The Goat (1921) - Video On Demand

The Goat - Movie Review

The Goat is a 1921 short comedy film written, directed by and starring comedian Buster Keaton. Buster is mistaken for an escaped criminal, Dead Shot Dan, leading to people that aren't chasing him, fleeing from him. Keatons' work as a performer and director is widely regarded to be some of the most innovative and important work in the history of cinema.

This two-reeler is one big chase film -- or, rather, it's two chases in one film. A drifter (Buster Keaton) is already on the run from the cops when he's mistaken for murderer Dead Shot Dan (portrayed, incidentally, by Keaton's co-director Mal St. Clair). Keaton has eluded the previous group of policeman, but he's no match for the ill-tempered, heavyweight detective Joe Roberts who's hot on his trail...or is he? The battle of wits and punishing physical stunts is a pleasure to behold -- Keaton wrings every bit of mirth from props such as an old-fashioned dump truck, an elevator, windows and, of course, the passing train. A delightful, fast-moving film.

This short contains one of Keaton's more memorable images: A shot of a distant, speeding train which approaches the camera, and stops with a close-up of Keaton who has been sitting on the front of the train. Buster Keaton was arguably the cinema's first modernist, an old-fashioned romantic with a 20th-century mind behind a deadpan visage. His films brim with some of the most breathtaking stunts and ingenious gags ever put on film, all perfectly engineered to look effortless.

The Goat - Cast & Crew

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