Cops (film)

Plot

The main character is spurned by his love interest, who wants him to become a businessman. Once he leaves her estate, he ends up acquiring a large amount of money from a businessman's wallet. He uses this money to buy up a comically large amount of furniture and a horse to carry this furniture in a carriage. While moving the furniture around town, he faces a variety of comical issues, such as his horse tiring out and accidentally knocking out a cop with his homemade turn signal. Later, he accidentally joins a police parade. A bomb gets thrown off a rooftop and Keaton's character catches it and unwittingly throws it into the parade. This leads to him being chased by a horde of cops.

At the end of the film, Keaton's character manages to lock all the cops in a police station. However, the girl he tried to woo at the beginning of the film (revealed to be the Mayor's daughter) disapproves of his behavior and gives him the cold shoulder. Therefore, he unlocks the police station and is immediately pulled in by the cops. The film ends with the title "The End" written on a tombstone with Keaton's pork pie hat propped on it.

Cast

• Buster Keaton as The Young Man
• Joe Roberts as Police Chief
• Virginia Fox as Mayor's Daughter
• Edward F. Cline as Hobo
• Steve Murphy as Conman selling furniture (uncredited)

Production

Prior to the film's production, John R. Brinkley, an American quack doctor, had become famous for his xenotransplantation of the testicular glands of goats into humans, claiming his procedure could cure male impotence and enhance virility. Cops references this in a short sequence in which Keaton's character takes his horse to a "goat gland specialist"; when the horse emerges, it has become much faster and more energetic.

During the film's initial release individual states had their own censor boards, which would cut films to meet their state's requirements. Surviving prints of this title bear the Pennsylvania State Board of Censors approval logo; Pennsylvania removed the goat gland sequence, and for decades the footage was missing. Around 1980 a surviving uncut print was located and the sequence was re-inserted into the film. Still, many older prints exist without this sequence restored.

References

References

1. Neibaur, James L., and Terri Niemi (2013). ''Buster Keaton's silent shorts, 1920-1923''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 148. {{ISBN. 081088741X.
2. Oldham, Gabriella (1996). ''Keaton's silent shorts: Beyond the laughter''. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 203. {{ISBN. 0585108064.
3. "New to the National Film Registry (December 1997) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin".
4. "Complete National Film Registry Listing".
5. "Goat Gland Doctor (1986)".