Buster Keaton's 1924 shortie, "Sherlock Jr," is my 29th favorite film of all-time and my 5th favorite film of the 20s. Here's the set-up: Buster Keaton stars as a movie projectionist/janitor for the local cinema. He dreams of becoming the next Sherlock Holmes, and he is in love with a beautiful woman. He also has a rival, the local sheik, who is just just as interested in the beautiful woman. Neither, however, have much in the way of mula to impress her. Keaton buys the woman a box of $1 chocolates and changes the price to look like it was $4. The local sheik, on the other hand, steals the woman's father's watch, pawns it for $4, buys her a box of $3 chocolates, and changes the price to look like it was $8. The father (Buster Keaton's father, actually) finds that his watch is missing. The local scumbag puts the receipt from the pawn shop in Keaton's character's pocket. Keaton's character begins an investigation into the matter, following the first steps of "How To Be A Detective," only to realize he's been framed. The rest of the film takes place inside the dream of Keaton's character. He goes to work at the cinema, falls asleep, and finds himself entering a detective flick, where he's the star detective. Hilarious gags and stunts ensue (one of which involves Keaton actually fracturing his neck!).
The main reason I like this film more than any other Keaton film is because it's his most experimental or exploratory film. One senses Keaton was trying to both push his as well as film's boundaries here. The centerpiece of the film focuses on the power of movies to create illusion (Keaton ingeniously depicts his projectionist's dream-self entering into a movie via the big screen) and inspire (after all, the end shows the projectionist learning how to ask for a woman's hand by copying what's concurrently shown on a film). Above all, however, the film confirms that Keaton was the most imaginative silent film comic of his day, and the film went on to inspire countless directors, including Woody Allen (see esp. "The Purple Rose of Cairo").
*As of the publishing of this review "Sherlock Jr" happens to be streaming on Netflix!
