Buster Keaton Saturday: Sherlock Jr.

1924 romantic action-comedy

Rating: 17/20 (Emma: 17/20; Jen: zzzzz)

Plot: Our protagonist dreams of becoming a detective which could be detrimental to his real job as a projectionist. When accused of stealing and pawning a watch belonging to the father of the love of his life, he is booted from their home.

A novella of a movie? At a bit under fifty minutes, this is too long to be a short and too short to be feature length. Emma and I picked it because we'd all already seen it and the other two members of the household who are able to remain waking participants of Buster Keaton Saturday have come up missing. Sherlock Jr. sort of takes a while to get going, but it would be a great introduction to Keaton's work since it's got a little taste of everything he's known for. Creativity/invention in the denouement of the motorcycle and car chase and (especially) in a scene involving Buster walking into a movie. There are sight gags, including a tricky safe and Buster's attempt to "shadow" the culprit. There are a few stunts and pratfalls. There's a train. There's a fantastic chase scene. There are clever bits of "dialogue" ("It's your dollar? Describe it.") and romance. There's a down-on-his-luck protagonist who is easy to root for. And there are wonderful "How's he even doing that?" moments. I love a scene where he plays pool with an explosive ball, and this has one of my favorite Buster Keaton moments when he appears to actually leap through both a suitcase and a human being. His buddy Houdini probably taught him that one. My only gripe is that the music used for my dvd copy (composed in the 90's, I believe) is awful.

Trivia: This is the movie in which Buster actually fractured his neck during what looks to be a prosaic stunt and didn't even realize it until years later. This is also the movie that contains the only time Buster Keaton used a stunt double when he was needed to perform the stunt of another actor in the same scene.

Helpful hint: If interested in renting a Buster Keaton dvd, Sherlock Jr. and Our Hospitality are paired together. Since they're both good ones, it might be a great place to start. You'll have to put up with that terrible music though.