Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

JohnHowardReid 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.

bsmith5552 "The Saphead" was Buster Keaton's first feature length film. To me it was a disappointment. At the time Keaton was making short comedies in which his considerable talent was displayed.For this film Keaton was loaned out by Joseph Schenck to Metro Pictures in a role that Douglas Fairbanks had previously played and for which he recommended Keaton for the part. "The Saphead" is more of a drama with comedy sequences far and few between. It should be noted that Keaton did not have control over the production of the picture.The story centers around millionaire Nicholas Van Alstyne (William H. Crane) and his family. Son-in-law Mark Turner (Irving Cummings), who is married to Van Alstyne's daughter Carol (Carol Holloway), is a crooked stock broker who plans to ruin the old man. Van Alstyne's spoiled, shiftless son Bertie (Keaton) is set up to take the blame for Turner's infidelity. Bertie is called a saphead by his father in recognition of his disappointment in him. Turner manages to gain control of the old man's holdings and.......................Keaton's best scene comes when he is thrown out of the stock exchange and performs one of his famous pratfalls. He has few opportunities to display his comedic talents in a mostly dramatic role.This film perhaps foreshadowed Keaton's fate when he moved to MGM in 1928 and lost creative control over his films and quickly lost favor with his fans.

Chrissie This isn't a Keaton film, or even a Keaton vehicle. Nevertheless, Buster Keaton is the only thing that makes this sappy little melodramatic comedy memorable. The slowly-paced early part of the film even offers a rare treat for the Keaton fan -- Buster smiles, just faintly, twice. (It's a nice departure from the mugging grins and laughs he did in the Arbuckle shorts.) And at the very end comes a real treat. Buster cuts loose on the floor of the Stock Exchange, tackling brokers left and right. In one priceless shot, he takes a flying dive between a man's legs and brings him down in a move that will have you reaching for the remote to watch again in slow motion.Overall, it's a pleasant enough film, and short enough to be worth watching for the moments Buster provides.

David Hoffman Keaton plays a character that is somewhat bewildered by life-he meets the wrong train, he asks permission to quit winning at gambling, he is even inept in getting arrested. All is done with his deadpan expression and his intense eyes. This combination of innocence adrift in a life of circumstances provides Keaton with ample humorous moments. At times, I found the comedy to be somewhat muted; yet the pacing was well done and the stock market scenes are thoroughly delightful. `The Saphead' is not on a par with `The General', ‘Sherlock, Jr.', or `Seven Chances', but the film has its share of riches for the viewer.