"Sherlock Jr" Train Track Slapstick

Bradley Keaton's 1924 silent film, Sherlock Jr., is the story of young man studying to become a detective while working at a movie theater. As soon as the first scene begins you see that many props are used that center around the young man. Props and a clumsy young man usually lead to something called slapstick comedy.

Slapstick is a type of comedy that can seem somewhat outlandish because it involves the characters doing something that doesn't have a lot of common sense or is a little "out there." It can often involve props, like in the classic "pie in the face" example of slapstick. Slapstick often involves activities or actions that would never, or very, very rarely ever happen. And in turn consequences that aren't at all fitting for the previous action. For example, a train crashing into a person rarely ever happens and when it does the person is either severely injured or killed.

Sherlock Jr. encounters this runaway train example at minute fourteen (14:02) of the film. The film opens with Sherlock Jr. following a man as he crosses train tracks behind a stopped train car. On screen, you only see the tracks and the stopped train car that the two men are behind. This is on the left side of the screen. On the right, the screen is left generally empty.

Slapstick is often set up this way to allow the out-of-nowhere prop to smack the character in the face. Take the classic "pie in the face" example of slapstick. On many occasions, the pie will come flying into the characters face and will come out of nowhere from off screen. When Sherlock Jr. hides directly behind the stopped train car that we already see on screen, he leaves the right side of the screen empty. This allows the "pie" in this case the runaway train car to come out of nowhere from off screen and collide with Sherlock Jr., sandwiching him between the two train cars. This lets the viewer receive the surprise of the train car coming out of nowhere and the comedy of the character being squished. Two main qualities of slapstick.

We can't forget a third aspect of slapstick. The "where did that come from!" reaction from the character and their miraculous survival, as Sherlock Jr. just walks right along.

While slapstick can be one of the most cliche methods of comedy, it is still one of the most recognizable  and, as seen from this 1924 film, one of the oldest as well.