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Review

Sherlock Jr.

Director

Buster Keaton

Year

1924

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon C Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. is considered by many to be his pinnacle masterpiece and most influential piece. Barely feature-length at 45 minutes, the film presents a larger-than-life novelty that not only was ahead of its time but to this day remains unmatched and certainly unsurpassed: this is the first meta-film, a movie inside a movie, whose imaginative plot and simplistic approach make it both accessible and mesmerizing. It never gets confusing though most actors have dual roles and the transition from one reality to the other is so sudden. Furthermore, in order to achieve this and much of the action scenes, several visual effects were invented or revolutionized. This is one outstanding piece of innovation, and one hell of a funny movie.

The story has a young movie projectionist (Buster Keaton) studying in his spare time to become a detective. The premise states that a man who serves two masters can’t do justice to both, and gives our man some very funny situations concerning this. Money is in his mind too, as he tries to woo a lovely girl (Kathryn McGuire) and buy her presents. He has a competitor: the local sheik (Ward Crane) who’ll go to any lengths to compete with our young hero, including stealing the girl’s father’s (Joe Keaton) watch and pawning it, then putting the blame on his young rival.

Exiled from his beloved’s home, our young projectionist goes back to his job and falls asleep while showing a movie involving pearls. He falls asleep and literally spirits himself into the movie, where every fictional character becomes an extension of the real-life people involved in the watch misunderstanding. But his adaptation from projectionist to movie character ain’t easy: walking into the screen, he faces the challenge of readapting to every different setting and scene. Then in better shape he becomes Sherlock Jr., the world’s greatest detective. He’s called upon to solve a case of stolen pearls, obviously a mischief by the same villain he faced in reality, along with his partner the butler (Erwin Connelly).

Sherlock Jr. is a lot of what the projectionist wishes he could be: a great detective, an uninhibited gentleman, and a man with an advantage over the bad guys. In this dream of sorts, the sheik becomes a dreadful villain with a full organization and truly evil schemes. Sherlock Jr. is not without luck but he’s also very smart, and sometimes uses his apparent clumsiness for his advantage. Good chance plays an important role however, when the detective’s bumbling helper, Gillette (Ford West – who in “real life” plays his boss at the movie theater), gets him in trouble!

The road is full of bumps and perils. As a matter of fact, after the “crime-crushing criminologist” evades many dangers put upon him by the villain and his helper, he engages in one many car and motorcycle chases that are as dangerous as they’re entertaining. As usual, Keaton performs his own stunts, as well as other people’s, risking his life more than once to be sure, and achieving something greater than any visual effect: real risk in the face of real danger. Additionally, he uses camera tricks and invents several effects to achieve the unimaginable. But above all, he’s as charismatic as he’s stone-faced, and that is, as always, his greatest triumph.

This film has famously influenced several filmmakers and with reason. When I saw it, I was happily reminded of some future films I thoroughly enjoyed, which is a testimony of its aftermath. I have seen Sherlock Jr. countless times and I’m always looking forward to the next. Such brilliant fun…

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