Steamboat Bill Jr ***** (1928, Buster Keaton, Tom McGuire, Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron) – Classic Movie Review 2879

Director Charles F Reisner’s 1928 comedy is the last great Buster Keaton silent movie. It takes its place along with The General (1926) at the peak of his creativity. All involved in the film agreed that he co-directed the film, though he received no credit. Alas it was the biggest money-loser of his United Artists films.

Keaton plays William Canfield Jr, the son of old steamboat captain William ‘Steamboat Bill’ Canfield (Ernest Torrence), goes to River Junction to meet his father who has not seen him since he was a child. Bill Jr isn’t what Bill Sr was expecting and soon annoys his father with his acquired citified ways on his return from college.

Bill Sr is being put out of business by a  rival, J J King (Tom McGuire), who owns the town’s hotel and bank and has introduced a new paddle-wheel steamer that shames Bill’s old boat, the Stonewall Jackson. Then dad is ready to disown his son when he discovers that Buster’s girlfriend Kitty (Marion Byron) is J J King’s daughter.

Keaton battles against a hurricane to rescue his father and his girlfriend in one of the cinema’s most outstanding comic sequences.

And still as amazing a stunt as you’re ever likely to see is the knockout celebrated scene of the house wall collapsing on Keaton and the star just stepping out of the window frame unharmed.

The stunt was performed with a full-weight wall. Half the crew walked off the set to avoid participating in a stunt that would have killed Keaton if he had been slightly off position. Keaton, told the previous day that his studio was being shut down, was so devastated he said he didn’t care if the wall crushed him or not.

This revered silent movie is a work of genius as the art of physical comedy goes.

Reissued in UK cinemas on 18 September 2015 in a new 4K restoration accompanied by a specially commissioned score from Carl Davis.

After this Keaton made the mistake of signing a contract with MGM, who dropped him after five unhappy years. Keaton drifted into decline, with a severe drinking problem.

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© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2879

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