Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Very disappointing...

That was an excellent one.

People are voting emotionally.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Any way, that's after meeting him, some 20 years after last seeing him as a baby. This comedy with dramatic pathos deals with the feud between two rival riverboat ship owners: old school Ernest Torrance and his seemingly barely floatable tug, and rich Tom McGuire and his expensive river cruise boat. When Torrance's milquetoast son, Keaton, arrives, it's at laugh expenses on him, but McGuire doesn't expect the fact that his own daughter (Marion Byron) to already know him and fall in love with him. McGuire arranges for Torrance's boat to be condemned, and later for Torrance to be arrested. Several other natural disasters occur, including the most dramatic of windstorms, resulting among some of Keaton's very best effects. This works out as comedy, mainly because of the "uh oh!" factor that occurs, as well as some brilliant special effects. Keaton seems constantly in danger as he strives to save both his father's steamship and Byron, later trying to rescue Torrance from a certain watery grave. The story really is more dramatic than comedic, using what sounds like "Show Boat's" "Cotton Blossom" as its main theme. Keaton proves that a seemingly useless milquetoast can become a hero, giving one of his best film appearances. Many elements of this 90 year plus old film are far ahead of their time, making thus a must for film students and lovers of fine cinematic genius in general.

There has never been another actor like Buster Keaton. Others have come close, but none have truly matched his level of physical comedy. And certainly no one else has performed this brand of acting while also directing and writing his own gags. He was and is one of Hollywood's all time greatest stars and filmmakers. And Steamboat Bill Jr. is one of his best works.The story is interchangeable with dozens of other silent comedies. Young man travels to meet father who he has not seen since childhood. Father is not impressed with son. Young man meets love of his life, but their fathers, who are bitter rivals, forbid them to see each other. Old man faces serious legal and/or financial trouble. No points for guessing that the young man will save both his father and the girl from a great peril, or that love will triumph in the end.So it's entirely predictable from beginning to end, but it doesn't matter. We know going in that the plot is little more than a thread to hang the jokes from. We came simply to laugh and be entertained. And rest assured, you will be entertained.Keaton is in full form here, delivering all his now-classic gags. He comes off as a naive innocent and a clumsy oaf, whose every action results in delightful mayhem. When shown the boiler room on his father's steamboat, he of course leans against the wrong lever and rear ends their competitor's boat. His late night attempt to visit his girlfriend inevitably leaves him in the drink. And from the moment I saw his ukulele, I knew it was destined to be destroyed I comic fashion.What makes this material work is that despite their broadness, Keaton's mishaps do seem to be accidents. We never get the sense that he's deliberately being clumsy to make sure we get the joke. In most movies today, many of these gags would be only mildly amusing at best, and quickly become repetitive, yet that doesn't happen here. I wonder if that's because silent film is such a different medium from modern talkies, and creates a different mindset in viewers. Or perhaps it's Keaton's ability to play the material completely strait. He wasn't called the "Stone Face of Comedy" for nothing.And what elevates Steamboat Bill above even Keaton's other works is the fantastic storm sequence. He out-mimes even Marcel Marceau here, pushed along by an imaginary wind, and bending so far forward that we wonder what keeps him from falling down. And the effects are incredible for their time. Buildings collapse or are picked up as though they were doll houses. Keaton at one point clings to an oak tree, and both he and the oak are lifted into the air and deposited in the river. I was at a complete loss to explain how they created many of these effects, the level of technology being what it was.The most amazing scene however, was not an effect at all. The iconic shot of a wall falling on Keaton, who is unharmed because he is standing in the path of an open window, is exactly what it looks like. They actually dropped a two-ton wall on the star, and if he had been more than a few inches off, he could easily have been killed. You just don't see devotion like that today.

Today was the last day of "Movies and Music on the Lawn" monthly festival at the Baton Rouge Gallery. This Buster Keaton film was the picked silent feature for the occasion. The live music score was performed by the local bluegrass band, The Fugitive Poets. They provided nice underscoring and also provided some of the sound effects for the windy sequences like one of them moving a sheet of metal. To tell the truth, the movie was only slightly amusing for the first 30 minutes before Buster starts to operate his father's steamboat then some hilarity ensues. It's the stormy climax that really provides some highlights which not only includes a front of a house falling on Keaton with the open door being his salvation but also him riding a tree when it's uprooted and him falling in some soggy mud. I was very glad to have finally seen this so on that note, I recommend Steamboat Bill, Jr.

I can't remember ever having seen a whole Buster Keaton movie so this was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with this masterful pantomime artist with a deadpan mug.Bill Jr. brings out the worst in everyone around him and the humor still works well as he aggravates his macho father and proves a laughing stock to everyone but the college girl who loves him.Music is used to very entertaining effect, with a cacophony of bangs and toots that seems to presage the work of Tom Waits.The supporting actors are uniformly wonderful, particularly Ernest Torrence as "the old bum," Bill's exasperated progenitor. The movie's dialog is as terse as it is clever.Perhaps a little longer than necessary, but definitely fun to watch!