A simple misunderstanding escalates out of control, as Buster Keaton finds himself the enemy of the entire New York police department. Short, sweet and the perfect introduction to Buster Keaton's style.

I love Buster Keaton. He could make 1000 different expressions without saying a word, yet was nicknamed "Stone Face". This is his finest work, and inspired many later less-talented comedians. Bill Senior runs one of two Mississippi steamboats in town. He has a rival (boo!) who has a beautiful daughter (yay!) that Bill Junior (yay!) loves, but he has been sent off to college for betterment (shame!). This movie starts with Jr's return as an unrecognisable "posh" and ends with the cyclone that allows a happy ending. Between these events, Jr tries to win the respect of his father, who interprets everything his son does as idiotic, and even treats his cooking with disdain. I want to see two scenes again. Firstly, Jr is forced by Sr to buy a new hat to replace his beret (Steamboat captains do NOT wear berets) and tries on many in quick succession before getting one he likes, and secondly, during the cyclone, a hospital, a library, a heavy beard and a house fall on or over Jr. Putting this film into another perspective, it's about the merging of the charm of the South with the innovation of the North, 60 years after the Civil War. "If you can't beat them, join them".

You've recently discovered your family has an inheritance in the deep south, and on the train to get it, you find your true love. Things are going pretty well, right? Except that there's a long standing family feud (no, not the game show, the kind with guns and violence and hurting) that you don't know about yet, and your new girlfriend's family turns out to all be dedicated to one purpose - killing you. Yes, this premise has a little of the Jerry Springers about it, with disgruntled hillbillies and violence, but being a silent comedy, it's low on the "call that bitch a skanky ho" factor and higher on the wacky physical stuff that Keaton's justifiably renowned for - climaxing in a death-defying climactic waterfall sequence (during the filming of which Keaton managed to inhale a fair percentage of water and, yes, genuinely risked drowning himself).

A hot air balloon is a deceptively simple vehicle. It consists of a large airtight bag, a fire, and lots of rope. It also usually contains a person, preferably not on top of the bag. Since that is where Keaton was, it is not surprising that the balloon lands in the wilderness, with only a charming young girl for company. As always with Keaton's early films, fun is poked especially at pretentious people trying to impress. And then people who impress by not being pretentious. In 1300 seconds, it is very impressive to see how many sight gags were managed. I think the writers were trying to be pretentious.