The Saphead

It’s a film with Buster Keaton alright, but not a Buster Keaton film… In fact, the silent comedy THE SAPHEAD (1920) marks Keaton’s first feature-length film and although he features prominently, his part is a far cry from the incorporated physical slapstick antics which were to follow some years later. Here though, he plays the pampered, inept son of a powerful Wall Street financier whose general ineptitude and his privileged upbringing see him stumble from one misadventure to another… however, in order to win the heart of the woman he loves, he’s finally forced to face reality.

Bertie ‘The Lamb’ Van Alstyne (B. Keaton) is the son of Nicholas Van Alstyne (William H. Crane) – the true wolf of Wall Street and the richest man in New York. Unfortunately, Bertie shows no interest in stepping in his father’s shoes, preferring to spend his days idling away whilst an array of butlers and maids fuss over him. On top of it, he secretly yearns for a romance with Agnes Gates (Beulah Booker), his adopted sister! ‘Old Nick’s’ disappointment doesn’t end here though: his son in law, Mark Turner (Irving Cummings), is liked by Nick but in fact not only is he a rather unsuccessful lawyer but a secret troublemaker who up until now has managed to hide a dirty secret from his young wife Rose (Carol Holloway) and the secret in question involves Mark’s affair with his mistress Henrietta with whom he has an illegitimate child. The beans are about to be spilled when a young woman appears in Mark’s office and informs him about Henrietta’s sudden illness – in order to prove to Mark she’s telling the truth she shows him a short letter written by Henrietta asking him for financial help…

Meanwhile, back in the Van Alstyne household, Bertie confides his secret love for Agnes to the maid, who promptly produces a book with tips about how to win the heart of the modern woman…in which the author suggests that modern women are not romantics and thus not interested in the traditional gentleman, far from it, they prefer the Jack the lad type who drinks and gambles the night away and exudes an air of danger. Being the quiet type, Bertie is initially confused as to what to do and decides to pick up Agnes (who returns from a brief holiday) from the station and welcome her back with a bunch of flowers. Unfortunately – and being the saphead that he is – he manages to confuse the stations and while Agnes arrives at Grand Central (wondering where Bertie is) he is waiting at Pennsylvania Station, wondering where she is. Disappointed that Bertie didn’t come to greet her, Agnes finds her own way home and expresses her frustration to Old Nick that Bertie just doesn’t seem to care for her. Disappointed that Agnes didn’t appear to wait for him, Bertie – by sheer coincidence – bumps into some of his mates who promptly invite him along to a den of iniquity and ‘the lamb’ not only gets truly wasted but tries everything to get arrested after the police raid the place – could his wild and disgraceful behaviour and his photo in next day’s newspaper convince Agnes that he is now a fully fledged daredevil worthy of her love? Sadly, the opposite is the case and it’s only after the misunderstanding is cleared that Bertie and Agnes confess their love for each other. More to the point, he plans to get married but Bertie’s dad won’t have any of this nonsense and insists that first, his son must prove that he is able to earn his own money and fend for himself… before disowning him!

Stepson Mark is also in big trouble after receiving a letter informing him that Henrietta has died and he needs to sort out affairs for his illegitimate child. Panic-stricken, Mark lies and insists the letter is meant for Bertie and that it is him who had an affair with said Henrietta (in fact, Bertie has a framed photograph of a Vaudeville dancer called Henrietta on his wall…). Rather than tell the truth, Bertie plays along with Mark’s lie in order to protect his sister Rose from the truth but this turns out to be a bad move because the letter/affair happens to interfere with Bertie’s planned wedding to Agnes…. Just as he managed to get himself a job in his father’s firm and things seem to be going in his favour, it’s Mark’s lie which threatens to ruin everything but Mark doesn’t stop there… Rest assured, he gets his well-deserved comeuppance while our hapless hero finds a happy end with Agnes after all.

THE SAPHEAD merged two stories, namely Bronson Howard’s 1887 play ‘The Henrietta’ and the 1913 play ‘The New Henrietta’ based on Howard’s comedy. Keaton is in top-form as the stone-faced wastrel who undergoes a complete change of character and lifestyle though the actual star is William H. Crane as old man ‘Nick’ (Crane had already played the part in the earlier stage version). This splendidly restored film benefits from a pacey script and there are some hilarious scenes when novice Bertie enters the ruthless world of the stock market.

Eureka have just released THE SAPHEAD on Blu-ray for the first time ever in the UK and the first print-run (2000 copies) is presented in a Limited Edition O-card slipcase. The generous Bonus material includes Audio Commentary, new video essay by David Cairns, complete alternate version of The Saphead, ‘A Pair of Sapheads’ restoration comparison of the two versions, Collector’s booklet, plus the 1966 short ‘The Scribe’ which was Keaton’s last film (he died that year of lung cancer) about ‘Construction Site Safety’.