It is not easy being the new guy at the stock exchange.

The Saphead is a unique Buster Keaton movie.  It is his first feature length film, and is as much a drama as it is a comedy.  It is based on a play, The New Henrietta, that starred Douglas Fairbanks, who made his film debut in the movie version in 1915, retitled The Lamb.   Fairbanks suggested Keaton for the role when it was going to be remade.  

Keaton was loaned to Metro for the duration of filming.  He would become a permanent Metro employee a decade later, when his silent comedies fell out of fashion.  Metro must have been a bit nervous about selling this as a Buster Keaton film.  He is the movie's biggest star and has the most screen time, yet his picture does not appear on the original poster and he is billed last in the credits

The Lamb takes place in the old west, while The Saphead takes place on Wall street.   Keaton is the son of a big Wall street tycoon.  His sister, Rose, is married to a broker, Mark, whom unbeknownst to her, has fathered a child with another woman.  Bertie (Keaton) is meanwhile in love with Agnes, an orphaned girl his father has raised as his own daughter.

To impress Agnes, Bertie tries to act like a wild man, staying out all night and gambling.  His efforts are fruitless as she is in love with him already.   His actions irritate his father, but his ire lessens when he learns that Bertie is to marry Agnes.   However, just as they are about to say "I do."  letters arrive from Mark's mistress.  To save his sister unhappiness Bertie takes them as if he is the one having an affair. 

Bertie's father takes a trip to escape the drama.  In his absence, Mark tries a takeover of the firm.  Bertie, who has recently bought a chair on the stock exchange for 100 grand, ends up saving the day without realizing he is even doing it. 

This is Keaton's least comedic role.  He has one physical gag when he gets tossed out of a room.  Other wise the humor derives from the title cards, "Do all these seats cost 100,000 dollars?"  He asks someone at the stock exchange, referring to a random chair against the wall.  When confessing to Agnes that he is not a bad guy, he says, "I'm good. I've tried my best to get over it - but I can't - and I still kneel down and say my prayers every morning - before I go to bed."

Without close ups or spoken dialogue, the humor is not easy to access.  This would have worked better as a play or talky.  The Saphead will be forever remembered merely as an anomaly in Keaton's filmography. 

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