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	...	Herself
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:

Come with Buster out into the vast open spaces where men are men and cows are their only lady friends. See him chaperone a thousand wild steers in a big City- and a thousand and one excruciatingly funny scenes! A METRO-GOLDWYN SPECIAL. (Print ad-Sunday Mail, ((Brisbane, Qld.)) 5 December 1926)

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 1925 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf in den Westen

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Buster Keaton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min 76 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

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 wolves threaten Brown Eyes, they are in daylight while Brown Eyes is in night time.

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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 Silverado (1985)

User Reviews

Enjoyable Change-of-Pace From Keaton

"Go West" is an enjoyable change-of-pace from Keaton. It has a creative story that enables Buster to demonstrate some different acting skills, while still having plenty of his trademark slapstick, chases, and stunts, especially in the last half of the film. It's not one of his best-remembered films today, largely because it is rather old-fashioned and sometimes slow, but it has a great many merits for those who enjoy silent comedies.

Buster's character is down on his luck, and decides to head west. He winds up on a ranch, working as a cowhand. As he tries rather ineffectively to learn the trade, he becomes attached to a particular cow, 'Brown Eyes'. While trying to protect Brown Eyes from harm, he is caught in the middle of the desperate attempts of the rancher and the rancher's daughter to save their business. Keaton is very good in evoking sympathy for his character while still being amusing, and the story is touching at times while remaining pleasantly silly at others. There are times when it does move pretty slowly, but it is always pleasant to watch.

The film would be well worth seeing for the last portion alone. Everything comes together in a madcap stampede sequence that is extremely funny and that contains a lot of inventive gags. It's classic Keaton, and a great way to top off a rather different story.

If you are a fan of Buster or of silent comedy in general, make sure to give this one a try. It's not the kind of film that could be expected to attract a wide audience today, but it's a pleasant and enjoyable film, and you might like it as much as those of us on this page have enjoyed it.