May 15th, 1921 – the day The Goat was released. While a little aimless, with the bare semblance of a plot not really kicking in until the second half, this is still a fun short. It includes some of Buster Keaton’s classic cop gags, right up there with Neighbors and Cops. Here are my favorite gags in the short (spoilers.)
The Traffic Cop
An easy gag, but always a classic. Buster has already gotten on the wrong side of a couple officers of the law, and he uses the old “hide behind the traffic cop” trick to try and evade them, mimicking the cop’s gestures and turns exactly to stay hidden. It only works for so long, but it was nice while it lasted!
Making a Fast Getaway
Iconic. Buster first ducks beneath a parked car in another attempt to hide from the cops that are after him. But when the car starts to pull forward, revealing him, what does an enterprising little fellow do? Why, he grabs a hold of the spare tire and catches a lift, letting the car drag him out of reach of the cops as it drives away!
The Moving Van
I do love me some clever Buster. Still running from the cops, Buster runs into the back of a parked moving van. As the cops follow after him, he climbs through the cab window, fastens it shut, and then hightails it over the top of the van to seal up the back, locking the police inside. The van drives off, but naturally, it comes to a stop a few minutes later right in front of Buster, with the cops tumbling out at his feet.
Man O’War
Oh man, this is a fabulous sight gag. Now in another town and on the run from a different cop (the police chief, no less!), Buster uses another timeless evasion method, posing as if he’s part of a statue. Unfortunately for him, the “Man O’War” horse he’s climbed onto isn’t a finished statue – it’s just the clay model, and the horse soon begins to sag under his weight. With the horse’s clay legs slowly buckling beneath it, the jig is up!
Elevator Chase
What a great climactic sequence. The police chief pursues Buster all through the apartment in a terrific series of escalating stair and elevator gags. We’ve got Buster accidentally stepping into the phone booth instead but pretending it’s an elevator anyway, shimmying down the shaft when the elevator is above him, and luring the police chief into the open shaft, only to have the chief picked up by the rising elevator a moment later. The pièce de résistance hinges on the gag that Buster can control the elevator by moving the arrow on the floor indicator. With the police chief riding the elevator down to him, Buster hammers a nail into the indicator just above the second floor. With the nail blocking the arrow, the elevator can’t get all the way down and the chief is stuck between floors. This whole sequence is packed with circular gags, mechanical gags, and, of course, police chases. In other words, Buster doing what he does best!
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