Review of Sherlock Jr. (1924) by Simon D — 12 Sep 2015

You might not expect the world greatest detective in the middle of a Buster Keaton silent movie but here he is, although he is apparently Sherlock Jr. This is one short silent film that is just shy of 50 minutes but its all perfection and such a masterpiece. This movie is just more than fantastic it is just flawless with its humour, its direction but also its use of technical cheats to make it look as if Keaton is for example jumping into the cinema screen or the camera work of a rather famous motorcycle scene and it's great to see in a movie made in the 1920's. The reason I think I and I think others can and have connected to this is because it is so simple yet so lovely, it is like a piece of art plastered onto the screen and made to move, a joy to watch and look at and is probably one the smartest ever silent movies.

Buster Keaton stars in the movie as the film projectionist at the local cinema and he wants to be a detective, he even carries a little book around with how to take care of the situation should a crime arise. He is also in love with a girl called well, The Girl who is played by Kathryn McGuire and she also has interest from the local Sheik (Ward Crane) who isn't exactly a nice man in this story. Things really become even more crazy yet wonderful when the projectionist dozes off during a viewing and he dreams of himself being Sherlock Jr. When this happens the movie steps out of being a great one and becomes a masterpiece of camera trickery done so well indeed by Byron Houck and Elgin Lessley and that's not to mention the editing which is considered by editors themselves to be some of the best there is in film. The stories dream is magical, Keaton's stunts whilst in his dream and also out of it are mind blowing and done to such a degree that you fall in love with his acting skill.

At such a short running time you might expect not much and the chances of you loving this slim, well think again because this is probably the shortest film I have seen where I have already connected with the characters in the first 5 minutes. Keaton is incredible in this; many a fan of his and of silent film will point to "The General" as his greatest but for me this is Keaton not just at his stunt doing best, but at his most dramatic best too. Clyde Bruckman and the writers make a story that is ingenious and so well done but also well thought of, it's the kind of little movie that stands the test of time simply because it's so easy to watch but also contains such brilliant moments.

As you might guess there isn't a whole lot to say about a movie that by some organisations standards is not even a full feature film, but I think it is, it deserves credit for what it is and I am sure critics who like it would agree with me. I implore anyone to try this, even if you think you dislike silent movies because this is not only short but actually way more than just good, it is an actor at their finest and that's not to forget the technical team at that too. So overall I just felt Sherlock Jr. was a fine movie worthy of its praise and it's not often I feel such a perfect movie comes along from so long ago that even today is in my opinion an astounding picture, and one that I personally really loved.