Buster Keaton
The Young Man
Subtitles off by default
Wikimedia Commons · Buster Keaton / Edward F. Cline · 1922 · Public domain
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Synopsis
Determined to impress the woman he loves, a young man tries to prove that he can succeed in business. A wallet, a furniture deal and a troublesome horse draw him into a chain of misunderstandings. When his route crosses a police parade, private embarrassment expands into a citywide pursuit, with Keaton improvising escapes through streets that offer fewer and fewer exits.
Cast
Historical context
The short turns the familiar ambition to get ahead into a trap: each practical solution produces a larger misunderstanding. The police become a mass moving through the city, while Keaton remains a small, resourceful figure caught inside it. The result combines precise action with an unusually bleak comic ending.
Reception and legacy
Cops entered the National Film Registry in 1997. Its reputation rests particularly on the construction of the chase and the way Keaton uses real urban space to organize jokes that remain legible even as the crowd grows.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.
Availability checked on September 11, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Buster Keaton — Unknown author · Public domain
- Joe Roberts — Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research · Public domain
- Virginia Fox — Unknown photographer; The Blacksmith (1922); J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Libraries, SAYRE 657 / Wikimedia Commons. Prior crop by Commons contributors. · Public domain in the United States (PD-US-expired)
