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Buster, to get the approval of the father of the girl he wants to marry, sets off for the big city to show he can get a good job to support her.

He first writes to his girl that he's a big shot in a hospital. She dreams he's this important surgeon. It turns out he's just the go-fer for a veterinarian, bringing cats, dogs.....and a skunk...to the doc.

Then he writes that he's on Wall Street and "cleaning up." She dreams of a big tycoon, but - you guessed it - he's the sanitation worker and a wild scene involving confetti ensues.

After he's done with that - he doesn't last long anywhere - he writes that he's in the stage. She daydreams he's the leading actor, but he's only an extra. He winds up getting chased by the cops, inadvertently taking money that didn't belong to him and....

Finally, he writes that the police "follow his every move." She daydreams he must be the Police Captain, giving the men orders, but really it's just more of that last chase scene, except there are about 100 cops chasing him now, "following his every move."

The two-minute ending is pretty strange, too, a downer for some, but a fitting one!

A comic short with some wonderful scenes, `Day Dreams' unfortunately is not as consistent as it should be. Some of the comedy just doesn't have that Keaton magic. Going to the city to make something of himself so he can marry his home town sweetheart, Keaton naturally finds himself in a variety of entanglements. The scenes outside the clothing story are great. But the highlight is the hilarious chase by the cops; it ranks with the pursuit scenes of `Seven Chances' and the cattle scenes of `Go West' for sheer ingenuity and fascinating orchestration.

Sky Movies just screened this in UK ; 2001 restoration by Lobster Films, with some great tints and hues. Running time about 23 minutes makes it pretty complete, overall not too much nitrite decomposition on the print either. It did seem to drag in places, today's audiences seem a bit less able to take the pace, although there are some great sequences. The best scene is probably the elongated one on the run from the law, particularly on the riverboat where Buster is caught on the wheel as it sails and apparently walks on water. The gag ending falls kind of flat, but overall a pretty complete print to my knowledge - 6/10 for the film and 10/10 for the folks at Lobster Films !

This short comedy has some great scenes, and it's enjoyable even though it apparently survives only in a somewhat fragmented form. The setup allows for some imaginative gags, and Renée Adorée helps out, playing the girlfriend of Keaton's character.

The story has Buster trying his hand at various professions in order to prove himself to his girl's father, getting himself into a series of comic situations each time. There are several routine stretches, but there is also a great chase sequence in the last half, which has many inventive details and that must have required some very meticulous planning. It's similar to some of Keaton's other memorably exaggerated chase setups, and it's a lot of fun to watch.

Fans of Keaton should find this well worth watching, even though you must accept many imperfections in the print in order to see it.

Buster Keaton asks a father for the hand of a nice girl. Since Keaton does not know whether he is able to support the girl he goes to the city to prove that he can and promises to her father he will shoot himself when he fails. The girl gets letters from Keaton explaining what he is doing at the moment. First he works in a sanatorium, his letter says. The next shot tells us that he is nothing more than an assistant in a dog clinic. Of course things do not go well. Then he writes he was tired of the sanatorium and is now cleaning up things. What and how he is cleaning up is the best part from this short. Again he messes things up big time and his next job is in the theater, doing 'Hamlet' to be precisely. Of course things are not as they appear to be in the letter. His coming home is another highpoint in this short.

Although 'Daydreams' does not belong to the funniest Keaton shorts I have seen so far, it definitely has some Keaton magic. I like him more than Chaplin because he is able to really make me laugh instead of just smile. Here he does that a couple of times, especially in the two parts I mentioned above. Although there are less chases, parts where I think he is at best, than I am used to, Keaton gives us a nice short. I have come to understand that the surviving prints of this film are incomplete but I can assure you that the story feels complete.

A young man (Buster Keaton) proposes a young woman (Renee Adoree), but her father questions how he might support his daughter after the marriage. The youth informs that he will move to New York, find a job and marry the girl. If he fails, he would commit suicide. Once in the big city, he works in many professions and writes to his girlfriend; and his imaginative girl reads each letter and thinks in her beloved being successful on each trial.

