It was a triple feature of Sherlock Jr./One Week/Seven Chances, with live piano accompaniment on the features. 

I had never seen Buster on the big screen, so even the idea of it was thrilling. All films were in 35mm, and were the Raymond Rohauer prints, which (I believe) are the versions usually shown theatrically, although this may be different for international Keaton fans. Australia, can you confirm?

So, not only was the experience different because of the inherent quality of 35mm and live music, but the versions were all different from the Kino DVD releases, which are the versions with which I’m most familiar. 

A couple differences:

• This shot is missing from One Week, which is a real shame because it’s one of my favorite moments in the short. I believe the Rohauer print only has a quick shot of Buster and Sybil Seely sitting the rain but then cuts to the couple back on their feet, surveying the damage of the storm.
• Seven Chances opens with a very richly salmon-tinted prologue (the intertitles and Buster failing to propose to Mary through the changing of the seasons), then the rest of the film is in standard black and white. The Kino version is entirely in sepia.
• Sherlock Jr. was pretty much the same as I remember it. Perfect as always, but exceedingly clear and crisp. Those close-ups! 

The films played pretty well with an almost-full house. Hearing the young, jaded kids behind me giggle in amazement as Buster was chased by hundreds of boulders and thousands of women made my shriveled little heart grow three sizes. Stars in my eyes.

Tomorrow night: The General/Go West!

Film blogger and reviewer extraordinaire Tim Brayton’s article on Sherlock Jr. (a couple years old). A familiar analytical angle, but he cites some evidence I never thought of before and casts the whole picture in a slightly new light. Very insightful and well-written.