One of the visual
gems of the silent
era, SHERLOCK, JR., along with THE GENERAL, is the film most cinema
eggheads are speaking of when they talk of Buster Keaton as a great
director. Although the entire film is excellent, the sequence
most often recalled is a technically amazing one (even a century later)
where Keaton enters a movie theater and literally walks into a film in
progress.
Like THE THREE AGES, SHERLOCK, JR. is
a transitional film, featuring realistic gags during the opening
sequences and outlandish ones during the extended dream
sequence.
Once Keaton began making features, he felt the need to leave behind the
more cartoonish gags of his short films, yet the plot of SHERLOCK, JR.
allows him to engage in those very kind of gags for one last time in
his feature career. The film also includes one of the great Keaton
chase scenes of all time. A must-see for any fan of silent
movies.
½ -
JB