Sherlock Jr.

Filmed in 1924 and directed by and starring Buster Keaton, Sherlock Jr. is overall, an entertaining film. I have seen other Keaton films before including The General (1927)  and this one compares very well. I felt this movie lacked the amount of action seen in The General, but it still contained memorable bits of slap stick humor. One scene which especially stuck out in my mind was the scene at the end where Keaton's character is watching the lead actor on the big screen and mimicking his moves. I found this scene delightfully funny because Keaton's girl friend did not seem to notice his glances at the screen, and the scene seemed so casual. The scene sort of just happened as a result of Keaton and his friend being in that particular projection room at that particular moment in time . I liked how that worked out so well. I think the reason I find these older movies particularly humorous is the  fact that they are silent and therefore the actors must work extra hard to convey certain points. In doing so, some of the movements they make can be a little awkward or unusual. Therein lies the humor for me. Bear in mind that I am not poking fun at these timeless classics, merely finding an extra source of amusement within them.

Keaton's Sherlock Jr. is displaying a slapstick comedy. Slapstick is very action oriented. The jokes are centered around a character doing something unusual with their physical environment. The scenes of Keaton riding the motorcycle and sailing the car in the water exemplify slapstick humor.

Contemporary comedies tend to draw laughs more from dialogue oriented jokes. Naturally, this was not possible with silent films. Occasionally contemporary movies will feature a brief scene or two which involves slapstick or visual/site gags, such as in some of Mel Brooks' films. Specifically, in his film Robin Hood Men in Tights, there is a fight scene between Robin Hood and Little John in which both combatants use staffs, and as he fight progresses, the staffs continue to break in half. They continue to fight using one of the halves until eventually the staff is about a quarter of its original size and Robin Hood is able to knock Little John off of the bridge. For the most part however, modern comedies utilize dialogue-based jokes. A few examples of this are the movies Airplane!, and The Jerk. In Airplane!, the scene in which the stewardess is trying to understand what two passengers are saying and an elderly passenger announces “I speak jive”. This type of joke would not be possible with a silent film. Additionally, a slapstick joke would not have carried the same level of humor in the situation. In the Jerk, the scene towards the end of the movie when Steve Martin's character is leaving his house declaring he does need any of his possessions, but he changes his mind as he passes various objects including an ashtray, a paddle game, a remote control, and a chair. Again, this joke would not have carried the same effect if it was in a silent film.

This film also reminded me of another film I have seen which involves a similar concept. Woody Allen's classic The Purple Rose of Cairo. In that film, the plot is reverse of Sherlock Jr., instead of the main character going into the movie that is being shown within the film, the character from the movie within the film enters the real world. Similar humorous antics ensue, and the film is a success.