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Sherlock Jr.

Comedy / Family
1924 / 44 minutes
RATING: 8/10

If you want to get your kids interested in the golden oldies, Sherlock Jr. may be the perfect introduction. This is a black-and-white classic with the frenetic pace of a Saturday morning cartoon – the action never stops!

Buster Keaton plays the part of a movie theater janitor/projectionist who has ambitions about becoming a great detective and winning the hand of a certain beautiful girl.

But he’s not the only fellow interested in the lass. Standing in his way is a tall, dark, and handsome rival who, we quickly find out, has no scruples – when no one’s looking this scoundrel steals a watch from the girl’s dad. But wait, there’s a theft? Isn’t this an opportunity for a detective wannabe to show his stuff? Buster offers to do an investigation, but he is humiliated twice over when the clever scoundrel frames him for the theft, and then the girl’s father asks Buster to leave and never come back.

Things are looking bad for Buster, but the story just keeps getting better and better. Dejected, Buster returns to the theater in time for the afternoon showing and gets the movie started. But as it’s playing, he falls asleep, and in his dream he joins in on the action.

It just so happens to be a detective story. And it just so happens that Buster dreams himself in as the suave and savvy star detective. In this film within the film it goes a lot better for Buster, as he brilliantly tricks and evades a whole horde of villains.

The best action scene in the movie is when Buster, in hot pursuit of the villains, hops on the front handlebars of a motorbike being driven by his trusted sidekick. But, unbeknownst to Buster, just as the motorbike started off, his sidekick fell off – Buster is on it alone, up front on the handlebars of the speeding bike, urging the absent driver to be a little more careful about the way he’s driving!

But what’s going to happen when Buster wakes up? Well, even as he’s solving mysteries in his dream world, his beautiful girl is figuring out things in the real one.

CAUTIONS

There are moments of peril, and a brief occasion or two of fisticuffs that might be a bit scary for the very young.

CONCLUSION

At just 44 minutes, and jammed pack with action, this might be the best silent film to share with modern audiences. And – added bonus! – this film is so old it is in the public domain, and can be watched for free in the video below.

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Family, Movie Reviews

Seven Chances

Comedy / Silent 56 min / 1925 Rating: 8/10 This Buster Keaton classic is a silent film, so instead of asking my kids if they wanted to see it, I just popped it in and started watching on my ownsome in the family room. And, as I expected, it didn't take long for them to sit down beside me. I think it was the otherworldliness that got them. This is unlike anything they've seen before, from another time, all black and white, with dialogue you read and music that's so well matched to what's on-screen that it's almost like they can talk. Keaton stars as Jimmie Shannon, a down-on-his-luck businessman who has long wanted to marry his sweetheart, Mary Jones, except he doesn't have the money to support them. And, to make matters worse, his boss has been tricked into "a financial deal that meant disgrace – and possibly prison – unless they raised money quickly." So Jimmie is as down as down can be. That's when the lawyer shows up with news that Jimmie's grandfather has given him seven million dollars... on the condition that Jimmie is married by 7 pm on his 27th birthday! Jimmie's problems are solved: he can marry his girl and keep everybody out of jail! But today is his birthday, so off he rushes to propose. Sadly, poor Jimmie muffs it, making it sounds like the reason he wants to marry Mary is just so he can get the money. She refuses! The distraught Jimmie has no interest in marrying anyone now, but is pressured by his partner to marry someone, anyone just to keep them out of jail. The partner makes a list of seven names – seven chances – for Jimmie to try. And when Jimmie foolishly does, he gets laughed right out the door. But that partner isn't finished: he tells the newspaper about the story, and effectively takes out an ad for ladies interested in marrying a millionaire to meet him at the church. When several hundred show up, the chase is on, and for the next ten minutes we get to watch as Keaton jumps, leaps, slides, and runs, runs, runs for his life! Cautions This is an old film and with that comes a couple of concerns. With Jimmie seemingly willing to propose to just about anyone, we see him approach a woman from behind, only to veer off when he discovers she's black. It's a quick few seconds and kids may not even notice the racism here, but if they do, then you can talk about the way things were back then. The bigger caution is the film's premise: marrying for money. This was remade in 1999 as The Bachelor, and it bombed, probably because. by adding color, sound, lots more dialogue, and a star who gave a restrained performance, they made it almost believable. And this is only funny as a farce. If anybody would actually marry someone for money, that'd be a sad creepy story. The original remains hilarious precisely because it stars a clown no one could ever find believable. Conclusions I encourage you to rent this, or get it from your library, even though many free copies can be found online. It is so old it's in the public domain, free for anyone to republish, but most of those free versions are grainy or have a soundtrack that's nothing more than random selections of classical music. The very best version is KINO's, which pairs a crisp picture with music that matches the action perfectly. It makes a huge difference! So who would like this? I've tested it on pre-teens and skeptical 20 and 30-year-olds too, and while it took them all a few minutes to warm to it, by the end everyone was giving it the thumbs up. They appreciated the hijinks and some also enjoyed the education: this is what film was like way back when, and Seven Chances is one of the rare gems that still hold up today. You can watch the trailer below. ...