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

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle plays the woman in the department store, but only in long shot. Close ups show the part to be played by Babe London.

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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

Featured in The Comic Kino-Eye (2013)

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.