"Daydreams" is a very creative short comedy, showing how the imagination is able to fly, in funny situations. In accordance with the information in the beginning of the DVD, this film is totally fragmented, without being possible the restoration of many parts; therefore the story was completed in the restoration process with pictures and inter-titles to keep the original sense. Buster Keaton is again very hilarious with many gags. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sonhos e Realidade" ("Dreams and Reality")

Since 7/10 seems too high and 6/10 seems too low. Daydreams has Keaton as an unskilled man seeking the hand of the girl he loves. Her dad says that he can't marry her unless he proves himself able to earn a living. Keaton says he will go to the city to earn his fortune. If he fails he will return and shoot himself. Dad promises to loan him his revolver.

You see Keaton writing letters about one sequence of events- He is a doctor performing operations in a hospital (he actually works at a veterinarian's), he is "cleaning up" in the financial sector (he is a street sweeper), and he is performing Hamlet onstage (he is an extra in a male chorus line in vaudeville). The big sequence is the same as that in Cops, with Keaton being chased by hundreds of cops for what seems like a minor offense. Aren't there burglaries and robberies to solve?

What probably weakens this short a little bit is that only stills remain of some of the sequences such as Keaton as a surgeon and as a stock broker. But it has enough good gags to be worth it for any fan of Buster Keaton. Featuring Keaton regular Big Joe Roberts as a menacing bully, Keaton's own father as his best girl's father, and Renee Adoree as Keaton's girl, who never seems to ask herself how exactly Keaton could be performing operations if he has never gone to college or medical school.

"Daydreams" is basically a collection of sketches, book-ended by an opening and closing pair of scenes. As such, it has something of the perfunctory feel of a 'compilation episode': the storyline, inasmuch as there is one, consists of Buster exaggerating the status of, trying and failing at a series of lowly jobs, but while the individual episodes vary in humour, they never build into anything greater than the sum of their (rather brief) parts. Films like "Hard Luck" or "The Balloonatic" have the merit of a reasonably coherent progression from one somewhat arbitrary encounter to the next; this one is constrained by the necessity of cutting back to the framing structure, which deprives it of that vital illusion of logic. Whether as a consequence of this or not, the result is not nearly so funny. (The best sequence is possibly a battered Buster's arrival back on the doorstep of his beloved... at the hands of the US Postal Service!)

For fans, this is worth watching as ever just in order to see Buster in action, and there are certainly laughs to be had; but it offers little human interest -- this is Inept Buster without the customary redeeming turning of the tables -- and suffers from a lack of his usual narrative inspiration. The humour tends in places towards simple slapstick (Buster squirts a hose, people get wet) rather than the inspired second-guessing of audience expectations at which he excels. The funniest concepts (disguising himself as an inert shopkeeper's dummy, keeping pace exactly with his pursuers) are echoed in more successful comedies, and sadly the famous paddle-wheel clip is really less impressive when actually seen in the context of the slender plot. This comedy is inoffensive, but not really a showcase for Keaton's abilities; unlikely to win over any converts, perhaps.

Do get a lot of enjoyment out of Buster Keaton's short films, while tending to prefer marginally the best of his feature films. Although some are better than others (which you do expect from anybody), they are a lot of fun to watch and there are some brilliant ones. A big part of their appeal is Keaton himself, as well as those jaw dropping stunts which he did all by himself(!), which isn't known as an icon in comedy and film for nothing.

To me, and many others it seems, 'Daydreams' is not one of his best. From personal opinion it's one of his lesser efforts, while still being well worth watching (as is the case with all Keaton's silent short and feature films, less so when he transitioned into sound). Keaton is on good form, as are his stunts, and 'Daydreams' does contain two of his best ever sequences. It is sadly though also severely flawed in the story department, which is not as coherent as much of his other work.

Instead, 'Daydreams' did feel very fragmented and incomplete, it was clear that there were things intended to be there but left out which does affect the coherence.

Pacing tends to be erratic too, sometimes having a jumping around feel and at other times it drags as a result of the story being too thin. While much of the short is amusing and charming, it does feel like something is missing. The spark and invention is not always quite there.

