COMEDIAN is the fascinating documentary that looks behind-the-scenes at the lives of comedians.

A "two-plus-one" package from Siren, Comedy Greats features classics from the two greatest silent-screen comics, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, plus a rather dreary effort from Danny Kaye. Never the most scintillating of comedians, Kaye's personable talents are thinly spread in 1949's The Inspector General. Distantly(!) based on a short story by Russian satirist Nikolay Gogol, this tale of mistaken identity enables Kaye to indulge in obvious wisecracks and not-so-smart dialogue. Sylvia Fine's songs are mildly amusing, and Henry Koster draws capable support from Walter Slezak and Elsa Lanchester, but it's a long haul.

When he made Tilli's Punctured Romance in 1914, Charles Chaplin had yet to perfect the "little man" routine which made him the most popular 1920s screen star. His loveable rogue is well displayed opposite Marie Dressler's formidable country maid, whose unexpected windfall becomes the real object of his desire. Mabel Normand contributes an attractively period chic, and if, in the hands of Mack Sennett, the humour tends to fall back on music-hall slapstick, the historical significance of the film is undoubted.

Yet it's Buster Keaton's 1928 classic Steamboat Bill Jr which comes out on top here. Keaton is perfectly cast as the put upon student, whose bravery saves both his father and his steamboat-owning rival, and wins the hand of the latter's daughter. Solid support comes from Ernest Torrence and the winsome Marion Byron, with Charles Riesner getting maximum drama from the cyclone sequence, but it's Keaton's soulful expression and breathtaking stuntwork which are the most potent reminders of a talent only later to receive its due.

On the DVD: Comedy Greats is acceptably remastered, with 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 12 chapter headings per film, and decently packaged, this is worth acquiring--even though Keaton's film is the only one you're likely return to often. --Richard Whitehouse

Yes, they were originally Comic Book Heroes, although The Lone Ranger and Zorro's Black Whip are probably best remembered as the 1949 TV series and the 1944 Republic cinema serial respectively. This excellent three-disc set gives us the first three episodes of the former and the entire 12 episodes of the latter.

The origin of the Lone Ranger is quite an extraordinary tale by any standards, let alone those of the fizzy blandness of 1940s American TV: originally one of the Texas Rangers, recruited to act as a mobile police force during the lawless days of the West, his entire patrol is massacred and he himself is left for dead, prompting him to become the masked vigilante of the title. The stark brutality of this event is depicted in chilling, slow-paced detail in the first episode, the distinctive voice-over narrative adding a dream-like detachment to the proceedings.

Zorro's Black Whip, though slicker, is also innovative in that the main protagonist is female. The sister of a crusading newspaper editor who moonlights as the Black Whip, another masked righter of wrongs, she takes over both his day job and his crime-fighting role when he is murdered. Conveniently, she's a descendant of the legendary Zorro himself, with whip-wielding skills seemingly in her genes. But does this stuff stand up after all these years? In short, absolutely; this is first-rate period entertainment and as such is self-recommending.

On the DVD: Comic Book Heroes has been transferred in its original 1.33:1 ratio and has been lovingly remastered--never has old monochrome footage glowed so richly. There are no subtitles or other extra features, though. --Roger Thomas