which is wasted. In an age when most comedies are all windup and no punch, this is the most treasurable of virtues." Film critic Dennis Schwartz wrote that Sherlock Jr. is "one of Buster's superior silent comedies that's noted for his usual deadpan humor, frolicsome slapstick, the number of very funny sight gags, the many innovative technical accomplishments and that he did his own stunts (including the dangerous one where he was hanging off a ladder connected to a huge water basin as the water poured out and washed him onto the railroad track, fracturing his neck nearly to the point of breaking it. Keaton suffered from severe migraines for years after making this movie)." David Thomson, in The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, refers to the film as Keaton's "masterpiece" and "the most philosophically eloquent of silent comedies." Rotten Tomatoes reports a 94% approval from 17 critics, with an average rating of 9.7/10. In 2012, it was ranked number 61 in a list of the best-edited films of all time as selected by the members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. It was a major influence on Woody Allen's 1985 film The Purple Rose of Cairo. In the 2012 Sight & Sound polls, it was ranked the 59th-greatest film ever made in the critics' poll. In 2015, Sherlock jr. ranked 44th on BBC's "100 Greatest American Films" list, voted on by film critics from around the world. Forty minutes into the film, Buster jams on the brakes of the car he is driving, causing the chassis to stop and the body to keep going. This gag was reused in the 1987 James Bond film The Living Daylights. On January 1, 2020, the film entered into the public domain in the United States. On January 5, 2023, Richard Brody included it on his list of "Thirty-four Movies That Celebrate the Movies." Accolades In 1991, Sherlock Jr. was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film was ranked 62nd on the American Film Institute's list AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs (2000). See also Buster Keaton filmography List of United States comedy films List of films featuring fictional films References Bibliography External links Sherlock Jr. at the International Buster Keaton Society 1924 films 1924 comedy films Silent American comedy films American silent feature films American black-and-white films