User reviews

Buster Keaton is walking past a jail when he grabs the bars and peers inside. On the other side of the bars is notorious murderer "Dead Shot Dan" who is being photographed. Seeing that Keaton is behind him, Dan ducks out of shot and once he escapes, a photo of Keaton, seemly behind bars is published. As a result of this Keaton is forced to go on the run from various police officers including a persistent Police Chief who just won't give up.

I watch a lot of Silent Comedy but if I had to ask someone to watch just one short silent picture it may well be this one. The Goat is packed full of wonderful jokes, ingenious set ups and incredible stunt work. I laughed more at twenty seven minutes of this film than I have during probably every comedy I've seen so far this year combined.

What makes this film so great is the sheer quantity and quality of gags. While essentially a chase comedy, this is to the Keystone Cops what BBC4 is to ITV2. Sure they have similarities, but one is far more sophisticated that the other. Keaton seems to find endless possibilities in places to hide and ways of escape, only to have them backfire on him. The way that the gags join together feels effortless. Nothing about the film feels forced despite the huge number of jokes and stunts. Keaton never creates a tenuous link from one to another, the whole film feels smooth and calculated while remaining frantic and fast paced.

As well as being incredibly funny, this is also quite surreal in places, in keeping with Keaton's cannon. Some of the more surreal moments include a clay horse melting under Keaton's weight and perhaps one of Keaton's most famous scenes in which a train approaches from the distance and stops immediately in front of the camera showing Keaton, stone faced, riding the cow catcher. This isn't really played for laughs but you laugh at the audacity of the shot. Perhaps the most surreal scene involves an elevator chase in which Keaton and the Police Chief (Joe Roberts) are involved in a chase through an apartment block. Keaton manipulates the mechanical elevator floor indicator to his advantage (even though this wouldn't really effect where the elevator was) and by pulling it hard and past the top floor Keaton forces the elevator out of the roof. The scene is like a cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and something Terry Gilliam would produce. It's a wonderfully clever and funny scene.

Something else that stands out, as with any Keaton picture, is the star's athleticism and gymnastic abilities. It sometimes seems as though Keaton is made of rubber as he jumps, falls, stretches and squeezes with ease both in and out of trouble. Keaton, who once broke his neck during a film (and didn't realise until years later when he had an x-ray) was never afraid to put himself in harms way and that is certainly true here. In The Goat he can be seen jumping through windows and off vehicles, sliding down elevator shafts and falling of a variety of apparatus. During all of this his expression never changes.

To call The Goat a masterpiece would be no exaggeration. It is easily amongst the greatest silent shorts of the 1920s and amongst Keaton's best work. The humour, timing and plot don't feel out of place today. It's the sort of film that you'll be afraid to look away from for just a second or two in case you miss a gag or glance. This is comedic perfection.

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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!

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.

A simple contrivance--the Great Stone Face is mistaken for an escaped mass murderer--gives Buster Keaton room for changes rung on a theme that will make your jaw hang. The amazing thing here is the protean story invention--Keaton uses an offhand set-up to generate every kind of reversed-expectation gag. He shortens, elongates, and crash-dives out of left field every expected joke. The astonishment here is the surrealist freeness with storytelling, not just the masterly composition and choreography. THE GOAT feels as gaily, cartwheelingly modern as UN CHIEN ANDALOU. And more than even some revered Keaton features, it's a masterpiece of invention.

Along with Cops, The Goat is one of Keaton's two funniest shorts. Which makes it one of the best shorts ever made. This has an decent "plot" for a short, and it forms a perfect line on which to hang some great gags. Keaton is mistaken for an escaped convict (how the mistake happens is a classic) and then must elude the authorities. Best gags - the bread line and t he "elevator".

When Buster Keaton was in his prime, during the silent film period, there was nobody back then, when it came to comedy, more daring in terms of the jaw-dropping stunt-work, or who was able to make deadpan funny and expressive, and actually it is still like that now. Keaton wasn't nicknamed "The Great Stone Face" for nothing, and he took risks with the stunt work and physical comedy and was not afraid to do anything bold. It was a shame though that he didn't transition as well into sound and his films just weren't the same.

