I tend to lean more towards Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd when it comes to silent comedy greats, but to be fair the only Keaton I’ve seen is THE GENERAL and the clips in the documentary THE GREAT BUSTER (and SUNSET BLVD. if you count that). I’ve been trying to dig into his more famous films and since this was only 44 minutes, it only made sense to spend the time watching it. I thought his humor was okay, but the writing in this is what really shines. The $4 that Sherlock tries to show he has comes back to haunt him in such a devious way it broke my heart. I’d consider this more a romance film than a comedy film, even though the water pouring on him scene is great and other things work comedically. I also love the pool scene. I’m also a sucker for mysteries so the end was particularly fun. I’m going to check out STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. next and I hope that impacts me more than this did.
