charlytully Some people think if you see a funny looking fat guy on a movie screen and he says "9-11," you've got the start of a rip-roaring joke, or at least a great sight gag. Obviously, Michael Moore did not originate the cinematic recipe of bombs + comedian = wonderful fun. Amid his milieu of constant anarchist urban bombings, and against the backdrop of his colleague Harold Lloyd being permanently maimed by a humorous-looking special effects movie explosive a few months earlier, Buster Keaton took advantage of his high-rolling fame to exercise a lot of bad taste for a short that only runs 18 minutes. The main character of COPS is a delusional sociopath, and the only thing he does right during his 18 minutes of fame is to turn himself in to the authorities in the closing frame. I suppose it is possible to look at a piece of film only for its technical merit, but since Keaton has 30 surviving features and shorts, I see no reason requiring one to overrate COPS while ignoring its unsatisfying story and its anti-social elements. Charlie Chaplin's Tramp may have resembled COPS "young man" in many respects, but he was full of heart--not of the devil!

tedg This is a relatively early Keaton short, one of the first where he clearly designed the sight gags.Its a conventional chase setup, with him being chased by hundreds of cops. It starts slowly, and the first half is way below par.But then we move into Keaton territory with some stunts so physically extreme and dangerous its amazing that he survived. We don't yet have any that involve huge machines or buildings, but this is snappy and the pace is perfect once it gets going.I'm not sure whether its perfect because he found the right pace, or because he established it and it seems right.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Lee Eisenberg When I read about "Cops", I got led to believe that the whole movie was a giant chase scene. It turns out that the chase is mostly confined to the last couple of minutes. But those last couple of minutes are pretty wacky! In this case, Buster Keaton tries to find a job but accidentally steals some money and causes a massive police chase. I can imagine that they probably had some fun filming some of the scenes.I actually got the feeling that this movie may have been a semi-sequel to Keaton's previous movie "The Playhouse", in which he and the woman look like they're running off to get married at the end. This one begins with her telling him to get a job or she won't marry him.Whether or not it was, this is still a pretty funny movie.

The Big Combo A sublime film. This masterpiece shows Keaton's universe at its best. The pure, cinematic will, the rendering of meaningless technology and its restoration into an Order, the geometry, the rejecting gal, the mockery of authority. This short brings Keaton closer to Mack Sennett's slapstick style, still under Keaton's command a physical chase can become somehow metaphysical. This film alone puts Keaton side by side with Griffith, Lang and Murnau in the Pantheon of Silent Film Masters.