Sherlock Jr. 1924, Review

Sherlock Jr. 1924,  — 

There were a half dozen bonafide mini-masterpieces that Buster Keaton gave us. Perhaps the crème de la crème of Buster Keaton’s work was Sherlock Jr. one of the most technically innovative, comedically risky and brilliant films ever made.

It increased the vocabulary of the movies—what I mean is-- it showed a whole new way to use cinema that few had considered ever before. As if that was not enough, it was laugh out loud funny as well.

Keaton plays a projectionist in a movie theater who for the love of a woman fancies himself a amateur sleuth. At one point he enters a dream state and walks in and out of various movie scenes. He is projecting himself a hero in pursuit of a villain for the hand of the girl he loves.

The ideas, from his satire of the Great Detective, to the combination of narratives, to the use of dreams and fantasies to further plot and comedy, to the technical innovations he employed to pull off the whole thing are ground-breaking, influential and as entertaining and funny as anything you have ever seen.

Yes, this idea has been ‘borrowed’ many times, perhaps best in Woody Allen’s Purple Rose of Cairo and in several films by Jacques Rivette and Luis Bunnuel. (Not to mention, Jackie Chan and many others).

Note Keaton broke his neck and nearly killed himself doing a stunt on a train with a large water spout (which is in the finished film). And we haven’t even talked about other brilliant short movies Buster Keaton made like Cops 1922, One Week 1920, The High Sign 1921, Neighbors (1920), The Haunted House (1921), Hard Luck (1921), The Playhouse (1921), The Boat (1921), My Wife’s Relations (1922), The Blacksmith (1922), Daydreams (1922), and The Electric House (1922) Not to mention his work with Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle in such films as The Butcher Boy.

 It is the first part of #5 on the Greatest Films list. Since it’s only 45 minutes long I’ve taken the liberty to include another Keaton film for #5 part 2.

Sherlock Jr. 1924 Directed by Buster Keaton