Sherlock Jr.
(1924) dir. Buster Keaton
viewed: 12/12/09 at the Castro Theatre, SF, CA
Odd, yet not so odd, that this would be the first film in the eight years that I’ve been writing this diary, that I will have reached a third entry on. I write about every film I see in full, and it’s not surprising that the brilliant Buster Keaton and the fantastic Sherlock Jr. would make for such repeat viewing. I had first seen it in a literature class on DVD and then a couple of years later at the Castro Theatre, along with a live accompaniment.
This time around it played at the Castro as part of the Silent Film Festival’s winter event, sadly the only film I got to catch that day. And this time, I took the kids and their mom and her boyfriend, the latter two having not actually been exposed to Keaton before at all and the most latter who had not even been to the Castro before. Much like the last outing to the Castro for a Keaton film, Our Hospitality (1923) with new initiates, a good time was had by all.
And, you know, how could one not have a good time?
Felix and Clara love Buster Keaton, and even at their young ages, having to read intertitles to them and explain certain anachronisms or complex story changes, they are as caught up, laughing, and awed by his cleverness, his timing, his stunts, and sight gags. We spent the next half hour or so, talking through the best scenes, the most impressive stunts, and the sheer fun of the damn thing.
They played another Keaton short beforehand, a very good one called The Goat (1921), which I think we’d watched on DVD when we had rented some of the Keaton shorts. We’ve really watched a lot together. We’ve watched The General (1927), Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), Go West (1925), The Cameraman (1928), Our Hospitality (1923) and now Sherlock Jr. As well as some of Keaton’s shorts and some of the work that he did with Fatty Arbuckle. And yes, I am bragging a bit.
I had forgotten that the scene in which Keaton falls with a huge pipe from a watering basin onto a train track that he had sustained the worst injury of his career. Apparently he didn’t realize it for some years, but he had fractured his neck, which led him to have migraines for the rest of his life. With knowledge of this, in watching the scene, you can see his distress and disorientation are real.
Keaton is a master, a joy. And this film, which is interesting on numerous levels, is also just plain fun to watch and enjoy.
