This very Kafka-esque film is Keaton's response to the Fatty Arbuckle scandal.[citation needed] Even though the central character's intentions are good, he cannot win, no matter how inventively he tries. He gets into various scraps with police officers throughout the film. Eventually, he unwittingly throws a bomb into a police parade and ends up being chased by a horde of cops.
At the end of the film, Keaton's character locks up the cops in the police station. However, the girl he is trying to woo disapproves of his behavior and gives him the cold shoulder. Therefore, he unlocks the police station and is immediately pulled in by the cops. The film ends with the title "The End" written on a tombstone with Keaton's pork pie hat propped on it.
One of Keaton's most iconic and brilliantly-constructed short films, Cops was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry in 1997.

When Keaton is rejected by his girl friend, he sets out in a small boat seeking forgetfulness. His troubles increase, however, when he takes refuge on a whaling ship. He quickly incurs the wrath of the despotic ship's captain. Making his escape, Buster next encounters a large flotation device which he does not recognize as a target for nautical maneuvers. It is blown to smithereens and Buster wakes up from a dream. We realize the whole story has been a dream. And Buster, to his consternation, discovers his own small boat has never left the dock.
Color: Black and White
Sound Mix: Silent

Botany major Buster mistakenly graduates in electrical engineering and is hired to wire a new home.

A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.