Day Dreams (1922)

The 1922 silent comedy short Day Dreams stars Buster Keaton playing his signature deadpan “Great Stone Face” character, who becomes embroiled in a series of absurd and imaginative situations.

The film is best remembered for a technically ingenious scene set on a riverboat, where Keaton accidentally winds up trapped inside the giant paddle wheel mechanism as it repeatedly scoops him underwater. Executing risky acrobatic stunts while remaining straight-faced, he narrowly avoids getting crushed between the wooden paddles as the wheel turns.

Unfortunately, Day Dreams is now considered a partially lost film, with some sequences presumed missing over time. However the surviving footage, involving Keaton’s talents for physical comedy and visual gags, can still be viewed in the public domain. This remnants offer modern audiences a glimpse at both his legendary stunt work and inimitable stoic comedic style.

You can watch the full movie here:

Day Dreams (1922) Casts

• The Young Man: Buster Keaton
• The Girl: Renée Adorée
• The Theater Director (uncredited): Edward F. Cline
• The Girl’s Father (uncredited): Joe Keaton
• The Mayor (uncredited): Joe Roberts

Day Dreams (1922) Story line

Buster Keaton plays a hapless young man who wants to marry his sweetheart, but her disapproving father rejects him as unsuitable. Determined to prove himself, Buster leaves for the big city vowing to get a respectable job or die trying.

He writes glowing letters to his girl back home, embellishing his odd jobs as a veterinary assistant, Wall Street cleaner, and theater extra into fantasy visions of success. But in reality, Buster bungles through a series of disastrous work mishaps as a janitor, hospital aide, street cleaner and more.

In the film’s climactic riverboat scene, Buster gets comically trapped inside the boat’s giant spinning paddle wheel.

After narrowly escaping with his life, he returns home dejectedly to his girlfriend’s father, having failed at every job. Given a gun to shoot himself with as promised, Buster characteristically botches even this morbid task. His girlfriend’s fed-up father finishes the job by kicking the hopeless but indefatigable dreamer back out the window.