'The Goat' is one of his best and funniest short films, to me, mistaken identity has seldom been more wild and it is one of the most imaginative and funniest examples of it. If one wants to do anything acting-wise or story-wise concerning mistaken identity and want a model example to look to as inspiration while of course not duplicating, look no further than 'The Goat'. As far as Keaton's work goes, it's one of the quintessentials and personally would recommend it whole-heartedly to anybody and everybody.

It looks good, not a technical achievement or with the resources to be so but it hardly looks cheap, for a silent short film. The photography is pleasing to look at.

As said, 'The Goat' is one of his funniest short films. There is a lot of comedy, all physical, and it never feels too much. Luckily they are beautifully timed and are hilarious, with the elevator scene being classic Keaton. Some comedies, even the good ones (and too many of them regrettably these days are not), have at least one gag that doesn't work, but all the gags in 'The Goat' work (wonderfully too), remarkable too for so many.

Not just gags here in 'The Goat'. There are a lot of chase sequences too, and 'The Goat' is one of the best examples of how to make chase sequences inventive and never repetitive. There is some remarkably imaginative work here that one wouldn't believe possible, work that hasn't been equalled since and not to be tried at home. That stops it from being repetitive and it never feels like the same thing over and over again, on a side not that is also one of the dangers of running gags (Keaton had examples of running gags in his work and they seldom fell into that trap).

Keaton's stunt work is as ever impeccable and very daring, again in a way that has not been matched let alone bettered since. Loved the freedom and sometimes wonderful strangeness of the story and despite it being slight it didn't feel dull in any way, down mainly to a lot going on.

Pitch perfect too is Keaton's performance. Not only is his comic timing on point but he once again provides a character that's endearing and worth rooting for. His physicality and how he copes with the stunts is awe-inspiring and he is one of not many to make deadpan interesting and entertaining because he still makes it very expressive and nuanced.

Summing up, outstanding. 10/10

Some years ago I've watched most of Buster Keaton's shorts that turn centennial this year and I didn't like many of them that much. Surely they were the product of its time and Buster was just having fun with that new thing called "motion pictures" and was yet to find his own style but some of the movies I did like and one of those was "The goat" but I guess it didn't grow on me that much as I, having rewatched it now, couldn't find that something that made me fall in love with it on the first watch.

This is a generic story with only a few new tricks up on its sleeve like the first-person camera angle, the speeding of a train towards camera, and a scene with an elevator (where I believe special effects were used) but overall this movie is stitched together of scenes that are randomly telling one, not very cohesive or exciting story but fun to watch for sure.

Buster is down on his luck again with misfortunes closing in on him and on top of everything he gets mistaken for a criminal. It could've been more fun to watch though if the story at least wrapped up by the end of the movie but it didn't happen.

As always Buster does some incredible stunts and action never stops following the main protagonist but I wasn't empathetic towards him one bit while watching because of how incredibly lifeless his character and the whole movie truly is. It's good to revisit movies you liked once to see how they're holding up in realms of your "now" persona and "The goat" failed. Sure it won't be the last.

'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.

This is an extremely funny short feature, filled with good material and executed with perfect timing. It's a fine display of Buster Keaton's comic skill, and it's also an enjoyable example of the way his characters stoically and resourcefully face the most bizarre and unexpected of developments.

The story starts with a silly mix-up (in a very clever scene that is also nicely executed) that sees Buster mistaken for notorious criminal 'Dead Shot Dan'. From then on, it is non-stop chases, stunts, and general chaos.

It's all inspired silliness, with Keaton's creativity and sense of the absurd both in full force. If you enjoy Keaton's comedies, you should love "The Goat". In fact, you have to watch it more than once to catch all of the good material, and it's just as funny the second (or third) time through.

This is one you can watch over and over and laugh just as much each time. We have been on a Keaton fest around here after purchasing some of his films. In this one Buster is mistaken for an escaped murderer and there are lots of chase scenes and crazy scenes but also what is best about Buster - his creativity. The opening scene is really funny and it just keeps going from there.

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.

'The Goat' must be one of the best Buster Keaton shorts. The film screws up the pace into exhilarating heights and I keep being amazed how easy Buster can make all his stunts seem. 'The Goat' features one inventive gag after another, and although some of them look so simple (going into phone boot and pretending it to be an elevator) yet genius.

