Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Micitype Pretty Good

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Cineanalyst This isn't a Buster Keaton film; it's merely a film starring Keaton. Having Keaton star in this feature-length, supposedly more-serious film (as opposed to the short comedies Keaton himself made) was a shrewd business move by Joseph Schenck, to boost Keaton's popularity for his upcoming projects, especially among the critics. It's an ironic twist that today "The Saphead" is only as widely circulated as it is because of its association to Keaton. Keaton was one of the greatest screen comedians and, at times, was an innovative filmmaker. Sapheads, however, made this film.The light melodrama is worthless, and I think the comedy isn't funny. To have Keaton only act as a good-natured idiot is to limit and waste his talents. The film itself is a filmed play, with yappy intertitles and an awkward mix of melodrama and comedy, none of which works. Keaton understood comedy--the gags, timing and momentum. Watch Keaton's best films (even his lesser ones) and you can see the huge difference between them and this--how and why they are funny and this isn't. Keaton also knew that cinema isn't theatre, that intertitles should be used economically in silent film, and he knew how to parody melodrama to mix cohesively within a comedy. "The Saphead" can be, at least, instructive in demonstrating how good Keaton's films are.(Note: Some scenes are slightly damaged.)

mccrohan 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.

Clark Richards Buying? Selling? No, I'm waiting for the crash----7/10 Although somewhat maligned by the multiple story lines and slow paced drama of the film, 'The Saphead' is saved from its own mediocrity by an incredible ending sequence that has Buster running, jumping and practically flying around the New York Stock Exchange. In defense of the film, the part that Buster plays, Bertie 'The Lamb' Van Alstyne, was not written with Buster, or his brand of comedy in mind. The Saphead is a remake of the Douglas Fairbanks film 'The Lamb', which was released roughly five years before. Having Buster come in to do 'his thing' makes this film unforgettable, but in no way nearly as good as the films he would go on to make independently.Besides the wonderful ending, the opening credits were very creative. But 'The Saphead' turns out to be nothing more than two bookends holding up some dated and dusty romance novels.7/10. Clark Richards

Damfino1895 The problem with this film is that it not a slapstick comedy and was never intended to be one, so if you are going to watch it forget about Buster Keaton, the comedian and look at Buster Keaton, the actor. Keaton is a revelation in this film, his performance is restrained and excellent proving that he was an actor as well as a comedian, a fact that makes his middle years even more sadder, truly a talent wasted by the studio system of the 30's. I'd like to add that Keaton had no problems adjusting to talkies, as commonly assumed, he had a fine speaking voice and could deliver a comic line perfectly, the problem lay with him losing control of his productions and being given poor quality material to work with, he never lost his talent as widely believed. All the performances in this little gem of a movie are first class especially Irving Cummings and William H Crane as well as Keaton's. This is a nice way to spend an hour, but, the final twenty minutes are the best as it is plain to see Keaton's contribution in the scenes in the Stock Exchange as Bertie runs around manically saying "I take it", but, not really knowing why. For many people, their only experience of silent movies is slapstick comedy, so I would say broaden your horizons and start with this one.