Well I remember reading something similar, but here's the story behind that. When a new movie comes out from a director (just as an album for a performer), they almost invariably say it's their best work yet. This quote could have been made by Keaton at the time, which would explain it. I certainly agree that it's not his best, but I don't think it's a particularly bad film, certainly beats Harold Lloyd's boxing movie The Milky Way. BTW I wonder if Lloyd is going to start getting more credit now that his films are available on DVD for the first time.