Keaton’s 4th feature film (after 19 short two-reelers) was Sherlock Jr.; Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame, once described as “the most surreal mainstream film of its time, and possibly of all time”.  The film contains arguably the most original and outrageous motorcycle scene ever filmed for motion pictures.

 

One of Buster’s longer productions, approximately 4-5 months (almost as long as his epic masterpiece The General), Sherlock Jr. was a very complicated film to shoot, requiring every trick in the book, from optical manipulation, in-camera trickery, post-production effects, vaudevillian gags and so forth.  It also required re-editing after lackluster audience test screenings in Long Beach, CA.  Eventually Buster settled with a 44 minute running time and left it at that.  Basically, it was not really considered a short, yet nor was it really a full feature either - it simply was, as I like to describe it, a Buster Keaton work of art.

 

Production started November of 1923 and the film was eventually released on April 21st, 1924.  It was reported to have been the least popular film of Keaton’s movies, earning just under a ½ million dollars at the box office.  Not a loss for Keaton by any means at the time but also not a success either.  Like many great works of art, it would take several decades before the world eventually appreciated it and recognized it for what it was – pure genius.  In 1991, it was selected for preservation at the United States National Film Registry in the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."  Then 9 years later in 2000, AFI (the American Film Institute), ranked the film as being #62 on the funniest films of all-time list.  In 2005 Time Magazine ranked it on their list of top 100 films of all time.  TV Guide listed it as one of the funniest films of all time and film critic for Combustible Celluloid, Jeffrey M. Anderson, in a review in 1999 described it as being his choice for the greatest film ever made.

 

The innovative plot using film within film with Buster toying with reality and imagination deserves a college study course for its brilliance in story structure, imagery, cinematography, lighting, special effects and it’s overall impact on cinema, as it’s reported after the movie was released Hollywood itself couldn’t understand how much of the film techniques were accomplished.  The movie was filled with illusion and magic because that’s what Buster wanted to showcase.  It was a technical wonder wrapped around a simple storyline about a young shy projectionist (and part-time janitor and aspiring detective) at a movie house who falls asleep and enters the film he is projecting to an audience.

 

Keaton, playing The Boy/Sherlock Jr. is basically falsely accused of stealing the pocket watch of his sweetheart’s father (played by Buster’s real father, Joe Keaton).  Banished from her home for the crime he did not commit, the boy (Buster) returns to the movie house and after falling asleep enters the movie being projected on screen.  It’s here within the projected movie (the dream) where Buster transforms into an incredible detective (Sherlock Jr.), and with his trusty assistant, Gillette (Ford West) works to solve the crime of missing pearls and save the girl.  While the real life portion of the missing pocket watch caper is being solved by his girl, Buster resolves his imaginary crime case in his dream.  And, as the movie comes to a close, imagination entangled with reality takes place as the actors in the projected movie on screen kiss and Keaton, now awake, follows suit by kissing his girl.

 

It should be noted that there is a little controversy over the director’s credit for Sherlock Jr. Although the film’s sole director’s credit is noted as Buster Keaton, it’s reported that Keaton nearly ran over the “director” of the film while Keaton was executing one of the motorcycle stunts.  Well, that mention of “another director” on set brought about questions as to whom this was and if Buster was actually the sole director of the film.  Some speculate that referenced director was Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle (aka, Fatty Arbuckle), while others state it was his pal, Eddie Cline.  It’s also reported that at one point Keaton smashed the motorcycle into two cameras, while another report stated he missed both cameras and the director when he crashed into a parked car and ended up on the windshield…and so it goes.

 

Although Keaton regularly used Eddie Cline to co-direct his films, at this point in Cline’s career he was directing his own projects and was not available.  So since Buster Keaton and

Fatty Arbuckle were dear close friends and collaborated on some of Buster’s previous projects like Day Dreams, Buster did indeed hire Fatty to help direct Sherlock Jr., which originally had the working title of, “The Misfit”.  But, hiring Fatty was only temporary as it proved to be a huge mistake.

