the audience applauded

Thanks for the memories!

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

it is a puzzle more than a comedy. precise and seductive. gags as rummy pieces, surprising situations, memories from a chain of films who has roots in this short film and fascinating trip in heart of film history. it is not only amusing but a necessary occasion to reflection. because seems be another Chaplin but it remains different. because it is a smart answer to a young art. and, maybe, for the genius of a director - actor for who the humor is essence more than laugh. a common man in strange situation. few nuances of absurd theater and chain of situations who gives special flavor to end. like many Keaton films, The Goat is a gem. precious. and precise.

Saturday, December 12, 7pm The Castro, San Francisco An unlucky young vagrant (Buster Keaton) is mistaken for the notorious fugitive Dead Shot Dan. Chased through city streets by a mob of feckless policemen, he wins the heart of a girl (Virginia Fox) with an act of chivalry along the way.Released in May of 1921, The Goat was the eighth of nineteen silent era comedy shorts starring Buster Keaton and his last distributed by Metro Pictures before moving to First National later that year. Keaton's inveterate use of mistaken identity, absurd coincidence and extreme physicality are all successfully exploited, along with his love of trains. Returning favorites Virginia Fox and Joe Roberts co-star as Buster's romantic interest and an enormous police detective. Scenes of particular note include: a complex gag using mannequins, whose secondary but actual payoff comes later in the film and a stunning feat of acrobatics involving a dining room table, Big Joe and a transom.

Not all, but most of this story is Buster being mistaken for "Dead Shot Dan," a notorious criminal. There really is no story, just a series of adventures to show off Buster's physical talents, which are amazing, and his comedic timing. The 27-minute film is basically one adventure after the other mostly involving someone chasing our hero.Earlier, it's a couple of policemen on their beats racing through the streets after Keaton and later it's "Big Joe" Roberts, a rotund cop - and father a girl Buster is interested in - who chases him. Those latter scenes were the best I thought, with a lot of clever gags involving the hotel elevator where Big Joe and his daughter live. That was Keaton at his best.It's just a madcap half hour that makes little sense, but cares? It's Buster at his slapstick best, or near it, and so it serves its purpose: to entertain us. Just think: 85 years after this film was made there are people (like me) still discovering and enjoying these silent comedy classics! Cool!

Buster Keaton was arguably at his most enjoyable when he did short 20 minute films, and they don't come more rib-ticklingly funny than this gem. The dead pan comic gets involved in a photographic mix-up with a wanted felon. This leads to his elaborate evasion of several street cops and fellow passengers who recognise the his face from the "Wanted" signs. The Goat is choc-a-bloc with brilliant site gags, from the opening scene at the bread queue, right up to the wonderful elevator chase at the end. A Keaton film never feels as though its silence is lacking, as sound is never something you needed with him. His movies explain themselves through the wonderful (yet incredibly dangerous) things he did to himself. It isn't hard to see just how influential he really was - the man is every bit as thoroughly amazing today as he was in 1921.