Buster Keaton Double Bill: Day Dreams and Sherlock Jr

Day Dreams

Buster Keaton is a boy who wants to marry his sweetheart (a pre-stardom Renee Adoree). But her practical father (Joe Keaton -- in real life, Buster's father) wants to know, "How will you support her?" Buster swears he will go to the city to make good, adding, "If I am not a success I'll come back and shoot myself."

The father generously offers to loan him his gun, should that come to pass. And so Buster is off, writing letters home of his adventures.

Sherlock Jr

Although the film only lasts 45 minutes, no other film is so full of what made Buster great than Sherlock Jr. Buster plays a projectionist at a local movie house and (like many of his characters) just can’t catch a break. When he is falsely accused of stealing a watch that belongs to his girlfriend’s father, he is banished from her house and he slinks back to the cinema and dreams why life can’t be like the movies. At this point is the famous Projectionist Booth Scene which film critic David Kalat calls “not only the most celebrated moment in the film, but the most spectacular sequences in all silent cinema.”

It has been hailed as a masterpiece and it’s influence has been seen in 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' (screening later in our series on Thursday 13th October). Pauline Kael has hailed it as “A piece of native American Surrealism.” This film will make you fall in love with Buster Keaton all over again - it has made audiences gasp and we dare you not to also.

See these films as part of our 20th anniversary - we're screening a collection of cinema-related films during October to celebrate the magic of cinema!

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