The Saphead (1920)
Release Date: Jan 1, 1920 Wide
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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 432
Movie Info
The Saphead was based on the tried-and-true Winchell Smith stage comedy The New Henrietta, previously filmed in 1915 as The Lamb. Buster Keaton, at the time a popular 2-reel comedy attraction, makes his feature-film debut in the role of the addlepated son of Wall Street lion William H. Crane. In an effort to make something worthwhile of his unprepossessing offspring, Crane gives Keaton $100,000 to buy a seat on the stock market. Keaton gets mixed up in a seemingly worthless stock, but proves at
Jan 1, 1920 Wide
Jan 11, 2000
Cast
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William H. Crane
Nicholas Van Alstyne -
Buster Keaton
Bertie Van Alstyne His ... -
Carol Holloway
Rose Turner -
Edward Connelly
Musgrave -
Irving Cummings
Mark Tumer -
Jack Livingston
Dr. George Wainwright -
Edward Jobson
Rev. Murray Hilton -
Jeffrey Williams
Hutchins -
Beulah Booker
Agnes Gates -
Henry Clauss
Valet -
Katherine Albert
Hattie -
Edward Alexander
Watson Flint -
Alfred Hollingsworth
Hathaway -
Helen Holte
Henrietta Reynolds -
Odette Tylor
Mrs. Comelia Opdyke -
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All Critics (4) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (1) | Rotten (1) | DVD (2)
The Saphead is more historically important than it is aesthetically or artistically important.
Slightly amusing.
Audience Reviews for The Saphead
Ineffectual Bertie (Keaton, starring in his first feature) is a stock character -- the rich, pampered dandy who is pushed into the real world and must prove his mettle. And, of course, he's shy to tell a sweetheart that he loves her. Really, this seems like more of a Harold Lloyd vehicle. The other plot thread involves Mark (Irving Cummings), a struggling employee of Bertie's tycoon father who conspires to steal the family fortune via stock-market shenanigans. Much of the story hangs on a contrived coincidence that a valuable mine and Mark's mistress happen to share the same name (Henrietta). The script's complexity (particularly its financial element) tests the limits of silent film -- "The Saphead" is adapted from a play, and would have worked better as a talkie.
Keaton had acted in numerous shorts by this time (often playing second fiddle to Fatty Arbuckle), but hadn't quite found his niche yet. He actually smiles in one scene (gasp) and has little chance for physical comedy until a climatic sequence on the stock-exchange floor. Any Keaton silent demands to be seen, but don't raise your expectations too high about this one.
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Movie: ID: 575684525 Title: The Saphead Release Date: 1920-01-01 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 6 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- The Saphead (1920) (DE)
- The Saphead (1920) (UK)
