Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

The Cook (1918)

This comedy short, directed by Roscoe Arbuckle, stars Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton, with Al St. John, Alice Lake, John Rand, Bobby Dunn and Luke the dog.

The films are accompanied by music scores composed, compiled and performed by Frank Bockius, Neil Brand, Timothy Brock, Günter Buchwald, Antonio Coppola, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Rodney Sauer, Dennis Scott, Donald Sosin, and Sandra Wong. Some films feature two optional music soundtracks.

Supplemental material includes a collection introduction by Serge Bromberg (6 minutes); an alternate ending for My Wife’s Relations (1922) from the Lobster Films collection (2 minutes); “Life with Buster Keaton,” an excerpt of one of three 1951 remakes of Buster’s 1950 television episodes (3 minutes); and a 28-page insert booklet with an essay by Jeffrey Vance; an introduction, notes on the versions of the films utilized for this collection, and notes on two versions of The Blacksmith by Serge Bromberg; and analytical notes on the films.

For information about other films in this collection, see our Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection 1917-1923 on home video page.

Currently, this is our recommended home video edition of this film for North American collectors.

This review was updated in 2026.

This Region A Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .

Supplemental material includes an introduction by preservationist Serge Bromberg; audio commentary on six films by Joseph McBride; a recently-discovered version of The Blacksmith containing four minutes of previously unseen footage; alternate endings for Coney Island and My Wife’s Relations; a video essay by critic David Cairns; a discussion of Keaton’s style by actor Pierre Étaix; an audio recording of Keaton at a 1962 party; and a 184-page booklet with a roundtable discussion with critics Brad Stevens, Jean-Pierre Coursodon and Dan Sallitt, an essay and with detailed notes on each film by Jeffrey Vance; an essay by Serge Bromberg on the two versions of The Blacksmith and other discoveries; an excerpt from Life with Buster Keaton (1951) including a reenactment by Keaton of Roscoe Arbuckle’s “Salomé dance,” first performed in The Cook and the words of Buster Keaton.

For information about other films in this collection, see our Buster Keaton: The Complete Short Films 1917-1923 on home video page.

Sight unseen, this is our recommended home video edition of the film for European collectors. North American collectors will need a region-free Blu-ray Disc player to view this edition.

This Region B Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .

The films are accompanied by music scores composed, compiled and performed by Frank Bockius, Neil Brand, Timothy Brock, Günter Buchwald, Antonio Coppola, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Rodney Sauer, Dennis Scott, Donald Sosin, and Sandra Wong. Some films feature two optional music soundtracks.

Supplemental material includes a collection introduction by Serge Bromberg (6 minutes); an alternate ending for My Wife’s Relations (1922) from the Lobster Films collection (2 minutes); “Life with Buster Keaton,” an excerpt of one of three 1951 remakes of Buster’s 1950 television episodes (3 minutes); and a 28-page insert booklet with an essay by Jeffrey Vance; an introduction, notes on the versions of the films utilized for this collection, and notes on two versions of The Blacksmith by Serge Bromberg; and analytical notes on the films.

For information about other films in this collection, see our Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection 1917-1923 on home video page.

This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film.

This Region 1 NTSC DVD edition is available directly from . . .

Supplemental material includes audio commentary on six films by Joseph McBride; and a 184-page book with notes on the films.

For information about other films in this collection, see our Buster Keaton: The Complete Short Films 1917-1923 on home video page.

North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

This Region 2 PAL DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

This DVD edition has been rereleased in new packaging and is now distributed by Kino Lorber, and has been assembled from two very-good 35mm nitrate prints that are compromised by a moderate amount of dust, speckling, scratches, and emulsion damage.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Philip Carli, one of the best of the current practitioners of silent film accompaniment.

Supplemental material includes

For information about other films in this collection, see our The Cook and Other Treasures on home video page.

You can expect the same quality from this edition as from the edition reviewed below.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from MILESTONE FILMS through . . .

This DVD edition has been assembled from two very-good 35mm nitrate prints that are compromised by a moderate amount of dust, speckling, scratches, and emulsion damage. The tonal ranges vary slightly from broad to slightly darker, and image detail is generally very-good to excellent. The video transfers have been made from one black & white print and one color-toned print. The black & white footage has been electronically color-toned to approximately match (but is still slightly lighter than) its supporting footage. Either the video transfer or the Norsk Filminstitutt source print is slightly tighter framed than the Eye Film Instituut Nederland footage, which is apparent when a single shot has been reconstructed using footage from both prints. Also some of the Norsk footage is cropped tightly enough to lessen the impact of some of the gags when comic business occurs too closely to the edge of the frame. While the film is largely complete, there are fragments that are missing throughout the reconstruction print, including the ending.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Philip Carli, one of the best of the current practitioners of silent film accompaniment. The stereo recording is well reproduced here.

In a silent film DVD supplements first, Milestone Film & Video has included video transfers of both the fragmented Norsk and Nederlands prints that can be edited together on a PC equipped with a DVD drive and appropriate video-editing software. To assist the would-be reconstructionist, a PDF file of the The Cook’s original press kit has been provided as a guide to the original film’s continuity.

For information about other films in this collection, see our The Cook and Other Treasures on home video page.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

Other silent era ROSCOE ARBUCKLE films available on home video.