The Saphead is a 1920 American comedy film featuring Buster Keaton. It was the actor's first starring role, on the recommendation of Douglas Fairbanks, 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.