Cops (1922)

• Relevant context:
• What's undercranking?

  Slowing the speed of the film through camera, making it seem faster when projected  
• Fear of anarchy and anti-establishment at the time
• Opening sequence:
• Hopeful romantic intertitle ‘love laughs at locksmiths’ – love will not let a lock get in the way


  Credited to Houdini (escape artist) who is related to Buster as he gave him his name  
• Fade out and ins – uses editing to show passage of time 


  Inauthentic – expressionistic 
• Opening MCU 2 shot suggests BK is in jail


  Presents themes of justice, law  
• Cuts to LS showing he is at a set of large gates, ‘I won’t marry you until you become a big businessman’ intertitle


  Commentary on class, rich/poor (realist) – Keaton’s locked out by class
• Ending sequence:
• Keaton ‘everyman’ outwits all the incompetent cops who are chasing him


  Could suggest his views on law system as failing the individual (good friend Arbuckle on trial) 
• Keaton outwits cops: acrobatics - goes through cops' legs, genius - LS running into the police station, disguising himself with a uniform and locking them inside 


  Subverts law system as police are captured by their institution, presents them as stupid 
• Cop’s and Keaton’s performance during chase over-exaggerated and unrealistic

  Expressionistic
• Predominant use of LS’s and mise en scene – cars driving past, shops and background actors

  Sense of reality ongoing juxtaposing the outlandish events occurring --> realism
• LS of crowd of cops running behind Keaton

  Allow us to see size of crowd - comedy and dramatic irony
• Under-cranking used to give energy to the chase sequence 


  Expressionistic as they move unnaturally and impossibly 
• Frequency of edits increase during chase sequence to quicken pace

  Expressionistic
• MS mayor's daughter rejects BK a 2nd time

  Tragedy shown through performance  
• LS of BK’s helpless response and he returns to station to await his fate  
• Fade to black – final intertitle is dark and pessimistic


  Connotes they’ve killed him  
• Keaton liked to ‘record what was happening’ as opposed to creating meaning through editing (unlike soviet filmmakers) e.g shots of busy streets suggesting chaos