Go West (1925)

Director:

Buster Keaton

Writers:

Buster Keaton (story)
Lex Neal (story)

Release Date:

1 November 1925 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Plot:

A young man who doesn't find a job in his small hometown, tries his luck in New York, but is overwelmed by the life of the city...

Plot Keywords:

Train

Cast

Buster Keaton	...	Friendless
Howard Truesdale	...	Ranch owner
Kathleen Myers	...	Ranch owner's daughter
Ray Thompson	...	Ranch foreman
Brown Eyes	...	The Cow 'Brown Eyes'

Runtime:

69 min | Spain:65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 | Argentina:Atp | USA:Passed | UK:U | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Coca-Cola Bldg. - 963 E. 4th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Buster Keaton Productions

Quotes:

[first lines]
General store owner: [to Friendless] I'll give you a dollar sixty five for the whole business.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Apocalypse Cow (#19.17)" (2008)

Buster And His Bovine - Not A Bad Film

No, as most critics have said, this isn't one of Buster Keaton's better feature films, but it's not bad and surely it is better than what you might have read in some critic's book. It has its moments and is a bit different in way, if you consider a man and cow falling in love with each other! (This should be a "cult classic!")

Buster heeds the advice, "Go West, Young Man, Go West," and winds up out in the middle of nowhere after crawling inside a barrel and then the barrel falling out of a train.

He winds up taking discarded cowboy clothes and trying his hand at that profession but, of course, has no clue even how to ride a horse. His only accomplishment is taking a stone out of a cow's hoof. The cow is so grateful, it follows Buster around the rest of the movie and the two become quite attached.

After some low-key attempts at several projects, Buster winds up - I am really condensing this - back on a train with the cattle hoping to be sold so that the almost-destitute boss can get enough money to save his ranch. The train is robbed, the cattle derailed and the herd winds up in the middle of a big city!

That's the real fun part of the film, as it is in so many silent comedies. The adventures of seeing a herd of cattle going down the main city streets and then into barbershops, Turkish baths, Ladies Department Stores, etc., is very funny.

The ending was very clever and final punch-line not what the viewers anticipate. All in all, not a lot of laugh-out-loud scenes but a decent Keaton silent film and definitely worth a watch. I am glad most of the reviewers here appreciated this movie.