The High Sign (1921)

So much average

Excellent adaptation.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

In this 20-minute black-and-white short film from soon 100 years ago, Buster Keaton has quite challenge coming up. A man pays him to be his bodyguard and protect him, while a gang of crooks want him to kill that man. Of course, the two do not know about each other. I personally wondered how Keaton got involved with these criminals as he seems to be a quite harmonious man in this movie. Of course, the protagonist also wrote and directed this work here, together with his longtime collaborator Edward F. Cline. Surprisingly, Ingram B. Pickett who plays (not so) Tiny Tim does not have a most prolific movie career. He looks to me like a perfect choice for villain roles in these very early films. Al St. john is in this one as well.I personally thought this wasn't a bad short film at all. I just wished there could have been more focus on this main plot with on whose side Buster is on. The first 10 minutes of the film feel like an overlong prologue to the actual story unfortunately. And even when he got his two assignments, there is still a lack of focus as the story drifts completely away at one point when Buster is robbed in his own store after handing the robber even one of his own guns. And there is a love story included with the daughter of the man Buster has to protect. But this one is also slightly underwhelming compared to other love stories in the early days of cinema. The funniest thing about it may have been the intertitles, for example the one early on with all these b-words. However, all in all, I hoped for more. Not recommended.

This begins with Buster being a crook. First, he steals a newspaper from a man riding a merry-go-round. It turns out to be the biggest newspaper you have ever seen! He sees a "help wanted" ad for a worker in a shooting gallery. You must be "crack shot." Buster isn't, of course, but he cheats again and gets the job, thanks to a little (and very clever) scheme with a little dog. (Buster is not an honest man in this movie, but he sure is resourceful!).The arcade is run by a giant of a man (Charles Dorety?) who is a member of the Blinking Buzzards, a brutal secret group of extortionists and hit men. One of the men on their hit list is the town tightwad: "August Nickelnurser." The latter, knowing his days are numbered, walks by the arcade, sees Buster, and hires him as his bodyguard. The big villain-arcade owner (no name was ever given him) comes back, takes Buster to the Buzzards hideout, makes him a member and gives him his first assignment: kill Nickelnurser.Holy cow - Buster is both the bodyguard and the hired assassin for the same man!!! What to do?This fantastic premise - to be played out in the second half of the film, doesn't really get going until the final few minutes, unfortunately. We have to sit through a few meaningless scenes back at the arcade. However, when Buster, the target and his cute daughter, and all the Buzzards all wind up in the same house - a great house filled with trap doors....the finish is fantastic!

The High Sign---Buster: Our Hero…10/10.This film along with 'One Week' can be found as extras on the Buster Keaton DVD, "The Saphead". Although defined as 'short films' by virtue of their length, each movie running at about 20 minutes, both 'The High Sign' and 'One Week' are superior comedies to the feature film, 'The Saphead' which clocks in at 77 minutes. It is on the strength of these two short films that make the purchase of this DVD entirely worthwhile.There's really no need to explain in detail the unbelievable plot line. It's a comedy that plays out as logically as a dream. It works best if you accept the many predicaments Buster finds himself in. Whether he's hired with no reference to work the shooting gallery in an amusement park run by the gang The Flying Buzzards, or hired as a bounty hunter by The Flying Buzzards to kill a wealthy businessman, or, and this is the real stretch, hired as a body guard by the same wealthy businessman he was originally hired to kill.Just go with it. What works best in all Buster Keaton films are the many sight gags and the unbelievable physical comedy. In this film some of the best moments include Buster jerry rigging the shooting gallery with a bell, a rope, a dog and a bone. Or watching Buster snag a newspaper from someone riding on the Merry Go Round, it happens so fast you can't believe he actually did it. And of course, the amazing ending that takes place inside the customized house of the wealthy businessman he is trying to protect. Because the businessman is aware that his life is in danger, he has made his house a labyrinth of hidden walls, trap doors and removable paintings. The last 5 minutes of the film show Buster knocking off each of The Flying Buzzards inside the house. This physical comedy is the closest you'll ever come to seeing human beings act in real time to what would become the clear domain of animators some years later, such as those of the 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons. You won't believe your eyes.Highly recommended. This film is a lot of fun. 10/10.Clark Richards

Although "The High Sign" is a short film and not very well known, in many ways it is one of Keaton's best. It is non-stop entertainment, especially because the plot is very nearly irrelevant and the gags are so constant. What makes this so special in the development of movie comedy are the shooting gallery scene and the trapdoor house. These are examples of quintessential American slapstick, and they have been copied hundreds of time since 1921. There is also one small special effect in the midst of all the comedy that really caught my eye: Someone spikes Keaton's drink with either alcohol/poison (we are not told) and Keaton sips it. He can tell it is spiked, and looks into the cup, and we see in the drink the image of the rear of a horse kicking it's hind legs. This obvious allusion to the 'drink with a kick' is not only funny, but it is the essence of cinema: show not tell. I highly recommend this one for anyone looking for a short, innovative, hilarious comedy.