Memorable, crazy movie

Fresh and Exciting

Admirable film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

(Flash Review)Odd little plot but the stunts are fantastic! Something about competing steamboat companies and then later a massive wind and rain storm hits and Keaton's character attempts to rescue random people as well as himself. The first two acts are pleasantly amusing but the final act is historic and the original Mickey Mouse's Steamboat Willy is based off of this film!! This has the scene where the storm blows down several houses. One of the walls fall toward Keaton but he luckily survives thanks to a cleverly placed open window. This has been mimicked to death everywhere. Crazy and sadly I learned that Keaton, in real life, was feeling very depressed and that he did the stunt because he didn't care whether the open window missed him as it was a full-weighted wall. In retrospect, he would never have done that stunt! Anyway, this is a must see. Very clever, exciting, funny and tense! Second only to The General.

Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) is likely the most accessible of all Buster Keaton's features. Not that the others aren't accessible, but this one has everything: great gags, great stunts, great writing, and a great dynamic between Buster Keaton and Ernest Torrence, who plays his estranged tough-as-nails father.Buster is in his prime here. Once again, his performance showcases his unique combination of subtle pantomime and cartoon-like energy. That he predominantly uses his eyes and body to emote makes him among the most timeless of silent film actors, proof that these people did not need to overact to get their feelings across in pre-dialouge cinema. Marion Bryon is the love interest and though she's no Sybil Seely or Kathryn McGuire, she's cute as a button and full of flapper charm.Ernest Torrence is one of my favorite character actors and his performance as the old Steamboat Bill is my favorite performance from him. His cantankerous, macho nature contrasts beautifully with Buster's timid, milquetoast hero, and the development of their father-son dynamic is the most memorable part of the film, giving it a great sense of heart. (Whoever said Buster Keaton's films have no emotional stakes was 100 percent wrong.)Out of all the great climaxes Keaton's silent work, Steamboat Bill Jr's hurricane climax is the most iconic. The destruction of the little Mississippi town in this movie is more exciting and credible than the overblown CG disaster porn to be found in modern blockbusters. It still works its magic, even on preteens conditioned against movies older than Titanic (1997).If you're looking to get yourself or someone you know into the wonderful world of silent cinema, then Steamboat Bill Jr. is a great place to begin. It's a perfect little movie and one that does not feel its eighty-plus years of age.

For me, Buster Keaton is a very subjective clown. He is third, for me, to both Chaplin and Lloyd. Whether you like him or not, he is undeniably instrumental, not just in the way of farce and so on, but also in the way films were crafted and designed. Look at "The Cameraman" 1928, which is what I usually consider to be his magnum opus; he proves that the disillusioned camera shots and works of art are made completely inadvertently and that they're made with sufficient heart to really breath in our own personal passions for what we anticipate to show on screen - and it could be our personal statement or just our frame of mind - however way, it's still done without a lot of intent. Just like what Keaton done in the stunt department and of course in "The General" and his earlier shorts where in one of them he feel right into the water, "Steamboat Bill Jnr." made in 1928, which bears a similar name to "Steamboat Mickey", is a prominent example of his exposure to folly and his way of pinning down on jokes spot on, while he essentially puts himself in situations that he crawls out of, either harmed or not, stoically.That's one of the things about Keaton; he doesn't blow up like what Mack Sennet would have done. He is a well collected and cordial fellow, who just happens to be clumsy. In "Steamboat Bill, Jnr." he plays William, who has sent a letter to his Father who works on a boat. The beginning they wonder if he's going to be very tall or not, which is of course poking fun at Keaton being extremely small and if you're not familiar with Keaton during the viewing of it, it doesn't tickle you as much. So basically, his Father tries to suit him up when he comes down to work on the deck of his ship - and on his ship a lot of predicaments take place, where he doesn't seem to be accepted. He falls in love Kitty King, and it develops as the movie goes on. The folly is shown in this movie, through a sequence of bad decisions and klutzy ways that Keaton acts, as he tries to keep a straight face and successfully does. His Father in the picture is a really recalcitrant character, and he is also what contrasts with William in that sense. A lot of the folly and what is funny is the fact that the movie is the basis of simple things and times - it's a charming movie as well, and it can be really exuberant to watch. The beginning might make you laugh heartily and then near the end it might make you pour your heart out for Keaton. Either way, the story is really basic and it's really Keaton that safes the picture with his screen presence.I highly recommend it. I don't want to give much away about the movie because it will entice you long enough to really appreciate what it's going for and making ephemera feel greatly important.

"Steamboat Bill, Jr." stars Buster Keaton as the effete son of a riverboat captain who visits his father after years apart. Bill Sr., embarrassed by his son's lack of manliness, immediately sets out to teach him the ways of a riverboat crewman. Meanwhile, Bill Jr. is more interested in the daughter of his father's chief competitor.I found the story to be pretty interesting though the pacing left a little to be desired. The film's extended climax, however, is spectacular. I only wish that the rest of the film was as exciting and inventive.Keaton's acting is solid throughout and the film features his single most famous stunt; one whereby an entire building facade falls on top of him with only an open window preventing him from being crushed. The supporting cast is satisfying as well, particularly Ernest Torrence as Bill Sr. and the foxy Marion Byron as Keaton's love interest.Visually, the film's direction is well handled, especially in the climactic scenes which make use of special effects. The score that accompanied the film when I saw it was by the Alloy Orchestra, which I thought was pretty good but not outstanding.In the end, I enjoyed this film more than Keaton's most acclaimed film, "The General". However, while the film's climax is a definite must-see the rest of the film doesn't quite live up to the same standard.