The Saphead

Moviecut—The Saphead

source: The Saphead

Before I watched "The Saphead" I was under the impression that it was a Buster Keaton comedy, rather than a straight drama that starred Buster Keaton. For the first twenty minutes or so I was rather confused by the lack of jokes but then after a quick Google search I figured out what was happening. After I realised what the nature of the film was, I found it pretty enjoyable. It's nothing special but it also isn't totally forgettable. The story may not be totally original but it did have some interesting beats in it that I wasn't expecting. Keaton does a really good job in this role, and he even gets some moments to show off his comedic talents to the audience (the most notable being the stock market scene, which gets some decent laughs). So yeah, overall it's nothing special but it's a decent watch and the feature film debut of a comedy legend.

After acting in fifteen short films, most of them with Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton was finally given a break into the feature-film business, thanks to the personal recommendation of Douglas Fairbanks. In The Saphead, he plays the young, pampered son of the wealthy William H. Crane. This is an ensemble piece, with everyone in the family getting pretty equal screen time. And while it's technically a comedy, the major part of the plot is actually a very interesting drama. There's death, infidelity, deceit, family disinheritance, and scandal-but there's also funny banter and great situational comedy in the final scene. If you don't really understand the New York Stock Exchange, brush up on your buying and selling knowledge before you rent it, though. I couldn't help but marvel at this movie, since it's the oldest movie I've ever seen. Technically, I've seen Birth of a Nation, but when I saw it, it was only 92 years old. The Saphead, since I just watched it only days ago, is 99 years old. Almost a century ago, people were walking and talking, laughing, falling in love, buying stocks, having affairs, and creating relatable stories to entertain audiences. Sure, the men in the movie wore heavy lipstick and shiny top hats, and the women used clothing to actually cover their bodies, but not much has really changed.

Keaton fans will be disappointed by this adaptation of a 1913 play which was originally intended for its Broadway star, Douglas Fairbanks. The comic's feature debut is as far from his customary knockabout farces as it is possible to get, with him playing the part of the simple-minded son of a Wall Street financier who finds himself cast off (with just $1 million) when he announces his intention to marry his father's young ward (Beulah Booker). Apart from a 10-minute sequence set on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Keaton gets very little chance to perform his physical acrobatics, and the meagre touches of humour to be found in the screenplay simply aren't strong enough to carry the film.

The Saphead was Buster Keaton's first feature length film, but is usually ignored as it is not a true comedy. In this film Buster plays Bertie van Alstyne (who was played by Douglas Fairbanks in an earlier version) and the film is a transfer of a Broadway production called the "New Henrietta". By watching the opening sequences you can tell that the film will not be a true comedy and Buster does not appear in the early parts of the film. The Saphead begins with us finding out that a character named Mark Turner has had an affair with a now dying woman, who wishes to break up his marriage. Finally now we get to see Buster in a scene with some subtle comedy. We discover that he is in love in a woman called Agnes, who is coming home that evening by train, Buster does not see her at the station and she travels home alone. Eventually they are to get married when during the ceremony Mark Turner's affair is discovered, but he manages to force it upon Buster who is sent away. This film may sound boring, but the last 20 minutes are funnier than any Keaton film I've seen (most of them). Buster visits the stock exchange only to get confused and...you have to watch it for yourself to find it truly funny. Overall I found it to be a very good film with its mix of melodrama and comedy.

This movie is a very successful transfer of a hit Broadway play to a feature film. It gives us a chance to step back to the time of 1920 and enjoy the theatrical experience of attending a very popular Broadway play. The actors are splendid . The film is an adaption of the play :The New Henrietta " and it was originally filmed as "The Lamb" starring Douglas Fairbanks and it helped establish him as atop movie star. The print is excellent. I totally enjoyed it as a Silent movie and would very much doubt that it would be improved as a Talkie Enjoy...From personal experience, I have found that I need conditioning for satisfactory enjoyment of Silent films. I usually begin by viewing a short silent comedy such as a Chaplin, etc and thus distance myself from the talkie movie attitude.

