Review of Cops (1922) by Ken S — 29 Jul 2012

I think that maybe the whole silent era slapstick thing is really starting to grow on me, and it's probably because of this little 18 minute two reeler.

Keaton palys a guy trying to impressive a girl, and does so by trying to become successful in business. Through a convoluted series of events and mix ups, he gets into a lot of trouble, and basically this film is just a really funny version of the classic Hitchcock formula, with a bit of subversion as well.

It's a little bit of a slow start up, but once this gets going, it becomes one mother of a chase movie. It's really clever, and Keaton's growing on me as the comedic master he gets trumped up as being. I think I get it here. His timing was good, and he really knew how to take a simple scenario, ramp it up to all kinds of crazy, and really let loose. That, and the ending is just dynamite, especially given the time for which this was made.

If you can track a copy of this down, see it. It might not be long, but it's definitely a fun watch.