Did Buster Keaton possibly know how exciting, hilarious, energetic and spellbinding his 44 minute masterpiece was when he made this film? Watching this movie which is wild yet controlled you don't get the feeling that Keaton took as much effort as you looked. While it has strong competition from Keaton's great rival Charlie Chaplin's 23-minut short 'Behind the Screen', Keaton's 'Sherlock, Jr.' is pretty much the first great self-reflexive film that looked at movies itself setting the long path ahead for other artists like Preston Sturges('Sullivan's Travels), Gene Kelly('Singin' in the Rain'), Jean-Luc Godard('Contempt'), Fellini(the grandfather of them all '8 1/2') until Woody Allen made his only complete classic 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' which though completely different looked at this film for inspiration.
Sherlock, Jr. does more things in it's 44 minutes than most features and it does it better than any feature film could treat the material well. Keaton in 44 minutes gives us action, suspense and lighthearted romance and does justice to each. If that isn't a mark of a genius than I don't know what is.
Keaton plays a young movie-projectionist who unsuccessfully tries to earn enough money to buy his girlfriend(Kathryn McGuire) a proper gift, all the while studying to become a detective. On a visit to her father's(Joe Keaton - Buster's real-life father) house, he meets his rival(Ward Crane) who steals a watch and then pins the blame on him. Humiliated, he tries to find evidence that would vindicate him and goes back to his day job and during a screening, he falls asleep while a thriller is made. His consciousness leaves his body and then runs up into the screen in a phenomenal and hilarious montage that ends with a dissolve and he becomes the great detective Sherlock, Jr. who tries to solve a case of missing pearls in the film-within-the-film.
Few will appreciate what Keaton has achieved here. Keaton made two films in 44 minutes that could have each served a premise of a feature on it's own. The thriller story where Keaton plays the hero, McGuire plays the damsel-in-distress and Ward Crane the bad guy is just an externalization of the first half and Keaton knows it too. Sherlock, Jr. is more forthright and confident than the movie-projectionist character and even if he ends up in a number of comedic situations, he always comes up in top which isn't often the case with the projectionist.
Keaton uses this as a metaphor between the stark difference between the movies and real life, however Keaton's satire is neither angry or vicious, it's subtle and affectionate. And the one thing that I loved most about 'Sherlock, Jr.' is that there's an underlying love for movies that is layered underneath it. The final scene is one of the most romantic and touching that I have ever seen as Buster's bashful projectionist meets his girlfriend after the two exchange apologies and the two are equally shy not meeting each other's eyes. And Keaton looks through the projectionist booth to the silver screen and tries to imitate the happily-ever-after conclusion of the film-within-the-film and I won't spoil this but Keaton's final expression had me laughing in fits.
Keaton begins the film saying that the movie is about a character who tries to do two things at once hoping to succeed at both. The quote is done in a mocking light. Yet it's ironic because Keaton did several things at once. He was director, actor, editor and even extra stunt-men who often did pratfalls for his fellow co-stars in addition to giving Douglas Fairbanks a good run for his money in movies like 'The General' and 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.'. Keaton like Chaplin acted in his movies and while Chaplin was an overall better actor, Keaton's work here is as effective as Chaplin's finest performances. And while people can debate endlessly over who was the better performer(why decide, they're both geniuses) there's no denying that Keaton was more inventive and innovative than Chaplin. Chaplin's style of comedy while original in it's craft was more vaudevillian than cinematic.
One example is the montage that takes place when Keatone enters the movie. Keaton is standing outside a door and then turns to the audience and then there's a cut and the Keaton character is startled to find himself somewhere else. Keaton milks it for all it's worth and the projectionist ends up in mountaintops, seaside rocks, an African jungle with lions before a dissolve changes the landscape and Keaton's character becomes 'Sherlock, Jr.' This scene is one of the all-time great cinematic moments and has to be seen and embraced for it's editing and for it's framing.
Sherlock, Jr. does more things in it's 44 minutes than most features and it does it better than any feature film could treat the material well. Keaton in 44 minutes gives us action, suspense and lighthearted romance and does justice to each. If that isn't a mark of a genius than I don't know what is.
Keaton plays a young movie-projectionist who unsuccessfully tries to earn enough money to buy his girlfriend(Kathryn McGuire) a proper gift, all the while studying to become a detective. On a visit to her father's(Joe Keaton - Buster's real-life father) house, he meets his rival(Ward Crane) who steals a watch and then pins the blame on him. Humiliated, he tries to find evidence that would vindicate him and goes back to his day job and during a screening, he falls asleep while a thriller is made. His consciousness leaves his body and then runs up into the screen in a phenomenal and hilarious montage that ends with a dissolve and he becomes the great detective Sherlock, Jr. who tries to solve a case of missing pearls in the film-within-the-film.
Few will appreciate what Keaton has achieved here. Keaton made two films in 44 minutes that could have each served a premise of a feature on it's own. The thriller story where Keaton plays the hero, McGuire plays the damsel-in-distress and Ward Crane the bad guy is just an externalization of the first half and Keaton knows it too. Sherlock, Jr. is more forthright and confident than the movie-projectionist character and even if he ends up in a number of comedic situations, he always comes up in top which isn't often the case with the projectionist.
Keaton uses this as a metaphor between the stark difference between the movies and real life, however Keaton's satire is neither angry or vicious, it's subtle and affectionate. And the one thing that I loved most about 'Sherlock, Jr.' is that there's an underlying love for movies that is layered underneath it. The final scene is one of the most romantic and touching that I have ever seen as Buster's bashful projectionist meets his girlfriend after the two exchange apologies and the two are equally shy not meeting each other's eyes. And Keaton looks through the projectionist booth to the silver screen and tries to imitate the happily-ever-after conclusion of the film-within-the-film and I won't spoil this but Keaton's final expression had me laughing in fits.
Keaton begins the film saying that the movie is about a character who tries to do two things at once hoping to succeed at both. The quote is done in a mocking light. Yet it's ironic because Keaton did several things at once. He was director, actor, editor and even extra stunt-men who often did pratfalls for his fellow co-stars in addition to giving Douglas Fairbanks a good run for his money in movies like 'The General' and 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.'. Keaton like Chaplin acted in his movies and while Chaplin was an overall better actor, Keaton's work here is as effective as Chaplin's finest performances. And while people can debate endlessly over who was the better performer(why decide, they're both geniuses) there's no denying that Keaton was more inventive and innovative than Chaplin. Chaplin's style of comedy while original in it's craft was more vaudevillian than cinematic.
One example is the montage that takes place when Keatone enters the movie. Keaton is standing outside a door and then turns to the audience and then there's a cut and the Keaton character is startled to find himself somewhere else. Keaton milks it for all it's worth and the projectionist ends up in mountaintops, seaside rocks, an African jungle with lions before a dissolve changes the landscape and Keaton's character becomes 'Sherlock, Jr.' This scene is one of the all-time great cinematic moments and has to be seen and embraced for it's editing and for it's framing.