The Cameraman is a 1928 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Edward Sedgwick and an uncredited Buster Keaton.

[5] Buster, a sidewalk tintype portrait photographer in New York City, develops a crush on Sally, a secretary who works for MGM Newsreels.

To be near her, he purchases an old film camera, emptying his bank account, and attempts to get a job as one of MGM's cameramen.

Later, Harold offers Sally a ride home, while Buster has to sit in the rumble seat, where he gets drenched in the rain.

The next day, Sally gives him a hot tip she has just received that something big is going to happen in Chinatown.

In Chinatown, Buster films the outbreak of a Tong War, narrowly escaping death on several occasions.

At the end, he is rescued from Tong members by the timely arrival of the police, led by a cop who had been the unintentional victim of several of Buster's antics over the last few days.

Returning to MGM, Buster and the newsreel company's boss are dismayed to find that he apparently forgot to load film into his camera.

When Buster rushes to a drug store to get medical supplies to revive her, Harold returns and takes credit for the rescue.

[9] The deal required 2 films per year from Keaton and paid him $3,000 a week, making him the third highest-paid actor at the studio.

MGM writing department used the film to train new writers as a "perfectly constructed comedy" for decades,[13] even wearing out their print.

[16] Critic Mordaunt Hall, writing for The New York Times, liked the film and the work of Buster Keaton.

He said, "Mr. Keaton's latest effort is The Cameraman, which is filled with guffaws and grins, the sort of thing with many original and adroitly worked-out gags.