Keaton though has great comic timing and is athletic and expressive as usual. Renee Adoree is adorable without being bland and their chemistry is charming and light-hearted. The atmosphere of 'Daydreams' is light-hearted and good-natured, despite the imperfections of the story. The gags are amusing, if not always hilarious, and two of Keaton's best ever sequences are here.

One is the one on the steamboat wheel, but even better is the police chase, which is quite hilarious and ingenious. Have no issues with the photography, which is lovingly fluid. Nothing is choppy about the way 'Day Dreams' is shot and edited.

Concluding, fragmented but with a lot to recommend. 7/10

A BUSTER KEATON Silent Short.

An imaginative young lady DAYDREAMS about her boyfriend Buster making it big in New York City.

This very funny little film, showing the dichotomy between Buster's menial jobs & his letters to his girl, illustrates yet again Keaton's superb physical prowess as he puts himself through seemingly impossible & palpably dangerous stunts. Highlight: Buster in another marathon run from legions of lawmen.

Born into a family of Vaudevillian acrobats, Buster Keaton (1895-1966) mastered physical comedy at a very early age. An association with Fatty Arbuckle led to a series of highly imaginative short subjects and classic, silent feature-length films - all from 1920 to 1928. Writer, director, star & stuntman - Buster could do it all and his intuitive genius gave him almost miraculous knowledge as to the intricacies of film making and of what it took to please an audience. More akin to Fairbanks than Chaplin, Buster's films were full of splendid adventure, exciting derring-do and the most dangerous physical stunts imaginable. His theme of a little man against the world, who triumphs through bravery & ingenuity, dominates his films. Through every calamity & disaster, Buster remained the Great Stone Face, a stoic survivor in a universe gone mad.

In the late 1920's Buster was betrayed by his manager/brother-in-law and his contract was sold to MGM, which proceeded to nearly destroy his career. Teamed initially with Jimmy Durante and eventually allowed small roles in mediocre comedies, Buster was for 35 years consistently given work far beneath his talent. Finally, before lung cancer took him at age 70, he had the satisfaction of knowing that his classic films were being rediscovered. Now, well past his centenary, Buster Keaton is routinely recognized & appreciated as one of cinema's true authentic geniuses. And he knew how to make people laugh...

The most sad short film of Buster Keaton. Not only as unhappy love story but as portrait of a poor man. without any chance to have a reasonable job. Sure, letters, and dreams and gags and a bizarre end. And the scene of Hamlet. But the message of film, bitter and far to be comfortable, is so precise than it is far to be the familiar comedy A young man and his strange, absolutely unluck. Gived in most inspired way by Buster Keaton.

Only existing in a fragmentary condition, this early Buster Keaton short is an episodic comedy, Keaton's character put in a variety of different situations, each ending badly for the poor fellow.

Keaton plays a young man who heads to the city to make success of himself so that he can marry his sweetheart (Renée Adorée) back home. While away, he sends postcards to his girl telling her of the employment that he has found. She imagines only the best, but the reality is quite different.

The first postcard says that he has found work in a hospital; the truth is that he is working in a dog and cat hospital, where his confusion between a cat and a skunk leads to his dismissal (the cat/skunk mix-up being inspiration for Pepe le Pew perhaps?).

Next, the young man writes that he is cleaning up on Wall Street, but instead of making a fortune on the stock market, he is sweeping up manure from the road.

The third postcard informs the girl that he is exploring the arts by making his theatrical debut. However, all he can find is a role as an extra in an opera, and he doesn't do that very well. Kicked out of the theatre wearing a Roman guard costume, he attracts the attention of a suspicious policeman and makes a run for it, which leads to some crazy chase scenes.

While not an essential Keaton short, there's still plenty of fun to be had, including one particularly iconic gag, where the star becomes a human gerbil, running around the inside of a turning paddleboat wheel; that scene alone makes this one worth a go.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for the downbeat finalé, which makes a change from the usual happy ending.

Hard luck Buster Keaton tries to win over a prospective father-in-law by proving his earning potential. He'll make bank to show he can support a family or he'll borrow the family revolver and bid the world adieu. Just another example of Keaton's pitch black sense of humor! Day Dreams is, at its core, just a loose collection of extra-short clips that don't waste a second before getting to the good stuff. Swapping jobs by the hour, Buster meets disaster in every field, finding excuses to pratfall and make a mess in his temporary gigs as a veterinary assistant, street cleaner, stage extra and more.

