The Goat

Frequent readers of my comments know that I believe movies can change you, can hurt or build. At least I make a pretty good case when it comes to heavy films. There are some very competent ones of these, "good" by many measures... that depending on how you are building yourself should be avoided.

But what about comedy? Shouldn't it just be taken as it comes? Isn't the whole idea about the flow?

Well, I know that some films make me laugh and later feel bad about it. And some amuse in different trivial ways, But when I think of funny, real funny that lasts, its gotta be the Marxes and this guy Keaton.

This humor is physical, but instead of pain, it is based on the unexpected. Cinematic surprise. And this movie, to my mind is one of his best because he relies less on his sad character and more on the movement of the thing.

Was this the first filmmaker who mastered it all, writing, directing, editing, acting?

The thing about this is how it builds and builds. The pacing of the episodes, for sure. That doesn't seem so remarkable today. But the pacing of the stunts within that framework is remarkable in how the energy is compounded: setup, burst and faster and faster with the trigger.

Its really something to see. And at the end, after you've seen it the first time and been surprised — and laughed, then you can wonder whether comedy can be as powerful as the other film experiences. Maybe so.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

'The Goat' is the one with the shot of a train coming right at the camera, and stopping just as it reaches the viewer with Buster sitting there on the cowcatcher, which is simply marvelous (it's at about the 9:05 point). He's running from the police because he accidentally hit one with a horseshoe (fleeing from just three of them here, unlike the horde in the following year's film, Cops), and he's running from a guy trying to collect a reward, having been mistaken for the notorious killer 'Dead Shot Dan.'

There are lots of clever moments here, including Buster being dragged on his belly by a car, ingeniously catching three cops in the back of a truck, hiding behind a burly traffic cop by standing behind him and making the same arm motions, and hopping on a table and leapfrogging over a guy's head to dive through a transom window. He shows his prowess with trains, something we'd certainly see later in his career, by climbing to the roof of one as it chugs along and unhooking the car containing the police. He jumps into what he thinks is the spare tire of a car about to drive off, thinking he will make his getaway, only to find it's part of sign advertising Vulcanizing. My favorite bit was at the end though, with the chase up and down the stairs and the elevator manipulation - Buster controls it by climbing up and moving the dial saying what floor it's on, you see.

Keaton's extraordinary physical comedy was highly influential to cartoonists like Chuck Jones and comedians like Lucille Ball among countless others, and it's very easy to see that in this film. It may not have his very best material, but the pace is great and there is quite of variety, making it a lot of fun. The title seems to be short for 'scapegoat' since that's what the character ends up being, but I like to think of it as The GOAT, the Greatest of All Time, because that's what Keaton surely is.

I hardly know where to begin in writing about this gem, except to say that it represents young Buster Keaton at the peak of his powers and must certainly rank with the half-dozen best short comedies ever made. The Goat is twenty minutes of smoothly paced, expertly photographed, beautifully executed gags; two reels of non-stop comic invention driven by an intense undercurrent of paranoia and yet somehow leading to a happy ending -- which wasn't always the way with Buster's short comedies. (See Cops for one case where Fatalism ultimately got the better of him, or One Week for the victory of Defeatism.) If I had to describe the tone of this film in one word I'd call it "effortless," but if I were permitted a qualifier I'd call it "seemingly effortless," for surely a lot of hard labor goes into the making of any comic opus that unfolds with such sublime ease. Still, they didn't call him the Great Stone Face for nothing: Buster never let the public see him sweat.

A sardonic title card tells us that our opening sequence is set "along Millionaires' Row," i.e. on a bread line in a grim urban setting, where Buster waits patiently at the back of the line and, as a result, doesn't get fed. But it needs to be emphasized that not for one moment does he play for pathos; Buster has our sympathy, but he never asks for it. Before long, through a series of accidents, coincidences and absurd misunderstandings, Buster is believed to be an escaped killer named Dead Shot Dan and is being pursued by every cop for miles around, and yet while he's clearly dismayed by this turn of events there is never a hint of self-pity or even surprise. We get the sense he always knew that this is what life would have in store for him, and that he hasn't time to feel sorry for himself anyway, as he has to figure out new ways to dodge all those cops and escape from the latest trap.

Just as Buster refrains from playing for sympathy he never seems to strain for laughs either, which is especially impressive because The Goat must be one of the most laugh-packed short comedies in existence. This is the film containing that iconic shot of Buster riding a train's cow-catcher right up to the very lens of the camera, which isn't a gag exactly but sure is laugh-provoking in its own strange way. Meanwhile, there are bits involving guns, dogs, cops, an incredibly furry mustache, and a clay statue of a horse that melts under Buster's weight (a surreal sight indeed), but some of the biggest boffos are saved for the finale when Buster is trying to elude his primary nemesis, Big Joe Roberts, a rotund cop who also happens to be the father of leading lady Virginia Fox. Trapped in Big Joe's dining room, Buster leap-frogs over him and sails through a transom, turns a phone-booth into an elevator and pretends to disappear, and eventually uses the elevator itself to rid himself of his pursuer and win the girl in time for one last fade-out gag.

To say more would be a disservice to first-time viewers. I only wish I could see this film in a theater full of people who'd never seen it before, and float on the laughter. Live musical accompaniment would be nice too; and incidentally the musical score supplied by Kino for their home video/DVD version of The Goat is first-rate, serving as icing on an already tasty cake.

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!

The comments on this page attesting to the genius of this film are all on target. After more than eighty years, it's still fresh; last year's Hollywood comedies are stale by comparison. I was lucky enough to see this screened at Webster University with a live, contemporary soundtrack performed by the After Quartet. Not only did these guys do a first rate job, but it made me realize how liberating it is for the classics of silent film to be performed without a hokey, melodramatic "style pianola" soundtrack.