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The 'High Sign'

The 'High Sign'

1921
Comedy
Short Film
20m
Buster is thrown off a train near an amusement park. There he gets a job in a shooting gallery run by the Blinking Buzzards mob. Ordered to kill a businessman, he winds up protecting the man and his daughter by outfitting their home with trick devices. (imdb)
Your probable score
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The 'High Sign'

1921
Comedy
Short Film
20m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 67.38% from 255 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(255)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 08 Feb 2009
87
87th
Keaton was at his best with physical comedy, and those last 5 minutes are some excellent stuff. The rest of it is pretty funny too.
Rated 02 Aug 2009
2
21st
Not terribly funny until the last few minutes involving all the trap doors.
Rated 08 Jun 2008
70
56th
Only a couple memorable moments in this early short: 1) the cutaway scene revealing all four rooms as Buster races through them, and 2) the 'High Sign' itself.
Rated 18 Apr 2021
77
66th
The plot is scattershot and the jokes don't all hit, but at the end Keaton finally shows off some of his skills. A decent directorial debut by him.
Rated 10 Dec 2012
75
74th
Good not great
Rated 20 Aug 2018
83
95th
This was a lot of fun and had me laughing multiple times.
Rated 20 Feb 2020
80
68th
Loved this one, made me laugh a lot.
Rated 10 Mar 2009
85
89th
this bad boy was full of everything that makes buster funny and entertaining, and all in a small package--cutting out the shortfalls of his early feature length films. i've said it before, and i'll say it again, i fall in love with buster more every time i see another of his films.
Rated 07 Oct 2010
50
33rd
The slapstick finale is, as indicated by other users here, pretty impressive. Still, it's too little, too late. Most of the comic material beforehand is old *and* stupid, a lethal combination
Rated 05 Aug 2014
88
98th
A fun little one that flies right by, with a great ending.
Rated 04 May 2020
3
36th
while this was buster's first independent effort, it remained more tethered to arbuckle slapstick than he would prefer, and lacked something of a human touch. the narrative is wispy and only loosely tied to the gags, while keaton's still calibrating the ideal ratio of self-deprecation. still, i'm glad it was only shelved rather than destroyed as he wished, else i'd never have been introduced to the ludicrous ‘blinking buzzards' or that surreal shot of an ever-expanding broadsheet.
Rated 11 Mar 2012
50
34th
The best part is at the end, but overall it's not such a bad movie. Much better than some of the stuff he's done.
Rated 09 Aug 2022
50
12th
Short film by baby Buster. I put this one on late night after coming home, so memory is fuzzy. It had some funny, classic Buster moments but overall not his best.
Rated 29 Mar 2023
80
78th
What a great "dollhouse" view of the house with the secret panels! Interesting to see fellow Arbuckle star St. John make a quick appearance. I feel like walking down the street and making the secret "high sign" to see if anyone else returns it. (Likely, I'd just be beaten up.)
Rated 18 Apr 2021
77
58th
The High Sign estreava há 100 anos nos EUA. Esse curta é menos engajado que o usual Keaton, mas um Keaton menor ainda é um grande Keaton. Box Obras-primas do Cinema Buster Keaton.
Rated 15 Apr 2019
78
63rd
One of Keaton's most creative shorts thanks to the house with the secret passages.
Rated 13 Mar 2022
77
52nd
10.15 Erkan
Rated 17 Aug 2023
86
82nd
Pretty good throughout. Strong story with a slow build of gags leading up to the final few minutes of absolute chaos.

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