Copyright 11 October 1920 by Metro Pictures Corp. U.S. release: 18 October 1920. New York opening at the Capitol: 13 February 1921. 7 reels. 77 minutes. NOTES: Final movie of 19-year-old Beulah Booker (who presumably retired in favor of marriage). A revival of the stage play, "The New Henrietta", opened on Broadway on 22 December 1913. It starred Douglas Fairbanks as Bertie, William H. Crane, Amelia Bingham and Patricia Collinge. In 1915, Fairbanks starred in a considerably modified movie version, The Lamb, for D.W. Griffith. COMMENT: Always a pleasure just to look at, this most beautifully photographed comedy is not your typical Keaton vehicle-and all the better for that innovation. True, he does have some wonderful routines with a roulette table and a corrupt cop, a bungled wedding, and two glorious slapstick highjinks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. But his is basically a character role, and his occasional facial expressions are priceless. The support players form an especially fine ensemble. Every role is judiciously cast. Crane, Booker and Cummings are especially adept. The direction is highly polished, the photography superb, the settings most attractive. AVAILABLE on DVD through Kino. Quality rating: 10 out of ten.

This is Buster Keaton's first feature-length film. And, oddly, it is not the type project you'd expect this very physical comedian to attempt. It seems that Douglas Fairbanks had done a play on stage and the studios wanted to film it. However, Fairbanks had other commitments and recommended Keaton play his part. Such a role was right up Fairbanks' alley. Despite his reputation today as strictly a swashbuckler, he made some nice comedies in his time, though none of them bore any semblance to Keaton's more acrobatic comedies. And so unfortunately, Keaton looks rather out of place in this film. This isn't to say he's bad, but compared to what you'd expect, his character is amazingly subdued and dull. The story is about a rich family where the father thinks his son, Keaton, is an idiot. Heck, he refers to him as a "saphead", so it's obvious that this severe man isn't father of the year material. As for Keaton, he's a pretty dim bulb and again and again he's a disappointment to his old man. However, late in the film the family's fortune is squandered by the father's beloved son-in-law and only later (and rather by accident), Keaton saves the day. While I was far from thrilled by this low-key comedy (with few laughs), I must say that the print from Kino is excellent--especially given its age. Plus, in addition to seeing this film, they also have packaged two shorts, THE HIGH SIGN and ONE WEEK, on the same DVD.

Something like The Saphead isn't what you would expect to be Buster Keaton's feature film debut. The whole thing seems too ordinary, too stagey and melodramatic to be so. This is due to the fact that The Saphead was not a Keaton-helmed project; he was suggested for the role of the rich young man Bertie by Douglas Fairbanks, who had previously played the role on Broadway. Bertie is the first of the spoiled, clueless young man types that Keaton would later return to in The Navigator and Battling Butler. He seeks to impress a sweet young woman named Agnes by coming across as a bad boy, gambling well into the morning hours and having breakfast in the afternoon. His father confronts him about this behavior and has him cut off until he can find a job. Bertie seeks out to do just that, in the meantime winning the hand of his girl-- well, almost. During the ceremony, his sister's slimy husband Mark receives letters from his recently deceased mistress Henrietta, asking him to take care of their illegitimate child. His secret about to be revealed, he presses the letters on Bertie, breaking Agnes' heart and bringing the union to an abrupt end. Fortunately, things manage to pick back up after Bertie unwittingly saves the family stock business. While there are a few Keaton-esque moments every now and then, for the most part The Saphead is just a typical stage to film adaptation of the period. Unlike the films Keaton would later star in and direct, this picture lacks spontaneity and laughs. The action on screen never comes alive until the climax, when Keaton finally gets to jump and be thrown around as he dashes through the trading floor and saves the day. The entire movie isn't a bore, however, and there are a few humorous inter-titles and gags, but it's just doesn't have a story that seems to suit the particular talents of its main star.