weezeralfalfa Review of Convict 13

Convict 13 (1920)

Keaton evolves from poor golfer to prisoner to guard to assistent warden

[8/10 · 6 September 2018]

There are two sections to this funny, if unbelievable and occasionally grim, comedy short. The first section has Keaton as a very incompetent and unlucky golfer, in contrast to the prison warden's daughter, Sibyl Seely, who shows talent. This section occupies about the first 4 min. This is followed by the long dream(nightmare) sequence, in which Keaton is mistaken for an escaped convict(# 13)(Joe Roberts) who is sentenced to be hanged that day.(Given their dramatically different heights and girths, it's very difficult to believe they could be mistaken for each other!). But Sibyl is visiting the prison that day, and takes a liking to Keaton. She notices the elastic exercise rope her father uses. Somehow, she managed to put this in place of the normal hangmen's rope , when no one was looking. Thus, Keaton bobs up and down like a bungee diver after the trap door is opened. Eventually, Keaton accidentally knocks out a prison guard and changes clothes with him, then acts like a guard. Eventually, he's made assistant warden for breaking up a prison riot with a cannon ball tethered on a rope, after the other guards have been knocked out by Joe Roberts, with his sledgehammer. Unusual for comedy shorts of this era, several guards and inmates apparently are killed in the riot. Many others are unconscious and possibly dead......Returning to the beginning, after knocking himself down trying to tee off, Keaton hits the ball into a pond. Stepping on a small raft, he wonders why the ball isn't floating. He guesses that a fish swallowed it. Hence, he grabs several fish with his hand and squeezes them. Finally, the ball pops out of the last one, which he spanks before letting it go. He puts the ball in the water and hits it with his club. We don't see where it lands. He tries to tee off, but, at the last second, a small dog runs in and snatches the ball. Next, he hits the ball, but it ricochets off a building, hitting his head, knocking him out. This is where his dream sequence begins, with the giant escaped inmate Joe Roberts changing clothes with him. (But how is this possible, given the huge differences in their heights and girths??)........See it at YouTube