Length: 44 minutes
Director: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Buster Keaton
Cast: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly, Ward Crane
Eric's Impressions: It was fun watching Keaton films back-to-back and this one is my new favorite slightly over "The General." Keaton brilliantly mixes reality with illusion and the comedic timing has the viewer in stitches throughout. I love the entire "mimic the criminal" gag and I can't imagine just what went into the filming of the motorcycle handlebar ride. Knowing how much of a perfectionist Keaton was, the only conclusion is that the whole thing took a ton of time to get just right. Only 44 minutes long, the film never misses a beat and the influence it has had on future filmmakers can't be denied.
Natalie's Impressions: This short little film is probably my favorite of the Keaton films that I have seen. A few months ago I saw Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, before watching Keaton's film that was ostensibly the inspiration for Allen's film. I remember being so impressed with what I thought was the originality of Cairo's plot but now that I have seen Keaton's film, which was one of the first films to play with the idea of the illusion of reality in film mixing with real life, I have a new appreciation for Keaton's influence on generations of film makers.
COUNTDOWN: Just 986 movies to go!
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