Buster Keaton directed, as well as starred in, Sherlock Jr. It is one of his most special effects filled films. Some of the tricks he pulls here have been used a thousand times since, and although this movie is nearing 100 years old, they still look good. He was an amazing film innovator.

Keaton plays a movie projectionist who is studying to be a detective. He gets blamed for stealing a watch from the father of the girl he is in love with. He runs off and falls asleep in his projection room while a movie is playing. He dreams that he wakes up and walks into the movie. In 1944's Cover Girl, Gene Kelly dances with a reflection and then a duplicated image of himself. When Keaton goes into his dream you see two of him. One is asleep and the other is walking around. Kelly's sequence, 20 years later does not improve on Keatons direction.

After he enters the movie, Keaton finds himself in an astounding sequence, jumping from one scene to another. When he finally enters the actual movie, he is a detective who rescues the girl and foils the bad guys. There is the required car chase that ends with an exploding billiards ball and a car going into a lake.

The best stunt in the movie, though, is Keaton riding on a motorcycle handle bars after the driver is knocked of. He must have spent some time on the timing of those scenes. Not only was he an actor and director but he was one of the greatest stuntmen ever.

Other silent film comedians did pratfalls and physical stunts like Keaton, but none were so technical in their film making. He explored the possibilities and advanced the art of the motion picture. Sherlock Jr. is a surreal fantasy that shows just how far we have not come in film making.

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