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 #163 | 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 | pawn ticket | pocket watch | 

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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:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 1924 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sherlock Holmes Jr.

Filming Locations:

3630 Pasadena Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Buster Keaton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min 49 min (1924)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1965, a year before Buster Keaton died, author Rudi Blesh interviewed him for a biography and asked, "How did you come to make a surrealistic film like 'Sherlock, Jr.'?" Keaton replied, "I did NOT mean it to be surrealistic. I just wanted it to look like a dream."

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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 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

Title card: There is an old proverb which says: Don't try to do two things at once and expect to do justice to both. This is the story of a boy who tried it. While employed as a moving picture operator in a small town theater he was also studying to be a detective.

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Connections

Edited into When Comedy Was King (1960)

User Reviews

marvellous and inventive

This Keaton classic is both funny and extremely clever in its construction. Our hero is a cleaner but dreams of becoming a detective, always with his nose buried in a book on the subject.

The first third of the film is much like any other comedy. There are lost dollar bills, things sticking to other things, something stolen, mistaken identities. Our heroine is introduced in a charming scene where they seem terrified to hold hands. Her father is played by Buster's father Joe Keaton, who would appear in many of his son's films.

There's a mustachioed cad with slick hair and a sharp suit who is after the girl, a cartoon baddie who the audience instinctively knows deserves a hiss and not a cheer.

It is in Junior's other job as a cinema projectionist that the film comes alive. We are watching the film he has set up and then, suddenly, he is part of the action. In a sequence of great inventiveness, we see the film within a film changing scenes and watch with delight as the character adapts to each situation and surrounding.

Sherlock Jr is very funny but is also unusual and, in comparison with other comedies of the period, ahead of its time. It includes some excellent stunts that are the equal of anything done by Harold Lloyd in the same period, and, although it has a very short running time, manages to develop a good storyline throughout.

Justly feted as a masterpiece of silent comedy, Sherlock Jr represented one of the peaks of Buster Keaton's cinematic career. It is a film worth watching and has stood up well today.