"Sherlock Jr."*** 1\2 (out of ****)
Buster Keaton. I've mentioned his name and some of his films when discussing other comedians and their films but I've never written a review for a Buster Keaton comedy.
Since this blog started I've repeatedly mentioned, after every 100 reviews, how I still need to write about Keaton's comedies. But someone else always came first. I've reviewed the work of Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, Bob Hope, Harry Langdon and Jerry Lewis among others all before Keaton. I didn't want to leave him out any longer. His worked needed to be discussed.
The hard part was figuring out what to review first. Which title should serve as an introduction? Initially I thought about "The General" perhaps his most celebrated film. But it was exactly for that reason I didn't want to. I wanted to bring to lesser known title to light. I remember enjoying "Battling Butler" very much, thinking it was one of his best. So I watched it again. It was good but not as funny as I remembered. It wouldn't have made a proper "Masterpiece Film Series" entry. So I turned to "Sherlock Jr." (1924) another title generally regarded as one of Buster's best.
Through out the years film fans have debated which of the silent comics was the best. The position has usually been held for either Keaton or Chaplin. Within each year a new champion emerging. Chaplin was the early favorite. Regarded as one of the first true film stars, a figure known all over the world. But in the 1960s college students started to re-discover these comedy legends. Chaplin now seemed "old-hat". Too sentimental. Too dated. Keaton was more exciting. His comedy remained fresh. Then in the 1970s, when the Academy Awards was going to honor Chaplin with a lifetime achievement award and allow him to come back to America, he became the favorite again. But Keaton has picked up steam over the years again.
I'm a Chaplin man but appreciate Keaton. It took me a while though. As a child I didn't like Keaton. At 17 I re-discovered him. I never warmed up to him the way I did Chaplin (though Keaton fans see this as a plus) but you couldn't deny Keaton had funny moments. Chaplin wanted you to love him, Keaton didn't give a damn. He just wanted to make you laugh.
As someone who has acted in a few short films, mostly comedies, I can tell you Keaton remained the bigger source of inspiration, acting wise, for me. Knowing my limitations as an actor, I realize I couldn't do the kind of ballet Chaplin did. I don't have his grace and style. But I could mimic Keaton, not his stunts but his manner. Keaton was known as "The Great Stoneface", meaning he always had a steady expression on his face. No matter what the situation, no matter his emotion, he always had a blank expression on his face. I was capable of doing that! So my screen persona became something of a cross between Keaton and Bob Hope.
Buster Keaton grew up in a showbiz family. He, along with his parents, had a stage act known as "The Three Keatons". Their routine was on how to discipline a disobedient child. They would throw Buster from one end of the stage to the other and sometimes into the audience. So even as a child Buster had learned how to take a pratfall. And that is how the nickname "Buster" came to be. The story goes, only being a few months old Keaton fell down a flight of stairs, untouched. Hungarian magician Harry Houdini saw this and gave him the name "Buster".
It was Keaton's physical stunts which made him a star. One of his most famous was in the comedy "Steamboat Bill, Jr." where Keaton stands in front of a house as the front frame falls forward. As luck would have it, Keaton is standing in the space where the window would be.
While there are no stunts which hit that iconic level in "Sherlock Jr." it does have one of the best comedy chase scenes I've ever seen. Keaton is on the handlebars of a motorcycle when the driver is knocked off after going over a pot-hole leaving Keaton, unknowingly, on the bike by himself.
"Sherlock Jr." however is known for its technical accomplishments. In it Keaton plays a janitor/projectionist at a movie theatre but dreams of becoming a detective. Keaton gets involved in a real life mystery when his sweetheart's father (Joe Keaton, Buster's real life father) has his watch stolen. Keaton is the prime suspect but he suspects the local playboy (Ward Crane). Discouraged he goes back to his job as a projectionist and dreams he has entered into the movie playing on the screen, a detective story where now Keaton is the world famous sleuth, Sherlock Jr.
Narratively there were a few things I noticed wrong with this film that I hadn't paid attention to all the other times I've seen it. The film abandons the modern mystery for the pretend one in the film within the film. Keaton never solves the modern mystery instead it is his sweetheart (Kathryn McGuire) who does what Keaton should have done. Keaton is accused of pawning the stolen watch, so the sweetheart goes to the shop and asks the owner to describe the man who brought in the watch. And finally we never see the thief punished for his actions thus not giving the hero any sort of vindication.
In comedy though such remarks are probably pointless, the real question is, is "Sherlock Jr." funny? It does have some choice gags. The best one, besides the chase scene, might be a pool table sequence between Keaton as Sherlock Jr. and the local playboy. A ball has been replaced with another which has an explosive it in. If Keaton hits it, it will be the end of Sherlock Jr. Keaton manges to hit every ball except the explosive, sometimes defying the laws of gravity. The sequence is very similar to one W.C. Fields did in his silent short (and first screen appearance) "The Pool Shark" (1915).
Another famous sequence is when Sherlock Jr. tries to run away from a gang of crooks and does so by jumping into the stomach of his assistant, Gillette (Ford West). Here we get a good demonstration of Keaton's acrobat ability.
And finally a set-piece where Keaton shadows his suspect, allowing only an inch space between them, but Keaton never misses a beat and keeps in step with the suspect.
I don't know if I'd say "Sherlock Jr." is Keaton's best comedy. I use to think it was "Battling Butler" but now I don't. I think I'll need to go back and re-watch these films again. "Sherlock Jr." though does have typical Keaton traits. The stunts, the fast action and pretty consistent pace. This film is only 45 minutes. While it probably could have used more development nonetheless it would have had to be completely changed in order to do so. As it remains it feels complete.
I think what I like best about "Sherlock Jr." is the themes. One strong one is the power of imagination and the influence cinema has on us. In both our dreams and movies events usually work out perfectly. In our dreams we are never the suspect but the hero. We don't lose the girl but win her heart. We don't coward away from danger. At the end of "Sherlock Jr." the lovers meet. They try to reconcile. Keaton, unsure how to "kiss and make-up" follows what he sees on the screen, thus life imitating art.
The idea of a man entering a movie screen has inspired various artist several years after. Some suggest Woody Allen was influenced by this film when he directed "The Purple Rose of Cairo" though Allen denies the claim. "Sherlock Jr." also must have been some source of inspiration for the 1980s A-ha video "Take on Me" in which a comic book character pulls a young lady into the book.
For its endless creativity and inspiration to those years later, "Sherlock Jr." is one of the masterpieces of cinema.
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