Buster is a humble tintype street photographer working in bustling 1920s New York. When he falls in love with Sally, a secretary at MGM Newsreels, he decides to turn his life around: he sells everything he owns to buy an old movie camera and become a professional cameraman. But the path won't be easy—especially with Harold, an experienced MGM cameraman who also has his eyes on Sally and is all too happy to mock Buster’s clumsy efforts. Still, Buster is determined to win both the job... and the girl.

The Cameraman marks a turning point in Buster Keaton’s career. It was his first film under the banner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a decision Keaton would later call “the worst mistake of my life.” Up until that point, he had enjoyed near-total creative freedom in his independent productions. Joining the studio system would mean a slow but steady loss of artistic control.

Ironically, The Cameraman is widely regarded as one of his finest works. Released in 1928, during the twilight years of silent cinema, it is a masterfully structured comedy that blends Keaton’s trademark physical humor with an unusual tenderness and emotional vulnerability in his character. For decades, MGM used the film internally to train new writers, praising it as a "perfectly constructed comedy".

Although Edward Sedgwick is credited as the official director, Keaton is known to have directed many of the film’s key scenes, especially the slapstick set pieces. The production was not without conflict: producer Lawrence Weingarten clashed frequently with Keaton, whom he considered "childish." A total of twenty-two writers were assigned to the project, but Keaton managed to convince Irving Thalberg, head of production and one of his few allies, to discard the original script and let him shoot it his way.

The film was a major box office success, earning over $790,000—an impressive figure at the time—and was warmly received by critics. Its popularity has endured: in 2005, The Cameraman was selected for the National Film Registry of the United States, being recognized as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Among its most iconic scenes are the baseball game sequence, where Buster believes he’s recording but forgets to load film into the camera; the thrilling Chinatown chase; and the unforgettable swimming pool sequence, which showcases Keaton’s mastery of visual gags and complex choreography—along with a touch of charming vulnerability.

The Cameraman was Keaton's first film with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is considered by fans and critics to be Keaton still in top form, and it was added to the National Film Registry in 2005.

Trivia

• The little monkey that becomes Buster’s impromptu sidekick became a short-lived star at MGM after the film's success.

• Many scenes were shot on location in New York City, including Times Square and Fifth Avenue, lending the film a vibrant, almost documentary-like urban atmosphere.

• Despite tensions on set, the film was technically sophisticated for its time, with advanced camera movement and visual effects designed by Keaton himself.

The Soundtrack

The soundtrack for "The Cameraman" follows the path of other scores written by Brais González for Buster Keaton's films, with a mixture of swing music, Dixieland and Caspervek's own developed style. The original music was written for the usual band formation, violin, percussion and piano, later developing versions also for clarinet and flute.