Definitely must see Buster Keaton short for everyone.

The turning point of Buster Keaton's on-screen sophistication, however, has been pointed to May 1921's "The Goat." In it, the comedian plays a poor smuck who seemingly gets out of jams, only to find himself in further ones. The constant barrage of improbable situations finds himself in was new to Keaton.

One of the more iconic images of Keaton which he creates in "The Goat," personifying his character perfectly is when he escapes on a train. The sequence shows a speeding train heading straight for the camera, only to find Keaton sitting in front. The train suddenly stops for a close-up of Keaton staring straight into the stationary camera. It's a portrait of the comedian which still endures today.

A youthfully naive Buster Keaton stumbles straight into trouble once again; mistaken for an escaped murderer and instantly feared by the general public, he's pursued by several well-intentioned (but functionally inept) pavement pounding police officers. This proves to be as good an excuse as any to embark upon his usual manner of clever, resourceful physical tomfoolery; persistently dodging consequence through sheer chance and/or ingenuity.

His act has often been guilty of bordering on cartoon absurdity - manipulating an elevator's floor indicator to send the whole thing through the roof, for example - but such moments of carefree indulgence are normally balanced by more a grounded human counter-balance. Less so in this case. Despite a number of frantic chase scenes, chaotic and entertaining though they may be, The Goat relies too much on the silly slapstick stuff and doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from Keaton's better-recognized films. It's light and silly, smoothly paced, but I didn't find much to really dig my teeth into.

Having missed out on the bread line, Buster accidentally gets his photograph taken by mistake by a man taking a photo of notorious criminal Dead Shot Dan. When Dan escapes, Buster finds himself mistakenly identified as the dangerous wanted man and even when he flees the police to another town, wanted posters are already ahead of him and he finds his troubles are only beginning.

BBC4 has just started a series with Paul Merton on silent comedy heroes and his first subject was Buster Keaton. The programme itself was an interesting mix of clips but the real gold was in the fact that it brought this short film in its entirety to primetime television (albeit on a small digital channel). The short opens with an unlikely setup but quickly gets past it by virtue of the sheer quality inherent in the comedy rather than the story-telling, which, being honest, is what we've come here for. True to form the comedy is creative and slightly surreal with a great mix of slapstick and wit. I found myself laughing out loud even though I wasn't really in the mood for comedy (I was more in the mood for Solaris, which I watched later the same evening).

Keaton is on great form and does so much while keeping a straight face; those who dismiss his performances as just falling down simply have no idea what they are talking about and I wish them well as they watch their next crude teen comedy at their multiplex. His support cast are good in regards their physical performances but some of them really overdo their face movements – not so much on the double takes (which need impact) but more on the other aspects where they appear hammy. Of course playing opposite Keaton even Mount Rushmore could be accused of overdoing the facial movements, such is his way.

Overall a great little short with an unlikely plot that is more than covered up by a hilarious and inspired onslaught of physical comedy delivered with skill, imagination and wit.

The passage of time, and changing tastes, ensures that we get to see little of Buster Keaton's output from over a century ago. It's hard to imagine how audience's of the time enjoyed these shorts but one aspect remains true: "The Goat" is as fresh now as the day it was filmed.

The story, such as it is, revolves around the downbeat but unflappable Keaton getting mistakenly identified as a murderer leading to a sequence of scrapes involving cops on the beat. As the net draws ever tighter the pace lifts, and lifts again, but it never feels forced. In fact the gags flow like butter.

In some respects this is a bit of a showreel for the phlegmatic Keaton. His face betrays no effort as he leaps, slides, hides and evades his way through each scene. His timing is absolutely perfect and while multiple takes clearly help you've got to be a professional to do each scene again and again until it's just right.

I've not idea why this short was called "The Goat" and it probably isn't the GOAT but your time will not be wasted viewing this mini-masterpiece.

Mistaken for a notorious criminal Buster Keaton takes it on the lamb in The Goat. With the cops in close pursuit the heat is on from start to finish and Keaton keeps things moving at a brisk pace throughout by coupling scenes in a smooth transitional flow.