The slimmer format seems to liberate Keaton, who effortlessly produces a string of playful, ingenious physical gags in each setting, just like the old days. I think the stress of constructing a cohesive, longer shared narrative may have hamstrung his creativity in the past few pictures; it's been a little while since he's felt this carefree. The film's best laugh is a neverending hamster wheel tumble through the spinning paddle of a riverboat, a comic device so potent he'd revisit and expand upon it several years later in his 1928 feature Steamboat Bill Jr.

An incomplete film that sadly leaves up wondering about what Buster cooked up for us in the missing scenes. Still photographs and additional inter-titles have been added to give a feel of continuity, and yet many of the magical moments are probably lost. It's like eating a tomato and capsicum pizza without tomatoes and capsicum; the cheese base is tasty yet you are left unsatisfied with the core ingredients missing.

Similar to his other shorts, our protagonist here assumes different identities through the course of the film; he's a vet assistant, then a failed actor, then a janitor and lastly an escaped funny. What's funny is that his love assumes him to be a doctor, a successful theater performer and a Wall Street cleaner from the letters he sends her.

The irony of this situation would've been highlighted so well had those lost sequences, mostly involving her visions of his life abroad, been preserved. But all we can do now is daydream about these lost moments.

Buster running away from a horde of cops never gets old, even if he does it in several films, and the scene with him stuck in the riverboat paddle wheel like a hamster was funny. It was nice to see little bits of San Francisco here, and Buster holding on to a moving cable car, wildly horizontal in mid-air behind it, was memorable. For those interested in where these locations were in the city and more recent pictures of those locations, have a look at the page devoted to this short on sfinfilmcom.

It's nice to think that Buster was in San Francisco at that time to support his friend Roscoe Arbuckle, who was enduring his third trial in the Virginia Rappe case in March/April, 1922, but I'm not sure the timing quite aligns, given that this film was released in November of that year and probably shot shortly before. Regardless, Keaton certainly supported Arbuckle by giving him work at a time when no one would touch him, and setting aside the official credits, it was Arbuckle who wrote the original script for Day Dreams.

A young man must go into to big city to prove himself to the father of his girlfriend. He tries different professions and sends a letter home every time, so his girlfriend can imagine her sweetheart making big career.

Although the film is survived only partially - the dream sequences of Buster working as a surgeon and a wall street wolf are some that are gone. Luckily, the missing scenes are not that important in the storytelling point, and the film's flow is quite untouched, by the missing scenes. The film is worth to watch only for the fantastic chase scene where Buster is running from the whole city police.

There are some great bits mixed in here with some tired old ones. Mostly, this short seems to lay the groundwork for some of his later work. You can see the beginnings of bits for everything from Steamboat Bill Jr. to College to the Twilight Zone.

Some of his most famous bits are in this short, including the walk on the steamboat wheel (I can't tell which is funnier...watching it forwards or backwards.)

Notably, if you are a fan of his work on the Twilight Zone, you'll notice he does the stolen pants bit in this short. Minor variations of it are seen in the Twilight Zone, but it's the same premise. I can only assume that the missing bits are some of his finest, and were cut to use elsewhere.

Buster Keaton and Renee Adoree team up in a comedy in which our hero tries to make something of himself for his girl back home. Trouble is, as he's writing her of his successes she dreams of something far different than he's actually doing! Funny in places with the usual emphasis on stuff going wrong and the odd stunt, and some good camera work. Entertaining little movie.

I think we owe a lot to Keaton. He introduced lots of reflective conventions that seem normal today. He almost singlehandedly gave us the tools for seeing a character imagine something and them enter that imagined reality using the same film conventions the character exists in.

The greatest example is "Sherlock Jr" that would come later. Two years earlier we have a similar, less severe setup. We see the imagined jobs he has, but each imagined world gets away from him just as in Sherlock. Its a terrific notion and the most sophisticated of the early folding techniques.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.