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The Goat, 1921
A young man (Buster Keaton) is accidentally photographed in place of killer Dead Shot Dan (Malcolm St. Clair), leading to many misunderstandings as he can’t seem to understand why citizens on the street are so spooked by him and the local police are taking an active interest. Along the way, he is pursued by the police chief (Joe Roberts) and strikes up a relationship with a nice young woman (Virginia Fox).
A short run time and a rapid rate of sight gags and stunts makes this an easy, breezy watch.
A lot of comedy films, especially those that rely on physical stunts, can sometimes feel like they are treading water between set-pieces. A real benefit of a shorter runtime is allowing short bits of story development between gags, without feeling like things are being padded out to feature length.
In addition to great pacing, I really appreciated the range of comedy in this one. Simple visual jokes like the events that lead to the young man being captured by the photographer’s camera, silly sight gags like one in which the young man decides to disguise a large wanted poster, and impressive stuntwork including a double-take inducing leap through a small window.
Is there a lot of character work here? Nope. Does anyone even have a name--aside from the murderous Dead Shot Dan? Absolutely not. But with such a simple premise and short run time, that’s not an issue at all.
The only downside, for me, is the way that the film ends. I wasn’t expecting some sort of profound conclusion, but events wrap up in a way that is not only abrupt but also leaves things hanging in a way that actually had me rewinding the film to make sure I hadn’t somehow missed a crucial line of dialogue.
The Goat, 1921
A young man (Buster Keaton) is accidentally photographed in place of killer Dead Shot Dan (Malcolm St. Clair), leading to many misunderstandings as he can’t seem to understand why citizens on the street are so spooked by him and the local police are taking an active interest. Along the way, he is pursued by the police chief (Joe Roberts) and strikes up a relationship with a nice young woman (Virginia Fox).
A short run time and a rapid rate of sight gags and stunts makes this an easy, breezy watch.
A lot of comedy films, especially those that rely on physical stunts, can sometimes feel like they are treading water between set-pieces. A real benefit of a shorter runtime is allowing short bits of story development between gags, without feeling like things are being padded out to feature length.
In addition to great pacing, I really appreciated the range of comedy in this one. Simple visual jokes like the events that lead to the young man being captured by the photographer’s camera, silly sight gags like one in which the young man decides to disguise a large wanted poster, and impressive stuntwork including a double-take inducing leap through a small window.
Is there a lot of character work here? Nope. Does anyone even have a name--aside from the murderous Dead Shot Dan? Absolutely not. But with such a simple premise and short run time, that’s not an issue at all.
The only downside, for me, is the way that the film ends. I wasn’t expecting some sort of profound conclusion, but events wrap up in a way that is not only abrupt but also leaves things hanging in a way that actually had me rewinding the film to make sure I hadn’t somehow missed a crucial line of dialogue.