Buster Keaton’s artistic breakthrough remains to this day
absolutely the funniest film ever made. Buster plays a movie
theater projectionist who is falsely accused of stealing a gold
watch from his girlfriend’s family and banished from her home.
Keaton immediately hops on the trail of the rival suitor who
framed him. Eventually, he falls asleep while projecting a
movie, and winds up stepping into the screen itself in a dream
state(in a casually brilliant sequence of tricky optical effects
that people still talk about), where he imagines himself
to be the dapper star of a film about Sherlock Jr., the world’s
second greatest detective. Unbelievable stunts (Keaton did his
own, as always) and complicated gags ensue, moving this 45-minute film
along at a fever pitch. You'll likely be floored by Keaton's
pool game if nothing else (though one amazing shot is missing
from Kino Video's recent reissue). Chuck Jones, Woody Allen,
Wes Craven, Jackie Chan, and Steven Spielberg are among the
filmmakers who have paid explicit homage to Keaton’s irrestible
shenanigans, and his remain perhaps the most accessible of all
silent movies.
Navel-Gazers: 10 Movies
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Reviews by Bryant Frazer bryant@deep-focus.com
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