Cops (film)
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{{#ev:dailymotion|http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjydkb_buster-keaton-cops-1922_shortfilms%7C480%7Cright%7CAlternate YouTube link.|frame|}} In this 1922 short, Buster Keaton is trying to become a successful businessman in order to woo the mayor's daughter (Virginia Fox), but unwittingly gets into a series of steadily escalating mishaps with members of the LAPD. Eventually he wanders into a policemen's parade, obliviously tosses a bomb into the crowd, and ends up chased by the entire police force.
This film is in the public domain.
Tropes used in Cops (film) include:
- All-Natural Snake Oil: "Dr. Smith, Goat Gland Specialist"
- Angry Guard Dog[context?]
- Black Comedy: Specifically, Kafka Komedy.
- Bomb-Throwing Anarchists[context?]
- Cartoon Bomb[context?]
- Chase Scene[context?]
- Con Man[context?]
- Couldn't Find a Lighter: Buster lights his cigarette off the fuse of a bomb.
- Did Not Get the Girl[context?]
- Downer Ending[context?]
- Dressing as the Enemy[context?]
- Hot Pursuit[context?]
- Irony: "Maybe he was arrested for speeding."
- Lemming Cops[context?]
- Nobody Here but Us Statues[context?]
- Non-Fatal Explosions[context?]
- Outside Ride: Combined with a Vehicle Vanish (see below).
- Short Con[context?]
- Spurned Into Suicide (Implied)
- Suicide by Cop (Implied)
- Tap on the Head[context?]
- Under Crank: Used sporadically in the big Chase Scene.
- Vehicle Vanish: Buster grabs a passing truck with one hand. It happens in plain sight of the camera, but it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.
- Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Buster packing a vase and a pitcher.
- Wire Fu: When Buster is launched from a seesaw.