Sherlock, Jr.

Sherlock, Jr. / Kovaa kyytiä ja kaunokaisia (1925) / Fart, flickor och kärlek (1925).
    US 1924. PC: Joseph M. Schenck Productions / Buster Keaton Productions. Original distributor: Metro Pictures Corporation. P: Joseph M. Schenck. D: Buster Keaton. SC: Clyde Bruckman, Jean C. Havez, Joseph A. Mitchell. Cin: Byron Houck, Elgin Lessley. PD: Fred Gabourie. Cost: Clare West.
    C: Buster Keaton (projectionist / Sherlock, Jr.), Kathryn McGuire (Ruth), Joe Keaton (Ruth's father / man on film screen), Ward Crane (the local sheik / the villain), Jane Connelly (the mother), Erwin Connelly (the hired man / the butler), George Davis (conspirator), Kewpie Morgan (valet), Ruth Holley (the heroine of the screen), Ford West (theatre manager / Gillette), John Patrick.
    Loc: Los Angeles (around Los Feliz, Echo Park, 3630 Pasadena Avenue, Larchmont Blvd. near Beverly Blvd.), Chatsworth, Glendale.
    Premiere: 11 May 1924.
    Helsinki premiere: 22.2.1925 Piccadilly, distributor: Aktiebolaget Royal Film Osakeyhtiö – telecast: 26.11.1972 TV1, 14.2.1987 TV1, 29.9.2002 YLE TV2 – film control 12969 – S – 4065 ft, 1239 m, 1126 m / 48 min
    A sonorized 35 mm print of the Raymond Rohauer re-release version with a music score by Lee Erwin recorded at Carnegie Hall Cinema and with Norwegian subtitles, 43 min.
    Screened at Kino Regina, Helsinki (Buster Keaton), 24 Feb 2019.

Buster Keaton's third independently produced feature film.

In Daphne Merkin's review of David Thomson's new book Sleeping with Strangers: How the Movies Shaped Desire she quotes Thomson: “The movie screen is a window, and the trick of the medium is to let us feel we can pass through it” and comments: "We first watch, in other words, and then we connect so intensely that the frame falls away and we are part of the picture instead of outside it."

The distinction of Sherlock, Jr.  is that it is an early masterpiece of meta-cinema, and its approach to cinema as a dream space has not been surpassed. There have been homages and imitations from Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo to Renny Harlin's A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Sherlock, Jr. is a study of "the movie screen as a window". It shows how cinema can be a vehicle of escaping into a world of dreams, tempting us to live virtual fantasy lives, but it can also become a means of encouraging us to live our real lives to the full.

Sherlock, Jr. is also an incredible achievement of techno-comedy. The special effects were the most elaborate in Keaton's career. Also included are some of the most astounding of his magical circus stunts such as the disappearance into a suitcase or a jump into a man's stomach. The chase on the driverless motorcycle remains breathtaking no matter how often one sees it. The timing is brilliant at all times.

Keaton's character is somewhat Chaplinesque. His poverty is established in scenes that resemble Chaplin. He is also an ultra shy lover in scenes with Ruth. He is deeply humiliated by a scheming rival, but in dreams he remains a hero, Sherlock, Jr. the master detective. When Ruth returns to apologize for her groundless suspicions Keaton keeps looking at the screen for advice in romance.

A film full of fun, tenderness, and amazing comedy action. And, yes, pathos, like in the films of Chaplin.

A very watchable 35 mm print.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: OUR PROGRAM NOTE BASED ON DAVID ROBINSON:
BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: OUR PROGRAM NOTE BASED ON DAVID ROBINSON:

Sherlock, Jr.:n ensimmäisessä kelassa esitellään sankarin elämän todellisuus, joka sitten jatkossa kokee muodonmuutoksen unessa. Buster on korttelin elokuvateatterin koneenhoitaja ja siivoaja; vapaa-aikanaan hän on haaveileva amatöörisalapoliisi. Henkilöhahmo esitellään Keatonille tyypillisesti vaihe vaiheelta enemmän paljastavalla kuvasarjalla. Ensin näemme hänet lähikuvassa. Hänellä on suuret viikset, ja hän tutkii tärkeän näköisenä sormenjälkiä suurennuslasilla. Kamera ajaa taaksepäin, jolloin huomaamme, että sormenjäljet on painettu kirjan "How To Be a Detective" takakanteen. Seuraavaksi huomaamme, että hän on elokuvateatterissa vieressään harja ja roskakasa. Elokuvateatterin omistaja saapuu sisään ja hoputtaa hänet työhön. Ilman ainoatakaan tekstiä meille on näin esitelty sankarin elämän todellisuus ja unelmat.

