Watch The Saphead (1920) Free Online

Release Date: 1920

Cast: Beulah Booker, William Henry Crane, Carol Holloway, Irving Cummings, Buster Keaton

Categories: Movies, Comedy, Silent film, Satire, Indie, Black-and-white

The Saphead is a 1920 comedy film featuring Buster Keaton. It was the actor's first starring role in a full-length feature and the film that launched his career. The plot was a merging of two stories, Bronson Howard's play The Henrietta and the novel The New Henrietta by Victor Mapes and Winchell Smith, which was meant to be an adaption of Howard's play. Nicholas Van Alstyne is the richest man in New York, but he is very disappointed in the behavior of his son, Bertie, who stays out all night gambling and partying, and who seems to show no talent or interest in work. In fact, Bertie is... MORE

The Saphead is a 1920 comedy film featuring Buster Keaton. It was the actor's first starring role in a full-length feature and the film that launched his career. The plot was a merging of two stories, Bronson Howard's play The Henrietta and the novel The New Henrietta by Victor Mapes and Winchell Smith, which was meant to be an adaption of Howard's play. Nicholas Van Alstyne is the richest man in New York, but he is very disappointed in the behavior of his son, Bertie, who stays out all night gambling and partying, and who seems to show no talent or interest in work. In fact, Bertie is feigning this behavior because he believes it will help to impress the girl of his dreams, his adopted sister Agnes. Unfortunately, it helps him to do nothing more than get disowned by his father. Bertie's sister, Rose, is married to an unsuccessful lawyer named Mark, who is admired by Van Alstyne but in fact is a troublemaker. He has a mistress named Henrietta and an illegitimate child with her. When Henrietta dies after a long illness, a letter is sent to him informing him about the present circumstances. Mark manages to claim the letter is actually Bertie's, breaking Agnes' heart and ensuring Van LESS