The 'High Sign': Synopsis
In The 'High Sign' (1921) Keaton's character plays a drifter who cons his way into working in an amusement park shooting gallery.
Believing that he is an expert marksman (when in fact he is completely incompetent) he is hired by a gang (the Blinking Buzzards) to kill a wealthy businessman, whilst at the same time being hired by the businessman as a bodyguard.
The film ends with a wild chase (a typical set-piece of silent film comedies and Keaton's short films) through a house filled with secret passages.
Again, the film utilises many of the techniques which have come to be recognised as the hallmarks of Keaton's work.
Themes again include heterosexual romance and stylistically the film incorporates many of the aspects of film language that are typical of both Keaton's work and American silent film comedy.
It is a particularly useful film to consider when discussing the Specialist Area of Study - the realist and the expressive.
Click on the link below to re-watch The 'High Sign'.
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