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Sherlock, Jr.

Director: Buster Keaton
Year: 1924
Run time: 45 min
Source: Kanopy

When Buster Keaton started working in the film industry in 1917, he apparently had reservations about this new art form.  By 1924, he had changed his mind enough to direct film's first, and possibly its best, love letter to itself.  Sherlock, Jr. stars Keaton as a wannabe detective in the mold of Holmes, but Sherlock, Jr. is really all about life imitating cinema.

The greatest scene - probably among the top ten special effects of all time - is the moment when Keaton's character, dreaming, steps onto the screen itself from the audience's position, where he finds himself madly transported between locales as the scenes change.  The genius of Keaton's stunts is that he makes it look simple, when really each shot required using surveying equipment to get his position exactly right.

There are plenty of other great stunts here, but this is the first Keaton movie on the list where he has an interesting theme to match them up to.  The false detective, wrapped up in his dream, misses the solution to the mystery entirely, which his girlfriend ends up finding on her own.  Despite this, it's hard not to like Keaton, who feels sleuthing is all about looking smart, and knowing things without any work.  Ultimately, I still feel that Steamboat Bill, Jr. just edges this movie out for its daring and panache, but I love this movie for the way it looks at its audience and wonders how its audience is looking back.
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