We first encounter Buster in a breadline where he is stymied by a couple of mannequins. From there our curious flaneur manages to get his mug on a wanted poster and the attention of the local force including the police chief whose daughter he picks up along the way.

Keaton's clever antics include scenes with an elevator, a clay sculpture monument and a magnificent entrance on one of his favorite go to props, a locomotive. With exteriors shot outside on city streets the film has a more panoramic look than a two set studio short allowing Keaton more freedom to create his material and stretch the chase without ever breaking rhythm. Definitely one of his best shorts.

A BUSTER KEATON Silent Short.

Poor Buster becomes THE GOAT ("scapegoat") for a dangerous escaped murderer.

This is a wonderful, hilarious little film with Keaton at his absolute best. In what is essentially a series of chases, Buster gets to exercise his endlessly inventive imagination. Big Joe Roberts appears as the highly suspicious police chief.

Born into a family of Vaudevillian acrobats, Buster Keaton (1895-1966) mastered physical comedy at a very early age. An association with Fatty Arbuckle led to a series of highly imaginative short subjects and classic, silent feature-length films - all from 1920 to 1928. Writer, director, star & stuntman - Buster could do it all and his intuitive genius gave him almost miraculous knowledge as to the intricacies of film making and of what it took to please an audience. More akin to Fairbanks than Chaplin, Buster's films were full of splendid adventure, exciting derring-do and the most dangerous physical stunts imaginable. His theme of a little man against the world, who triumphs through bravery & ingenuity, dominates his films. Through every calamity & disaster, Buster remained the Great Stone Face, a stoic survivor in a universe gone mad.

In the late 1920's Buster was betrayed by his manager/brother-in-law and his contract was sold to MGM, which proceeded to nearly destroy his career. Teamed initially with Jimmy Durante and eventually allowed small roles in mediocre comedies, Buster was for 35 years consistently given work far beneath his talent. Finally, before lung cancer took him at age 70, he had the satisfaction of knowing that his classic films were being rediscovered. Now, well past his centenary, Buster Keaton is routinely recognized & appreciated as one of cinema's true authentic geniuses. And he knew how to make people laugh...

The Goat (1921) : Brief Review -

The One Man Show by Buster Keaton to prove that he's THE GOAT of Comedies. Another film, another classic and another legendary comedic proportions by Keaton. How many times i have to say this and how many times Keaton proved it that he's THE GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of Comedies. The Goat is the one man show from start to the end and every frame is blowed by Buster Keaton's legendary acts. A series of adventures begins when an accident during photographing causes Buster to be mistaken for Dead Shot Dan, the local bad guy. The cat and mouse game begins and never halts anywhere. It runs on a riot mode. Actually, it's storyless and characterless film, not a single character in the film has a name exceot for one pet name- Dead Shot Dan. And still it makeses everything look so familiar from the beginning till the end. You know i kinda had feeling of watching Tom & Jerry show with human characters. That chasing is all over the film, actual there is nothing else than the chase in the film. Only characters shuffle but the chasing continues. Buster Keaton as the leading actor rides the entire film on his own shoulders alone. There is nothing to do for other characters but to just support him to get going and then he gets going never to stop. From that cops chasing scene on road to that man chasing scene in the building, Keaton just explodes like a bomb. He bursts all the colours of his comic talent and we just can't help going gaga to over his firecrackers festival. The Goat is wrapped in just 23 minutes but what a solid content it provides, i mean more than many hours long feature films. What to say more, let me conclude it in short, The Goat is a Classic piece of Adventurous Comedy with early effects of sensational comedy situations. A must watch for every Buster Keaton Fan and hater to salute THE GOAT!

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

The Goat tells the story of a poor man who got mistaken for a killer. After a series of convoluted situation while trying to run away from the police, he is forced to face his final boss: his girl's dad, the Police chief, before able to runaway with her.

This has the hallmarks of his great film, outstanding staging, witty visual gags, and a simple love story to wrap the story up AND without some of the questionable stuff that other Keaton film has. AND Even for an early Keaton short, you could clearly see how geometry is important in a Keaton Comedy is.

Phenomenal Keaton. Highly recommended.