 

Between 1914 and 1921 Fatty Arbuckle was a prominent comedian star in American movies and a close second in fame to Charlie Chaplin.  He was also a director and independent producer as well as the man who took Keaton under his wing in 1917 and helped launch Buster’s own career.  But in September of 1921 Fatty was wrongfully accused of contributing to the death of a 26-year-old wannabe actress, Virginia Rappe, at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco where he was throwing a party.  Charged with man slaughter, Fatty’s career was virtually over after 3 hugely publicized trials which were covered by a press industry that tore him apart (because sensationalism sold papers).  Despite the final outcome where Fatty was found completely innocent of the charges, the scandal nevertheless led to him becoming the 1st blacklisted actor in the film industry (well before the Red Scare and McCarthyism).  This tragic scandal ruined him professionally and privately.  Though Buster had good intentions in covertly hiring Fatty for Sherlock Jr., he soon realized while Fatty was directing, that his friend and mentor was a changed man – he was now irritable, impatient and cruel.  Needless to say there are different stories as to how Fatty was eventually removed from Sherlock Jr., but Fatty’s 2nd wife, Doris Deane who married him in 1925 (a year after the film was released) claimed her husband not only provided Buster the story idea for Sherlock Jr., but that he wrote and directed the entire film himself!  But note, this was coming from a woman who 3 years later would sue Arbuckle for divorce, charging him with desertion.  So, do I believe her?  Not really.  Fatty may have contributed a lot to Sherlock Jr., but let it not be forgotten that there was a reason Fatty originally hired Buster as his head gag writer and sidekick performer at his production company, “Comique (Comicque) Film Corporation”.  Simply put, Buster Keaton was born into a vaudevillian family act and raised in front of an audience.  His entire life, until by chance when he met Fatty through a friend (Lou Anger) in Manhattan while walking down Broadway, had been devoted to entertaining people.  Fatty, although a kind, good, and loyal friend, nevertheless did understand, and capitalized on Keaton’s multi talents.  In fact, Buster even stunt-doubled Fatty at times for some outrageous gag falls.

 

A master at physical tumbling and self-taught acrobatics, part of Buster Keaton’s performance as a child in vaudeville was to get tossed around on stage by his father, Joe Keaton.  In fact as Buster grew older and bigger, his mother ended up having to sew on a suitcase handle to the back of his jacket so his father would have a better grip when throwing him into a stage prop, or heckling audience member.  Fatty used all of his young protégé’s talents to the maximum effect (while Keaton in turn learned all about the camera and film world) and so I’m very sure if anyone wanted to have a discussion over who contributed what for who, they’d have a difficult time 100 years later – simply put, they both ate off each other’s talents.  Regardless, when it comes to motorcycles, Keaton (and his entire team, with or without Fatty) created a sequence in Sherlock Jr. that underlined his personal love for the machine, the gag and the laugh.

 

Keaton’s iconic high-speed ride sitting alone on the handlebars of a runaway motorcycle speeding through congested intersections, collapsing bridges, under trucks, passing trains, explosions, and so on was a testament to his physical and creative abilities.  The sequence was brilliant in humor and filled with excitement.  In trying to absorb some of the exhilaration brought about by this film, and wanting a more personal connection to the motorcycle chase, I needed to find a way to travel back in time.

 

With the film’s production sites scattered throughout Los Angeles 100 years ago for the motorcycle sequence, it would simply be impossible today to find these locations without the dedicated work of a truly extraordinary real life detective.  Fortunately, one such exceptional person exists.  Historian John Bengtson, and author of the book Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood through the Films of Buster Keaton, provides a clear pathway for anyone to travel back in time and visit Keaton’s historical motorcycle sequence locations.

 

Below:  Esteemed silent film historian John Bengtson provides direction and encouragement to explore Keaton’s Motorcycle locations throughout Los Angeles, California.