Convict 13

1920

Comedy / Crime

2
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 73%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 73% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.1/10 10 3873 3.9K

silent film short film

Plot summary

A young golfer is mugged by an escaped convict and finds himself in a prison where he foils a jailbreak.

Director

Buster Keaton Photo
Buster Keaton

Top cast

Buster Keaton Photo
Buster Keaton as Golfer Turned Prisoner, Guard
Joe Keaton Photo
Joe Keaton as Prisoner
Harry Keaton Photo
Harry Keaton as Little guard that Big Joe knocks out
Louise Keaton Photo
Louise Keaton
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
200.66 MB
1280*960
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
12 hr 21 min
Seeds 4
372.47 MB
1440*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
12 hr 21 min
Seeds 7

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by theowinthrop 8 / 10

Golf and Prison Experiences: An odd combo

Reviewed by AlsExGal 8 / 10

Of guards and golf

Buster is out golfing with his girlfriend when Convict 13 escapes. The whistle sounding the alarm at the jail is mistaken by his caddy as the lunch whistle, and he sits down and begins to eat. Buster continues on alone to golf, single-minded, when a ball he hits ricochets off a building and hits him in the head, rendering him unconscious. The escaped convict sees Buster lying there and changes clothes with him. Buster regains consciousness and continues to golf, not noticing that he is wearing a convict's uniform until the armed guards appear to apprehend him. He manages to land himself in jail without the guards capturing him. He hits some luck when his girlfriend sees him there - she turns out to be the warden's daughter. But unfortunately for Buster, Convict 13 is scheduled to be hung that day.Sybil Seely, who is the girlfriend here was also the bride in Keaton's "One Week". A large trouble-making convict is played by Big Joe Roberts who played burly villains in a multitude of Keaton films. The dog that appears here and steals Buster's golf balls was not Luke, Fatty Arbuckle's dog, who did appear in one Keaton short after he and Arbuckle went their separate professional ways.Not as well known as Cops from two years later, it has a similar structure and some common gags, and is definitely worth watching. And even though there are much better safeguards against executing the wrong person today, Keaton's comedy has really lost nothing in the century that has passed.
Reviewed by ccthemovieman-1 8 / 10

Where Else Can You See Someone Spanking A Fish?

An early Buster Keaton short, this begins with Buster attempting to play golf and obviously not being too familiar with how to play the game. Where else but in a silent comedy can you see a golfer trying to hit the ball out of a lake while standing on a raft...and then diving in for fish to find out which fish swallowed his golf ball?! Keaton gets it on the third try and gives the fish a spanking after retrieving the ball! Insane stuff, as that's just the first five minutes!Along comes an escaped convict (crazy things just happen out of the blue in a lot of these old silent comedies) who sees Buster lying the ground, having knocked himself out with a golf ball. The convict switches clothing and now Buster is wearing stripes. Cops notice him (HE didn't notice what he was wearing?!) and begin chasing him. Buster winds up back at the penitentiary. Since he's wearing number 13 on his jail outfit, he's scheduled to be hanged the next day. His girlfriend saves him by putting elastic gymnasium rope in place of the noose, so Buster bounces up and down after the trap door operates. Watching all of this are the other inmates who are sitting in bleachers while a vendor sells peanuts and popcorn.It goes on from there, with a prison riot the next day and Buster and some humongous goon knocking out a bunch of uniformed guards and the other prisoners via some strange methods. It's pure disjointed chaos but it makes for a wild and fun 20-minute film.
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