Sherlock Jr. (1924)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Buster Keaton

Writers:

Clyde Bruckman (writer)
Jean C. Havez (writer)

Release Date:

21 April 1924 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Action | Comedy | Crime | Fantasy | Mystery

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Projectionist | Film In Film | Explosion | Car In Water | Movie Reality Crossover

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Buster Keaton	...	Sherlock, Jr. / Projectionist
Kathryn McGuire	...	The girl
Joe Keaton	...	Her father
Erwin Connelly	...	The butler / handyman
Ward Crane	...	The sheik / villain

Runtime:

45 min

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

UK:U | Portugal:M/6 | Finland:S | Spain:T | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Larchmont Blvd. near Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Buster Keaton Productions

Trivia:

Buster Keaton doubled for Ford West, the actor playing Gillette, in the scene where the motorcycle he is driving (with Keaton on the handlebars) hits a deep pothole and bucks him off flat on his behind.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: As Buster falls asleep, the film begins unspooling onto the floor. When Buster wakes up, if nobody fixed it, there should be a large pile of film on the floor. And if someone fixed it, why didn't they wake him up?

Quotes:

The sheik: We are lost! He is sending for the world's greatest detective - Sherlock Jr.!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fool's Luck (1926)

Intensely Poetic and Creative

Though a lot of older films tend to be neglected, Sherlock Jr. definitely isn't a film that could be called obscure. I imagine most people at least know OF this movie with its famous movie-in-a-movie surrealist scene.

Still, having previously heard over and over again about the brilliance of this film, I never really understood until I saw it myself. It's not just the dream-story and the surreality, it's what Keaton does with it and the importance he places on cinema. This film is even rather unique in using montage in a new way, or showing how much film appeals to the imagination as much as an artistic endeavor.

Thus, this film itself becomes both wildly imaginative and brilliantly artistic... and best of all, it's FUNNY! Thus, it becomes a film for everyone. There's no hard-found artistic conceit that leads to cries of "Pretentious!", but still people can say "It's amazing." There's no comedic conceit that says, "Bah, just simple slapstick, it's low-culture!" because it's rather intelligently done. And it's creative in a way that isn't like an opium-dream. It can appeal to anybody of all ages. It's one very well-done film.

--PolarisDiB