The Goat (1921) dir. Buster Keaton & Malcolm St. Clair

The whole of the silent era is in the public domain and thus the fraction of these films that havn’t been lost of the past 100 years should almost entirely be found on YouTube. It’s surprising that Lunch Links hasn’t gone to the silent well more often, considering. The brilliant one- and two-reeler work of Buster Keaton alone could make for several entertaining midday meals.

Today we’ll highlight his best – “best” meaning the most memorable gags in these shorts. From the slow queue at the start to the elevator hijinks at the finish (a Ploughchildren favorite) this has a very high hit-to-miss ratio. As with all silent comedies, it’s best watched with a crowd if the opportunity arises. I still remember the laughs that accompanied the tire sign and the phone booth “elevator” in my early film history class.

Lest this just become a list of favorite gags (wax horse), cinematically we should take a moment to appreciate Keaton’s visual precision, always putting the camera in right place to capture and enhance the gag, letting it play out in a wide or mounting it to a train. The madcap action mixed with his default nonchalance makes it look easy. The easy way, of course, would be to line up a bunch of celebrities, give them half a script, and cut a three-minute montage out of an hour of improv. I think we can all be grateful, even over 100 years later, that Keaton chose the route of custom props and sets and in-camera timing.