The 'High Sign'
1921 Directed by Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton
Synopsis
Buster is thrown off a train near an amusement park. There he gets a job in a shooting gallery run by the Blinking Buzzards mob. Ordered to kill a businessman, he winds up protecting the man and his daughter by outfitting their home with trick devices.
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I'm totally going to do the Buzzard Secret Sign to everyone I meet from now on, just a perfect running gag.
The technical and acrobatic virtuosity on display is, as always, just outstanding.
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Not sure that it gets much better than this Buster Keaton short about a lovably hapless hero (guess who) who ends up entangled in a highly dangerous gang of criminals.
Most of the Keaton signatures are here, including some great physical gags especially in the climax which features Buster giving chase to a bunch of hoodlums in a giant house set with loads of trap doors and secret passageways. There's also some casual surrealism as when Buster paints himself a hook to hang his hat on, or a smoking pipe.
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Probably my favorite Keaton short, along with One Week.
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One of Keaton most powerful stunt!
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I'm totally going to do the Buzzard Secret Sign to everyone I meet from now on, just a perfect running gag.
The technical and acrobatic virtuosity on display is, as always, just outstanding.
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Buster manages to get a job as a bodyguard (no less) after a convincing performance at a shoot-out gallery. Unfortunately he also ends up together with a bunch of culprits who wants him to kill the same man he's supposed to look after. A promising plot, alas, the film is only good but not much more.
PS After twelve films with Arbuckle and Keaton together, this is the first that stars only Keaton.
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This certainly has to be one of Keaton's most purely entertaining and enjoyable shorts. It is wildly clever in both execution and concept, and truly funny. I loved everything about this short, but I was particularly impressed with the cutaway-house set, including its many trap doors and secret hideouts, which is put to brilliant use. This is a raucous 20 minutes that does not disappoint.
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Not his best.
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Not sure that it gets much better than this Buster Keaton short about a lovably hapless hero (guess who) who ends up entangled in a highly dangerous gang of criminals.
Most of the Keaton signatures are here, including some great physical gags especially in the climax which features Buster giving chase to a bunch of hoodlums in a giant house set with loads of trap doors and secret passageways. There's also some casual surrealism as when Buster paints himself a hook to hang his hat on, or a smoking pipe.
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Raucously funny slapstick, as Buster pretends to be a good shot with a gun to secure employment, then runs afoul of a secret society.
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Interesting Buster Keaton short starts off normally but concludes with a fantastic set piece involving trapdoors and exitways in a huge mansion that I had to watch twice to comprehend. A little off in parts but genius in the end.