Sherlock Jr. Overview:

Sherlock Jr. (1924) was a Silent Films - Comedy Film directed by Buster Keaton and produced by Buster Keaton and Joseph M. Schenck.

Sherlock Jr. was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1991.

Sherlock Jr. BlogHub Articles:

Silents are Golden: A Closer Look At: Sherlock Jr. (1924)

By Lea Stans on Jun 25, 2024 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

A Closer Look At: Sherlock Jr. (1924) Buster Keaton, Sherlock Jr 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of one of Buster Keaton?s most beloved films: his third feature, Sherlock Jr. (1924). Still every bit as funny and fresh as it was in the early 20th century, its sophisticated special effects have... Read full article


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Quotes from Sherlock Jr.

The sheik: We are lost! He is sending for the world's greatest detective - Sherlock Jr.!


The sheik: [to Sherlock Jr. about a man locked in a tight cage] That's a detective. When he's dead I'll put you in there.


Projectionist: [as Sherlock Jr., riding on the handlebars of a motorcycle, unaware the driver fell off] Be careful or one of us will get hurt.


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Facts about Sherlock Jr.

Many filmographies credit Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle as co-director of this film. Whether this is true or not is unclear. Buster Keaton did originally hope to have Arbuckle work as his co-director, but claims Arbuckle was still too depressed over the scandal that had nearly ended his career two years earlier and had become difficult to work with. Then Keaton went ahead as the sole director of the film. Doris Deane, Arbuckle's second wife, later claimed Arbuckle directed the entire film. Historians disagree as to how much Arbuckle may have directed - which varies from none to as much as half.
In 1965, a year before Buster Keaton died, author Rudi Blesh interviewed him for a biography and asked, "How did you come to make a surrealistic film like 'Sherlock, Jr.'?" Keaton replied, "I did NOT mean it to be surrealistic. I just wanted it to look like a dream."
In one scene at a train station, Buster Keaton was hanging off of a tube connected to a water basin. The water poured out and washed him on to the track, fracturing his neck nearly to the point of breaking it. This footage appears in the released film. Keaton suffered from blinding migraines for years after making this movie and was unaware of the reason, until a doctor diagnosed him in the 1930s.
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National Film Registry

Sherlock Jr.

Released 1924
Inducted 1991
(Silent)




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Also directed by Buster Keaton




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Also produced by Buster Keaton




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Also released in 1924




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More "Detectives" films



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