy, unhappy future lay in store. The famous do-it-(all)-yourself work ethic that served him so well as an independent was deemed unfit for the rigors of big studio life, and that, paired with the looming advent of sound pictures, would lead the silent star to wilt and wither.

Although the quality of his films plummets from this point, _The Cameraman_ still functions as a faded example of the comic’s best values. For the only time, the studio (and co-director Edward Sedgwick, who would become a lifelong friend) allowed him to throw away the script and film as he saw fit, improvising his way around a few basic plot threads to arrive at the finish line in his own characteristic fashion. He plays a sad sack photographer, selling portraits for ten cents a pop, who finds love twice in the same day. Enamored with a lovely lass, he follows her back to her gig as receptionist for a big-time newsreel operation and falls head-over-heels for the moviemaking equipment. The very next day, he gets to know them both, leading the girl on an ill-fated date while learning the ins and outs of the camera through trial-and-error.

Keaton’s comic inventions are funny, but lighter than in his prior works, with more than a few recycled gags posed in a slightly new context. He’s much less physical here than in, say, _One Week_ or _The General_, and many scenes are dissected by uncharacteristic cuts that unseat the tempo. It feels like he’s bowing to pressure from above, pressing hard in certain areas while making concessions in others, straining to prove himself in front of the new boss, which flattens his most interesting wrinkles. He finds a great partner in the second act - a small, fabulously expressive monkey who perches on his shoulder and also learns to operate the camera - but his relationship with the girl lacks sweetness and his depiction of city life makes every passing pedestrian seem downright hostile.

Even before finishing his first film under the new banner, Keaton seemed a little lost. That makes _The Cameraman_ amusing, but sad, for a number of different reasons.