Viedessään mielitietylleen dollarin hintaisen suklaarasian (parhaan mihin hänellä on varaa) hän korjaa laatikossa olevan hintamerkinnän neljäksi dollariksi. Kilpakosija, salonkileijona, sen sijaan pihistää tytön isän kellon ja panttaa sen ostaakseen oman lahjansa tälle; kavaltavan panttilainakuitin hän panee Busterin taskuun. Nolattu Buster saa porttikiellon taloon.

Palatessaan masentuneena elokuvaprojektorin ääreen Buster käynnistää illan elokuvan "Hearts and Pears" ja nukahtaa. Seuraa surrealistinen jakso, joka on metaelokuvan suurimpia saavutuksia. Samalla se on elokuvantekijä Keatonille luonteenomainen parodia Griffithin jäljittelijöiden harhaantuneista montaasikäsityksistä. Keatonille itselleen oli ominaista pyrkimys kuvata tärkeimmät tapahtumasarjat ilman leikkausta, eikä häntä kiinnostanut montaasi montaasin vuoksi. Uneksivan Keatonin kaksoisolento nousee pystyyn, katsoo valkokankaalle, rientää uhatun kaunottaren avuksi, ja hänet potkaistaan pois kuvasta. Yrittäessään palata valkokankaalle hän löytää itsensä ensin suljetun oven edestä ja sitten liikenneruuhkasta, kuilun partaalta, leijonan luolasta, autiomaasta, valtamerestä ja lumimyrskystä. Tämän tulikokeen jälkeen (Hollywoodin kuvaajat kävivät joukolla ihmettelemässä sen trikkityön toteutusta) hän pääsee kuitenkin mukaan elokuvaan – sankarina nimeltä Sherlock, Jr.

Sisäkertomus on teknokomedian huippusaavutus ja ajo ohjaajattomalla moottoripyörällä Keatonin henkeäsalpaavin kiitoratakliimaksi. Roistoja pakeneva Buster pääsee turvaan moottoripyörän ohjaustangolle. Ohjaaja putoaa kuitenkin pian istuimeltaan Busterin huomaamatta, ja ohjaajattomana kiitävä pyörä sinkoutuu kiivaaseen liikenneruuhkaan. Se ampaisee tietyömaalle, jossa jokainen kaivaja viskaa lapiollisen Busterin naamalle; se syöksyy keskelle köydenvetokilpailua ja vetää mukaansa molemmat joukkueet. Jakson geometria huipentuu kun pyörä sinkoutuu sillan rakennustyömaalle. Pyörän saapuessa sillalla olevaan katkokseen kaksi vastakkaisiin suuntiin kiitävää muuttoautoa kohtaa toisensa samalla hetkellä sillan alla, ja pyörä ajaa turvallisesti niiden kattojen yli. Moottoripyörän lähestyessä sillan keskeneräistä päätä koko rakennelma romahtaa niin, että pyörä laskeutuu pehmeästi maan tasalle.

Muutaman yhtä huiman vaiheen jälkeen Buster paiskautuu viime tingassa paikalle pelastaakseen sankarittaren. Hän herää siihen, että hänen tosielämän mielitiettynsä on tullut pyytämään anteeksi – kilpakosijan huijaus on paljastunut. Neuvottomana Buster vilkaisee valkokankaalle etsien samaistumismallia. Sankari silittää tytön hiuksia. Buster tekee samoin. Sankari suutelee tytön käsiä, antaa tälle sormuksen ja suutelee tätä intohimoisesti. Buster seuraa esimerkkiä. Valkokankaalla nähdään onnellinen pari lellittelemässä kolmea vauvaa. Buster raaputtaa päätään.

