Go West (1925)

With little luck at keeping a job in the city a New Yorker tries work in the country and eventually finds his way leading a herd of cattle to the West Coast.

Director:

Buster Keaton

Writers:

Buster Keaton, Lex Neal (assistant writer)

Stars:

Buster Keaton, Howard Truesdale, Kathleen Myers

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Howard Truesdale	...	Owner of the Diamond Bar Ranch
Kathleen Myers	...	His Daughter
Ray Thompson	...	The Foreman
Brown Eyes	...	Self
Buster Keaton	...	Friendless

Storyline

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, so decides to try his luck somewhere else after a only a few minutes in New York. He falls off a train near a ranch, where he tries his luck as a cowbowy, being in his own way very sucessful. But he shows what he can do when the farm has to bring a 100 head of cattle to the slaughterhouses of Los Angeles to avoid going bankrupt, against the will of his neighbour who wants a better price. After a shoot-out with the neighbour's men he's the only person on a Los Angeles bound train with 1000 cows....

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Plot Keywords:

friendless | animal companion | ranch | cow | unemployment | 

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Taglines:

-the first cow to attain stardom in pictures! Just wait till you see Buster and Brown Eyes, the beautiful cow appearing with him in his greatest comedy hit! (Print Ad-Easton Free Press, ((Easton, Penna.)) 5 January 1926)

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

In order to achieve comic chemistry between human and animal, Keaton personally trained the bovine performer. During the shooting of Go West, production ground to a halt for two weeks when Brown Eyes went into heat. However, she gets a credit in the movie and even got a salary for her acting - $13 a week.

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Goofs

When the girl summons Buster and the cowboy to tend to her splinter, Buster is standing to the cowboy's right. When they arrive, Buster is on his left.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Apocalypse Cow (2008)

User Reviews

Underrated Keaton Film

Go West is a movie that you seldom hear about and even Keaton did not consider it among his best. However, every time I see it, I cannot help but think that it is one of his funniest and most touching films. In his independent work, Keaton had an amazing ability to portray very unfortunate characters and yet not seem to be pandering to the audience for its pity. In this film, Keaton plays a character referred to as Friendless. The opening scenes of the film show him bouncing around from one unfortunate (and hilarious) situation to another. Yet rather than feel pity for him, the audience can root for this character and good-naturedly laugh at how Friendless reacts to and deals with his misfortunes. It's difficult not to admire the way he overcomes all challenges. When he finds a friend in a cow named Brown Eyes, his loyalty to her and the rancher that employed him precipitates an amazing sequence of events, culminating in an unbelievable cattle stampede through the streets of LA. Although, the scene may drag on a bit, I'll never forget the image of Buster Keaton running down a city street in a red devil's outfit being pursued by a giant herd of cattle. It is one of the most hilariously absurd scenes ever committed to film. There are great gags from beginning to end and, as usual for Keaton, the final sequence is very satisfying. In addition, the Kino release has an outstanding soundtrack which enhances the film considerably. I would highly recommend Go West to anyone as an introduction to Keaton, silent films, or comedies in general.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None English

Release Date:

1 November 1925 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf in den Westen

Filming Locations:

Coca-Cola Plant - 963 East 4th Street, Fashion District, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Buster Keaton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min 76 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1