Buster Keaton and Brown Eyes.

Go West is a unique Keaton film, even if it is not his most enjoyable.  He plays a friendless young man who decides to get out of his small hometown.  He brings his entire belongings to a pawn shop where he sells it all for $1.65.  He makes a brief trip to New York, but is overwhelmed by the crowds, so he decides to jump a train and go west.  After hiding in a barrel, he rolls off the train, ending up near a ranch.  

He gets a job as a cowboy.   He soon learns his way around the ranch, even though he does not make friends with any of the other cowboys.  In one notable scene, he plays poker with two other ranch hands and Friendless accuses one of them of cheating.  The guy pulls a gun and tells the great stone face to, "Smile when you say that!"  The camera then turns to Keaton where you wait to see if it will actually happen. 

His only friend is a cow named Brown Eyes.  He saves her from being branded, and tries to guard her from coyotes.  She saves him from a charging bull.  It is definitely an original relationship, providing the films best punch line at the end of the movie. 

The main body of Go West is just Keaton clowning around the ranch.  The film hits it's stride when the ranch owner sends 1,000 head of cattle on a train to the slaughterhouses in Los Angeles.  His neighbor hires some guns to attack the train.  During the shootout, Friendless is in a cattle car with Brown Eyes and ends up being the only person on the entire moving train.  The film climaxes with Keaton and the cows roaming the streets of Los Angeles. 

Go West is not Keaton's funniest film.  It does not contain any outrageous stunts.  It is notable for the cast.  Keaton often used his father in small roles and does so here.  More interesting is Fatty Arbuckle in a small role in drag.   The once leading comedian could not find work after being accused of rape 4 years earlier, and was not given credit for his cameo.

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