The High Sign

Buster is thrown off a moving train and ends up near an old amusement park, where he takes a job running a shabby shooting gallery operated by the Blinking Buzzards, a small-time criminal gang. When the gang orders him to assassinate a local businessman he'd been hired to entertain, Buster's clumsy instincts and surprising resourcefulness lead him to spare the target. Instead he becomes the unlikely protector of the man and his daughter, transforming their suburban house with a series of clever traps and mechanical surprises to keep gangsters at bay. Supporting characters, from the gang leader to the daughter, supply recurring comic complications regularly.

Released in 1921, the short was co-directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, who also co-created it. Keaton headlines with Bartine Burkett, Joe Roberts and Al St. John supporting. It reflects Keaton's early silent short practice, roughly 20 minutes.

Box office records for single-reel and two-reel comedies of the era are incomplete, so no reliable gross exists. It was commonly shown alongside feature attractions, earning modest returns typical for shorts, and provided modest rental income for small regional exhibitors.

The High Sign helped refine Keaton's toolkit of physical comedy and inventive mechanical gags, scenes later highlighted in film retrospectives. Its home-defense contraptions and deadpan responses became part of Keaton's evolving screen persona. Silent-film scholars and comedy students still point to its traps and deadpan timing as essential Keaton material.

Modern viewers rate it around 7.1 out of 10 from user votes today, reflecting steady appreciation. Reviewers praise the choreography of the stunts, the mishmash of crime plot and comedy, and recurring themes of mistaken identity, resilience, and clever improvisation. Critics also highlight Keaton's timing and the film's economical staging.