Steamboat Bill, Jr.

Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1928
Directed By Charles Reisner



SYNOPSIS

Steamboat Bill (Ernest Torrance) is upset his steamboat is been supplanted by a new bigger boat owned by the powerful John James King (Tom McGuire.) On a break from college, Bill's son Willie (Buster Keaton) comes to visit. The two haven't seen each other since Willie was little. Willie also runs into a girl from school who just happens to be King's daughter (Marion Byron.) Willie's dad tries to teach him the ropes of running a steamboat but Bill soon winds up in jail. When a major storm hits, King's ship sinks with him on-board, the jail is thrown into the water, and King's daughter is left clinging to a home floating away in the river. Only one man can save them all!



MY THOUGHTS

A masterpiece of comedy and stunt-work.
This just might be Buster Keaton's perfect blend of life-threatening stunts and silly slapstick.
Keaton's stunt-work here rivals The General in terms of its daring and epic-quality. The comedy is also on par with his best works.

The Great Stone Face's role is essentially the same inept, hapless character he always played. Anything that can he run into head-first or fall off of, is!

The film is structured better than most all silent comedies. The humorous moments in the film build and build. They start out small, like Willie's 'makeover,' where his father tries to buy him a new hat to replace his effeminate beret. The comedy builds and becomes bigger and bigger as the action moves to the steamboat and then a failed escape plan after his father has been jailed. This culminates in one of the biggest storms in Hollywood history.

The storm effects are still amazing to watch even 80 years later and are remarkably realistic. One of the highlights is this famous scene:



Real buildings are tossed about and crumble all over the place as Keaton runs among the flying debris.

Among the jokes and action is a love story. It resembles Romeo And Juliet, but of course the only tragedy here is the hero's incessant clumsiness!

This was Buster Keaton's last comedy before he signed with MGM and lost his total creative freedom... and his later films suffered. But this is one hell of a way to go out.