Sherlock Jr. (1924)

A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.

Director:

Buster Keaton

Writers:

Jean C. Havez (story) (as Jean Havez), Joseph A. Mitchell (story) (as Joe Mitchell)

Stars:

Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton

Top Rated Movies #198 | 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Buster Keaton	...	Projectionist / Sherlock, Jr.
Kathryn McGuire	...	The Girl
Joe Keaton	...	The Girl's Father / Man on Film Screen
Erwin Connelly	...	The Hired Man / The Butler
Ward Crane	...	The Local Sheik / The Villain

Storyline

A meek and mild projectionist, who also cleans up after screenings, would like nothing better than to be a private detective. He becomes engaged to a pretty girl but a ladies man known as the Sheik vies for her affection. He gets rid of the projectionist by stealing a pocket watch belonging to the girl's father - which he pawns to buy her an expensive box of candy. He then slips the pawn ticket into the projectionist's pocket and subsequently is found by the police. He doesn't have much luck but in his dreams, he the debonair and renowned detective Sherlock Jr. who faces danger and solves the crime. In real life, the girl solves crimes quickly.

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Plot Keywords:

false accusation | surrealism | national film registry | character name as title | entering movie via screen | 

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Taglines:

every inch of footage holds such a laugh!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

A title card in the film-within-the-film "Hearts and Pearls", during which Buster Keaton falls asleep, informs us that it was produced by the "Veronal Film Company" - an appropriate name, since Veronal was the first barbiturate sleeping pill ever marketed.

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Goofs

After Sherlock Jr. spins the fence around, placing his pursuers behind it, he puts a crossbar across the gate to stop them from coming back. In the next shot, as he leaves the alley, the crossbar is no longer visible on the fence.

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Quotes

The sheik: [to Sherlock Jr. about a man locked in a tight cage] That's a detective. When he's dead I'll put you in there.

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Alternate Versions

In 1999, Kino Video distributed a 45-minute version of this film, with a music score composed by and performed by the Club Foot Orchestra.

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Connections

References The Sheik (1921)

User Reviews

Intensely Poetic and Creative

Though a lot of older films tend to be neglected, Sherlock Jr. definitely isn't a film that could be called obscure. I imagine most people at least know OF this movie with its famous movie-in-a-movie surrealist scene.

Still, having previously heard over and over again about the brilliance of this film, I never really understood until I saw it myself. It's not just the dream-story and the surreality, it's what Keaton does with it and the importance he places on cinema. This film is even rather unique in using montage in a new way, or showing how much film appeals to the imagination as much as an artistic endeavor.

Thus, this film itself becomes both wildly imaginative and brilliantly artistic... and best of all, it's FUNNY! Thus, it becomes a film for everyone. There's no hard-found artistic conceit that leads to cries of "Pretentious!", but still people can say "It's amazing." There's no comedic conceit that says, "Bah, just simple slapstick, it's low-culture!" because it's rather intelligently done. And it's creative in a way that isn't like an opium-dream. It can appeal to anybody of all ages. It's one very well-done film.

--PolarisDiB

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None English

Release Date:

11 May 1924 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Misfit

Filming Locations:

3630 Pasadena Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$977,375

Company Credits

Production Co:

Buster Keaton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min 49 min (1924)

Sound Mix:

Silent DTS (musical score)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1