Silent Movie Day - Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.

Nevada City Film Festival and The Onyx Downtown present Silent Movie Day with a special double feature celebrating the brilliance of silent film star and filmmaker Buster Keaton - "Sherlock Jr." (1924, 45min, G) followed by the documentary "The Great Buster: A Celebration".

Anticipating Jean-Luc Godard and postmodernism by decades, the detective fantasy Sherlock Jr. largely takes place inside the head of a hapless and wronged cinema projectionist (Keaton). Using his amateur detective skills, the projectionist follows the thief to the train station -- only to find himself locked in a train car. Disheartened, he returns to his movie theater, where he falls asleep and dreams that he is the great Sherlock Holmes.

Keaton’s third feature is a breathtakingly virtuosic display of every silent comedy technique imaginable, from his own formidable physical skills to some then-groundbreaking camera trickery. While there is endless debate as to which is the funniest of Buster Keaton’s 1920s features, there’s little doubt as to which is the cleverest.

Following the film is director Peter Bogdanovich’s documentary The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018, 1h 42m, NR, Documentary/Comedy). For fans of Buster Keaton or those who are just discovering the comedian, The Great Buster is an essential film in understanding on of America’s most influential filmmakers and his legacy as a truce cinematic visionary.

The film features interviews with many industry figures such as Dick Van Dyke, Richard Lewis, Bill Hader, Cybill Shephard, Werner Herzog, Nick Kroll, Quentin Tarantino, among many others, and is packed with incredible archival footage that delves deep into Keaton’s genius.

Host or Publisher Nevada City Film Festival