– David Robinsonin mukaan (Buster Keaton, 1969) AA 1990

SYNOPSIS FROM AFI CATALOG ONLINE:

A young man employed at a moving picture theater is studying to be a detective by reading a book. Although he wants to buy the girl he loves a large box of chocolates, he is one dollar short of cash. While sweeping the entrance of the theater, he unexpectedly finds a dollar bill in a pile of trash, but when a female customer arrives to inquire about money she lost, the young man gives her the bill he found. Then, when a tearful older woman also claims to have lost a dollar, he gives her one from his own pocket. Next, he is so intimidated when a burly man begins looking through the trash, that he hastily offers him his own dollar. However, the tough man returns the money, then reaches into the trash to retrieve a wallet stuffed with bills. Resigned to his lack of funds, the young man settles for the least expensive chocolates and, soon after, in the parlor of her father’s house, he shyly gives the girl the candy as well as a ring with a tiny diamond. Unnoticed by them, the “local sheik,” a rival for the girl’s affection, enters the house and steals her father’s watch and chain from a vest hanging on a coat rack. He then sells it at a pawnshop for four dollars and uses the money, to buy the largest box of chocolates, which he presents to the girl. When the girl’s father reports that his watch is missing, the young man consults his book to see what a detective should do. His distraction provides the rival an opportunity to slip the pawnshop receipt into the innocent young man’s pocket. Following the book’s advice, the young man searches everyone in the room, including the father’s hired man, and is surprised when the receipt is found on himself. The father banishes the young man from the house, and the disappointed girl returns his ring. When the local sheik leaves, the dishonored young man “shadows” him in the manner his book instructs, following him through the city into a freight yard, where his rival locks him in a box car and gets away. Although the young man escapes the moving train by grabbing the spout on a water tower, he is soaked to the skin and feels like a failure. Feeling dejected, he returns to the theater and sets up the projector for the next show, unaware that the girl has meanwhile learned from the pawn shop owner the true identity of the man who stole the watch. While waiting for the next reel of the evening's film, Hearts & Pearls or The Lounge Lizard's Lost Love , to change, the young man falls asleep and dreams that the girl, her father and his rival become characters in the film. In his dream, the young man leaves behind his body and the projection booth, crosses through the theater audience and enters into the film, where he has many cinematic adventures before becoming “the world’s greatest detective--Sherlock Jr.” In the film, the girl lives in a mansion with her wealthy father. Neither are aware that the young man’s rival has stolen a pearl necklace from the family vault with the help of the hired man, who serves as a butler in the film's elegant surroundings. Upon learning that Sherlock has been summoned to solve the crime, the thieves set traps in the billiard room, hoping to fell the master detective with either a decorative medieval axe that has been rigged to fall off the wall onto him or with a billiard ball, number 13, that contains explosives. When Sherlock the “crime-crushing criminologist,” arrives, dressed in an elegant coat and top hat, he closely observes the people in the room, and evades the falling axe and the offer of a poisoned drink. When he begins to play pool, the thieves wait for the explosion, which never happens, and are unaware that Sherlock has discovered and taken possession of the dangerous billiard ball. The next day, Sherlock’s valet, Gillette, helps him prepare for the day, then Sherlock joins the action that awaits him on the street. Sherlock follows his rival to the roof of a building, then jumps into the back seat of the car his rival is driving. He is there when his rival takes the pearls to a gang of outlaws, who nab the detective and threaten to kill him. When Sherlock learns that the girl has been abducted and taken to a cabin, he escapes with the pearls and disguises himself as an old woman, with the help of Gillette. Although the thugs pursue him, Sherlock uses many clever tricks to avoid capture, then jumps onto the handlebars of a speeding motocycle driven by Gillette. Although Gillette falls off the cycle when it bumps over a large rut in the road, Sherlock continues rolling unscathed through many dangerous situations, unaware that he is alone. He discovers his predicament just before rolling into the cabin where the girl is being held, but then is able to drive off with her in one of the outlaws’ cars. Although the outlaws are in close pursuit, Sherlock gets rid of them by throwing the explosive billiard ball, but then is unable to brake the car before it careens into a lake. Undeterred, Sherlock fashions a sail out of its convertible roof, enabling the couple to remain afloat for a while. He returns the pearls to the girl just before the car begins to sink. Awakened, the young man is back in the projection booth and still feeling the sting of failure, when the girl arrives with an apology from her father. Taking his cue from the movie that is still playing on the screen, he takes her hands and kisses them, places his ring on her finger, then kisses her. When he checks the film for further instructions, he is bewildered to see that the couple on the screen now have two babies.