Directed by Buster Keaton
Starring Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton
Produced by Buster Keaton Productions
A lonely projectionist sits reading while wearing a ridiculously over-sized moustache. Why? Because the boy has big dreams of being a detective, the book is a how-to guide for his dream profession and the moustache allows him to try out one of his disguises.
His manager is not amused and tells him to clean up the movie theater. Fortunately, our hero finds four dollars amongst the trash in the theater as he is sweeping. This will allow him to buy the box of chocolates he has had his eye on for his girl. Unfortunately, theater patrons keep showing up to collect the money they lost earlier. In the end, the projectionist is left with one dollar, enough to buy only the smallest box of chocolates. Undeterred, he makes the purchase and heads to his girl's house.
Another suitor has his eyes on the projectionist's love interest. The villain (we know he's a villain because of the non-fake, thin moustache) steals a watch from the girl's father, pawns it and buys that deluxe box of candy in an attempt to woo her. The father returns to find the watch missing. Our projectionist begins searching people for clues (he is a burgeoning detective after all), but unfortunately the villain has slipped the pawn shop receipt into the projectionist's pocket, framing him for the crime.
The would-be gumshoe attempts to shadow the the bad guy, but, after a series of misadventures, ends up trapped on top of a moving train car. He escapes and heads back to run the projector at the theater. While manning the booth, he falls asleep and dreams he enters the movie he is showing as the world famous detective Sherlock Jr. Within the fake movie world, a woman's pearl necklace has been stolen. Sherlock Jr. must evade exploding pool balls, falling medieval axes and an unmanned motorbike in order to solve the case. Will Sherlock Jr. solve the case of his dreams? And what will he learn that can help in find love in the real world?
Sherlock Jr. is a marvel. It's a marvel of comedic timing, acrobatic stunt work and virtuoso camera work. More remarkable than all of that is its structure. It's tightly written and unspools in a near perfect manner.
Truth be told, the first half of the film is a very basic Keaton comedy. The gag involving the money found in the pile of trash is funny, but reminiscent of other things we have seen the star do. Same with his shy demeanor around the woman he loves and his losing out to the larger, stronger rival. It's classic Keaton mixed with his signature pratfalls and stunts.
Then Keaton falls asleep. And that ghostly version of the actor walks down the center aisle of the theater and right into the movie screen. He's able to work through all of his failings and insecurities in a storyline that parallels his own real-life situation, but only now he's a step ahead and not a mile behind. He knows the right thing to say. He is confident. He is the great detective and hero of his dreams.
The comedic pieces in the last half of the film range from subtle tricks to full-blown comedic action. Keaton's trick billiards shooting that constantly avoids an explosive number 13 ball is tense and funny. The final chase sequence that finds Keaton perched on the handlebars of a motorcycle with no driver is thrilling.
However, there are two just jaw-dropping effects used here. In one, Keaton dives out a window and through a screen he had set up earlier. He lands disguised as an old woman. How did he do it? No idea, and I'm not going to google it and ruin the surprise. In the second, his partner is standing against a wall with an open suitcase. Keaton dives into the case and disappears. Again, I don't want to know how he did. I just love the genius of the move.
I love the epilogue. Despite Keaton believing himself to be the detective, it is his girl who pounds the pavement to uncover the real criminal. The end finds the projectionist and his girl in the projection booth. Keaton knows he is not Sherlock Jr., but he still wants to be more than the shy suitor we followed in the first half of the film. His solution? He looks to the movie screen and takes his cues on wooing the woman he loves by replicating the moves of the lead actor. It's a great moment both recognizing the power that wish fulfillment plays in our love of movies and the way that movies can inform the way we act.
I only have one issue with the movie and it's when he first steps into the film within a film. There is an extended sequence where the background he is acting in changes to comic effect. For example, he goes to jump into the water of the ocean and the scene changes to a snow bank as he jumps. It's amusing and has a "how did he do that?" quality. The issue is, it makes no sense in the context of the story. Why would there be a series of random backgrounds inserted into the movie? It's Keaton showing off with the camera for the sake of showing off. The moment is so well executed, it can almost be forgiven.
Sometimes this blog is about charting the regression of stars (See the recent review of D.W. Griffith's America). With Keaton, the films just get better and better. Sherlock Jr. is a near perfect combination of acting, story, technical skill and comedy that justifies its place in cinema as a classic. At 44 minutes long, there is no excuse to miss this one.
***** out of *****
NOTE: In the sequence where Keaton jumps off the back of the moving train and onto the water tower, he actually fractured his neck, though he wouldn't realize that until years later.
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