Will Buster Keaton ever catch a break?. . . well, let’s be honest, by the end of the film, things usually work out alright. But, as The Great Stoneface hops, skips and jumps his way through a bevy of ever complicated (and might I add, intricately plotted) obstacles – no matter what movie, luck never seems to come his way. Case in point, 1921’s two reel short, The Goat – which has nothing to do with an animal.
Opening with a clever gag in which Keaton, (playing a famished, unlucky man monikered The Goat), is seen heading to the back of a bread line. . . misfortune reveals that the last three men in the procession are not actually men at all – they are mannequins showing off clothing for a store, hence, the never moving lineup.
In reality, nothing is as it seems, as Keaton plays with our perspective, and we all know that perception can be a fickle thing indeed. Much like the mannequins mentioned above, The Goat soon finds himself accidentally photographed as a murderer with the nickname ‘Dead Shot’ Dan (it has often been rumoured that this is Malcolm St. Clair – the co-writer and co-director of the short, though it just seems to be wishful thinking), a killer with all the fortune that should be with our hero.
A combination of chases drive the picture, for cop after cop find fault with the diminutive Goat. . . perhaps it is because he originally kicked a horse shoe (that sat on the sidewalk) aside, in any case, if the man didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all. Despite his masterful movement, The Goat just can’t shake the cops – Keaton’s combination of jumps and falls, combined with cheeky optical trickery, makes for some awe-inspiring gags. . . as each seemingly surefire escape (hiding in a spare tire that adorns the rear of a luxury automobile, or hopping aboard a departing train) has a loophole that is not immediately visible to the eye.
The Goat is twenty-three minutes of nearly non-stop action, which, cleverly along the way, finds the time to build a quasi-plot revolving around the escaped Dead Shot, a persistent Police Chief (behemoth Joe Roberts – a regular in Keaton films, wonderful at playing characters that hit the roof), and a pretty young love interest (Virginia Fox – who married Darryl F. Zanuck), it all leading to a nice twisty ending. The final mini-chase revolves around an elevator, a perfect snippet of everything Keaton was known for – flawless movement, visual trickery, an epic battle reminiscent of David and Goliath, and sharp gags.
A spectacle for the eyes, wide-eyed viewers will watch Keaton get dragged by a car, climb a truck, board a moving train, and make each complicated fall (sometimes from quite a height) look utterly easy. Though he did get injured while filming The Goat, he was back three days later ready to get to work. Almost like a Looney Tunes cartoon, it is often hard to believe what you see (the closing jokes especially find themselves outside the realm of reality), though that is the magic of Keaton (like Chaplin and Lloyd), and, when it comes down to it, we know that what the man does onscreen is mind-bogglingly real, despite its often absurd nature. Another tidbit that must be mentioned is that this is the film where Keaton is seen sitting aboard the cow catcher at the front of a train as it pulls up to the still camera (some think that this is a sequence from The General). So, enjoy Keaton as he plays the goat, he nails every joke as he cranks the dial to laughter.