CommentsXp
Best movie ever!
Tayloriona
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Kirandeep Yoder
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
MissSimonetta
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.
SnoopyStyle
William Canfield Jr. (Buster Keaton) arrives in River Junction from Boston to see his father Captain William Canfield who he has never seen before. The captain runs an old steamboat, and is in a fight with the powerful JJ King and his new ship. The captain trains the tiny Jr to work on his ship, and he soon falls for Kitty King, daughter of the captain's competitor. When a hurricane blows into town, it sets off one of the most amazing physical comedy that is quintessential Buster Keaton.Buster Keaton is one of greats from the silent era. This is one of his most iconic movies. It's has some fairly funny gags. The story has some good humor. Then the storm comes. The movie explodes in unbridled physical demolition and hilarity. Is there a more iconic silent movie image than the building falling over on him?
IMDBcinephile
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.
Michael Neumann
Buster Keaton's swan song as an independent filmmaker (before being swallowed into the MGM assembly line) tears a page from Mark Twain and trims it to fit his own unique character, with the Great Stone Face playing the hapless son of a rough-and-tumble riverboat pilot no longer able to compete against a wealthy corporate rival. The story is a clever variation of the familiar Romeo and Juliet scenario from Keaton's 'Our Hospitality' (even the Steamboat Bill surname-Canfield-is borrowed from the earlier film), and follows the classic silent comedy formula, showing Buster's transformation in the title role from hapless nitwit to heroic man of action, saving his father, the old man's rusty but trusted paddlewheel steamer, and (of course) the girl. Included along the way are some of the comedians best routines, from the unforgettable cyclone climax (in itself a catalogue of classic moments, and yet another reminder that Mother Nature was always Keaton's most reliable ally) to the quieter moment when Buster, using the camera as a mirror, tries on a variety of hats, including the familiar pork-pie of his two-reelers (which he guiltily tosses away). The director's credit is strictly nominal: this is a Buster Keaton comedy, and after all these decades the laughter hasn't dimmed whatsoever.
