''Cops'' is a 1922 American two-reel silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

about a young man (

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

) who accidentally gets on the bad side of the entire

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-lar ...

during a parade and is chased all over town. It was written and directed by Edward F. Cline and Keaton.

Background and plot

This very Kafka-esque film was filmed during the rape-and-murder trial of

Fatty Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...

, a circumstance that may have influenced the short's tone of hopeless ensnarement. Even though the central character's intentions are good, he cannot win, no matter how inventively he tries. He gets into various scraps with police officers throughout the film. Eventually, he unwittingly throws a bomb into a police parade and ends up being chased by a horde of cops. At the end of the film, Keaton's character locks up the cops in the police station. However, the girl he is trying to woo 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 A pork pie hat is one of several different styles of hat that have been popular since the mid-19th century. It features a flat crown that resembles a traditional pork pie. Buster Keaton and the 1920s The pork pie began to appear in Britain ...

propped on it. One of Keaton's most iconic and brilliantly-constructed short films, ''Cops'' was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

and selected for preservation in their

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

in 1997.

Cast

as The Young Man * Joe Roberts as Police Chief *

Virginia Fox Virginia Oglesby Zanuck ( Fox; April 19, 1899 or 1902 or 1903 or 1906 – October 14, 1982) was an American actress who starred in many silent films of the 1910s and 1920s. Life and career Fox was born as Virginia Oglesby Fox in Wheeling, West ...

as Mayor's Daughter * Edward F. Cline as Hobo * Steve Murphy as Conman selling furniture (uncredited)

References

External links

*''Cops'' essay by Randy Haberkamp at

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*''Cops'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 81–8

* * *
''Cops''
at the

International Buster Keaton Society The International Buster Keaton Society Inc.— a.k.a. "The Damfinos"—is the official educational organization dedicated to comedy film producer-director-writer-actor-stuntman Buster Keaton. Mission According to the Damfinos, their mission is "t ...

Article at ''InDigest Magazine'' about the film recently being scored by guitarist Steve Kimock
{{Buster Keaton 1922 films 1922 comedy films 1922 short films American silent short films Silent American comedy films American black-and-white films Articles containing video clips First National Pictures films Films directed by Buster Keaton Films directed by Edward F. Cline Films produced by Joseph M. Schenck Films with screenplays by Buster Keaton Surviving American silent films United States National Film Registry films 1920s American films

Background and plot

Cast

See also

References

External links