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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 656

Cops

192218 minUnited States

Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs: 18:06
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Edward F. Cline / Buster Keaton; Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection (1917–23) · Public domain

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

Buster Keaton

The Young Man

Joe Roberts

The Police Chief

Virginia Fox

The Mayor's Daughter

DirectorsBuster Keaton Edward F. Cline

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

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Library of Congress Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons

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 13, 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)

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