‘Be careful or one of us will get hurt...’
While Chaplin gets all the plaudits, Buster Keaton was just as influential in the world of silent cinema and the evolution of cinematic comedy. He was also a pioneer in terms of performing outrageous stunts. Sherlock Jr. combines Keaton’s twin passion for visual gigs and risking his life to great effect…
Keaton plays a lonely and dissatisfied cinema projectionist who longs to be a detective. Indeed, we are introduced to the character while he is reading a book literally titled How to Be a Detective. When a pocket watch is stolen by an evil sheik (Ward Crane), the projectionist is determined to solve the case and win the heart of The Girl (Kathryn McGuire).
Whilst not as visually bombastic as The General (nor as funny if truth be told), Sherlock Jr. still has some wonderful moments and deserves to be considered one of the greatest comedies of the silent era. Keaton packs a lot into the skinny 45-minute run time including some of his most beloved sequences. The projectionist skipping from carriage to carriage across a moving train has become embedded in the cinematic landscape forever, and this film also boasts one of the first examples of a film within a film.
As ever with Keaton’s protagonists, the hero here is likeable, funny and just the right amount of clueless. He can perform great feats around a pool table but a staircase is enough to fool him entirely. It is this dichotomy that makes Keaton’s creations so compelling. We root for him whilst simultaneously being in awe of his comedic prowess.
At a very manageable 45 minutes, Sherlock Jr. is the perfect introduction to Keaton and silent cinema – this should be essential viewing for anyone with an interest in film history. It also boasts perhaps the greatest chase sequence in movie history.