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Cult Review
Archivist John
Senior Editor
Is The Sleep Walker worth watching today? Short answer: only if you have a deep, academic obsession with the frantic pacing of mid-1920s short-form comedy. It is not a lost masterpiece, but rather a chaotic artifact of an era that was still figuring out how to balance high-concept stunts with narrative logic.
This film is for the silent cinema completionist who enjoys seeing the physical limits of early 20s stunt work. It is absolutely NOT for anyone who demands a coherent plot or a satisfying payoff. It is a fever dream captured on cellulose, and while it moves fast, it often moves in circles.
This film works because it embraces a relentless, escalating absurdity that makes the 15-minute runtime feel like a sprint through a madman's subconscious.
This film fails because it relies on the 'it was all a dream' trope, which effectively castrates the tension of the death-defying airplane sequence and the train-car chase.
You should watch it if you want to see a man in pajamas fight a mule on a moving train while being mistaken for a high-profile criminal.
In a word: barely. While Sidney Smith is a capable physical comedian, he lacks the soulful pathos of Buster Keaton or the frantic, relatable ambition of Harold Lloyd. The Sleep Walker feels like a collection of gag ideas that were stitched together with very little regard for the connective tissue between them. However, the sheer audacity of the airplane sequence—where Sid's bed is carried into the sky—is a visual spectacle that reminds us how dangerous filmmaking used to be.
The film opens with a domestic problem that feels grounded enough: a man who can't stop walking in his sleep. But 'The Sleep Walker' quickly abandons any pretense of realism. The moment the storm hits and the bed takes flight, we enter a realm of cartoon physics. This isn't the grounded drama of something like The Darkening Trail; this is pure, unadulterated nonsense.
The airplane sequence is the clear highlight. There is a specific shot where Sid is dangling from the wing, his pajamas fluttering violently in the wind. It is visceral. It is terrifying. And then, the film pivots. He falls. He survives without a scratch. The stakes vanish instantly, replaced by the mundane inconvenience of being in public in his nightwear.
This shift in tone is jarring. One moment we are watching a man face certain death in the clouds, and the next, he is engaging in a low-stakes misunderstanding with a group of chorus girls. It’s a tonal whiplash that characterizes much of the lesser-known shorts of 1925. It lacks the thematic consistency found in more robust features like The Yankee Consul.
Once Sid boards the train, the film shifts into a classic 'mistaken identity' farce. The coincidence of his pajamas matching a convict’s uniform is a tired trope even by 1925 standards. However, the inclusion of a 'kicking mule' adds a layer of unpredictable physical comedy that saves the segment from being entirely derivative.
There is a moment where the mule interacts with the chorus girls that feels remarkably unscripted. It’s the kind of raw, dangerous comedy that you don't see in modern cinema. Compare this to the staged, almost theatrical movements in Rob Roy, and you see the difference between a historical epic and a desperate-to-please comedy short. The Sleep Walker is desperate, and that desperation is its most interesting quality.
The convict subplot is where the film loses its way. The 'heroine' is introduced so late that we have no emotional investment in her jewels being stolen. We are simply waiting for the next physical gag. When Sid finally triumphs, it feels hollow because we know, deep down, that the film has nowhere left to go.
We have to talk about the ending. The 'it was all a dream' reveal is the ultimate cinematic white flag. It’s a confession that the writers couldn't figure out how to resolve the situation. In 'The Sleep Walker', it feels particularly egregious. By making the entire ordeal a nightmare, the film retroactively deletes the one thing it had going for it: the sense of physical danger.
It works. But it’s flawed. The ending turns a chaotic adventure into a trivial anecdote. It's a stark contrast to the more grounded stakes seen in films like The Woman He Married or even the melodrama of The Spite Bride. In those films, actions have consequences. In 'The Sleep Walker', everything is erased by a yawn and a stretch.
Technically, the film is a mixed bag. The cinematography during the storm is surprisingly moody, using shadows to create a sense of impending doom that the rest of the film fails to live up to. The editing is fast—perhaps too fast. Jokes are often stepped on by the next cut, a common issue in comedies of this period that were trying to mimic the 'Sennett' style without the Sennett timing.
Sidney Smith’s performance is athletic but lacks a 'hook.' He is a body in motion rather than a character we care about. When you watch him compared to the leads in Honor Among Men, you realize that even in silent film, a lack of interiority can make a performance feel like a series of mechanical movements.
Pros:
- High-octane stunt work that remains impressive 100 years later.
- A brisk pace that ensures you’re never bored, even if you’re confused.
- The mule. Honestly, the mule is the best actor in the film.
Cons:
- A total lack of narrative stakes.
- The 'convict' subplot feels like a different, worse movie.
- Sidney Smith lacks the charisma of his contemporaries.
At the end of The Sleep Walker, the protagonist Sid wakes up in his own bed. He realizes that the entire sequence—including being flown on an airplane wing, falling to earth, and being chased as a convict on a train—was merely a nightmare. This 'dream' ending was a common, albeit lazy, trope in 1920s silent comedy to resolve impossible situations.
The Sleep Walker is a fascinating failure. It possesses the raw energy of the silent era's peak but lacks the discipline to turn its stunts into a story. It’s a 15-minute distraction that is technically ambitious but emotionally hollow. Watch it for the airplane, stay for the mule, and try to ignore the ending.
While it doesn't reach the heights of The Square Deceiver or the charm of Back to the Woods, it remains a curious footnote in Sidney Smith's career. It’s a film that tries to do everything and ends up doing very little, but the 'everything' it tries is so weird that it's almost worth the trip.
IMDb —
1924
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