Cops (1922)

People are voting emotionally.

An Exercise In Nonsense

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Cops (1922) is often considered the greatest of Buster Keaton's short films. I myself prefer The Boat (1921), which I feel is not only his funniest short but also the best suited as an introduction to his work, but this one certainly sits alongside it. It contains two of my favorite qualities about Keaton's work: his stunts and acrobatics, and his dark sense of humor.Cops starts of very slowly. The first ten minutes don't have many laughs, which might put impatient folks off. It mostly sets up Buster's problem and the series of incidents which lead to up the film's iconic chase at the end. And boy is it worth those first ten minutes once the chase begins. It's the largest, most chaotic chase scene he ever put together before the hilarious finale of Seven Chances (1925). It's not only one of the best chase scenes of the silent era, but of all cinema period.The bleakness of the ending is a complete shocker. Buster didn't always get the girl at the end, but there was usually little doubt that he'd get to walk away unharmed by the last intertitle. In this film, Buster is so crushed by the girl's rejection that he gives himself over the enraged legions of cops. The last image is of a tombstone with Buster's signature porkpie hat atop it, the words "the end" carved on the stone.A comedy classic worth checking out.

Lying in bed with a sore throat, I needed some cheering up. Buster Keaton didn't let me down. 'Cops (1922)' is generally typical of the comedian's two-reelers of the early 1920s, though with a lesser emphasis on the ingenious gadgets exhibited in 'One Week (1920)' and 'The High Sign (1921).' The film opens with Keaton apparently looking through prison bars at his sweetheart, until a clarifying shot reveals that it is merely the girl's front gate {Harold Lloyd seized this visual gag for the opening of 'Safety Last! (1923),' but he had a right to it – one scene in Keaton's film, whether unintentionally or not, resembles the manner in which a prop explosion decapitated Lloyd's hand in 1919}. After convincing himself to become a businessman, Keaton's Young Man goes on to show that he has the worst luck in the world. First, he is bamboozled into purchasing another family's furniture (by Steve Murphy, the pickpocket in Chaplin's 'The Circus (1928)'), and then gets caught up in a police parade, where, ever a victim of circumstance, he is wrongly accused of performing an act of terrorism.Keaton loved ending his film's with an overblown chase sequence, whether it be the stampeding cattle in 'Go West (1925)' or the stampeding women in 'Seven Chances (1925).' In 'Cops,' our hero is pursued by hundreds of uniformed policemen, swinging batons and tripping over themselves. Here, Keaton really earns his title as the "Great Stone Face." The chaos and confusion of the pursuit is amusing enough, but even more so is Keaton's extraordinary lack of facial expression – he just runs, staring blankly ahead, like a man who expects his problems to dissipate as soon as he wakes up. Also incredible is the performer's physical dexterity, as he flips back and forth over a tall ladder balanced precariously on either side of a fence. Also watch out for Keaton regular Joe Roberts as the Police Chief, and recurring co-star Virginia Fox in a disappointingly brief role as our hero's love interest. Even an aching throat can't dampen the chuckles in this excellent comedy short. If laughter is, indeed, the best medicine, then I should be better by the morning.

This is a relatively early Keaton short, one of the first where he clearly designed the sight gags.Its a conventional chase setup, with him being chased by hundreds of cops. It starts slowly, and the first half is way below par.But then we move into Keaton territory with some stunts so physically extreme and dangerous its amazing that he survived. We don't yet have any that involve huge machines or buildings, but this is snappy and the pace is perfect once it gets going.I'm not sure whether its perfect because he found the right pace, or because he established it and it seems right.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

This is the first Buster Keaton short I have seen and I must say that I loved it. The first couple of minutes are a little slow but things and people need to be introduced. Once the cops are after Keaton things become great. They are after him because he messes up their police parade. That means it is not just one or two cops, but a couple of hundreds that are after him.Keaton does some great physical stunts. Scenes where he hops on a car or tries to balance on a ladder are great. An amazing short.