The rest of the dream runs with a clockwork precision. He dives through a window and directly into a disguise. He rides the handlebars of a motorcycle for miles after the driver has fallen off, narrowly missing crash after crash. He rescues the girl, solves the case, and is declared a hero. Meanwhile, back in reality, the girl has done some basic detective work of her own and solved the case of the watch.
It's fitting that a case so simple cannot be solved by Sherlock in real life, as he has not dedicated himself fully to either of his crafts. This, after all, is a detective who must consult a checklist that begins with the instruction to search everyone in the room, and is thwarted when his rival deftly plants the evidence on the detective while he is reading.
None of this is important, though. The story exists solely as a reason for Keaton to risk his life for our entertainment. Do we wonder why three people were needed to write a silent film? Do we care that the dream sequence is beyond the suspension of disbelief? Of course not. It is breathtaking and years ahead of its time. That alone is more than enough.
starring: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, and Erwin Connelly
written by: Clyde Bruckman, Jean C. Havez, and Joseph A. Mitchell
directed by: Buster Keaton
NR, 44 min, 1924, USA
Article comments