Monday, September 19, 2011

Go West

The aptly named Friendless sells his grocery store in Indiana for $1.60 (and has to spend the money to buy supplies in the same store!) and hops a train to New York City where he gets lost in the shuffle. Inspired by the title call of Horace Greeley, he finds a miniature hand gun in a lost purse and heads to New Mexico where he tries his hand at ranching and falls in love with the big brown eyed cow! "Go West" is one of the most touching films Buster Keaton made and still contains all the wonderful physical gags that make his films so memorable. There are many funny scenes involving Buster's attempts to acclimate to cowboy life and his friendship with the cow is actually quite affecting (I adored the scene where Buster uses the cow's milk for shaving cream, and shaves the brand into his hide so can forgo the branding process). The ending is classic as well as the herd of cattle parade through downtown L.A. and Buster comes up with the ideal costume to lead them to their destination. "Go West" along with the rest of the Keaton's films, are the kinds of art that you embrace and whose spirit you wish could be replicated in today's movies.