The Projectionist (Buster Keaton) works at the local movie theater. Not happy with his lot in life, he dreams of being a famous detective. The Projectionist is in love with a Girl (Kathryn McGuire) who is the daughter of a fairly wealthy man (Joe Keaton). Wanting to buy his girl a present he goes to the local confectioner’s shop to buy some candy. All he can afford is a small box that costs a dollar. He changes the amount on the box to a 4 so it looks like he paid four dollars for the candy. At the girl’s house he gives her the box of candy. He then gives her an engagement ring.
While they are in the sitting room a slimy man known as The Local Sheik (Ward Crane) comes into the house and sees them together. Wanting to outdo the Projectionist he steals the father’s pocket watch and pawns it for $4. The then buys a big box of chocolates at the confectioner's for $3. He goes back to the house and presents his gift to the girl.
Soon after that the father notices that his pocket watch is missing. The Projectionist decides to solve the crime himself. The Sheik slips the pawn ticket into the Projectionist’s pocket. When it is found, the Projectionist is blamed for stealing the watch and is kicked out.
Back at the movie house the Projectionist, feeling sorry for himself, mopes around while a movie is being shown. The film is about a stolen necklace. The Projectionist falls asleep and dreams that he is in the movie. He dreams that he is Sherlock Jr. and is called in to solve the theft of the necklace.
In the meantime, in the real world, the Girl does some snooping on her own looking for the truth of the stolen pocket watch.
“Sherlock Jr.” was released in 1924 and was directed and starred Buster Keaton. It is an American silent comedy mystery romance and farce. In 1991, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
As with all of Buster Keaton’s movies, the film is mostly comedy skits and slapstick. Most of the special and physical effects were really good. Keaton’s disappearing into an open suitcase being held by Ford West was an actual “wow!” moment. There is really no mystery involved in the film, but the movie is still incredibly cute and lots of fun to watch.
While shooting the water tower scene Keaton was hit with so much water that the force of it fractured his neck. He had blinding headaches for years. He didn’t know he had hurt himself that bad until a decade later when a doctor saw the healed fracture on an x-ray. In the dream sequence, Keaton’s partner, played by Ford West, is named Gillette. William Gillette was the first actor to play Sherlock Holmes on the stage.
The Projectionist reads a book called “How to be a Detective”. The book contains seven rules to being a great detective. They are: 1. Search Everybody. 2. Look for Clue. 3. Examine all windows. 4. Search for fingerprints. 5. Shadow your man closely. 6. Send for the police. 7. Keep cool.
The actor who plays the father is Joe Keaton, the real-life father of Buster Keaton.