Steamboat Bill, Jr.
About Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Willie Canfield, just out of college, comes to River Junction to meet his father, Steamboat Bill, whom he has not seen since childhood. Bill runs a battered steamer and is losing the river to J. J. King, who has a new boat. Willie is in love with King's daughter Kitty. Bill hates the beret, the ukulele, and the rival's girl. A cyclone wrecks the town. A house front falls and the open window passes around Willie. He gets his father and Kitty out of the water, and the two captains end the feud.
Cast & crew
More about Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Charles Reisner directed. Carl Harbaugh is credited with the story. Joseph M. Schenck produced, and United Artists released it. Devereux Jennings photographed it. Sherman Kell edited. Wikidata lists publication dates including May 20, 1928. The running time is 71 minutes. It was the last film from Keaton's independent unit. The title comes from the 1910 song "Steamboat Bill."
Themes
Making
Keaton's unit and gag writers built the cyclone. The falling wall was the stunt that later copies kept repeating.
Look
Devereux Jennings photographed the cyclone, including the wall drop, which only works if the window and Keaton's mark line up.
Preservation
Public domain since 1956. Added to the National Film Registry in 2016. A copy is on the Internet Archive as SteamboatBillJr.
Notes
- Buster Keaton plays Willie. Ernest Torrence is Steamboat Bill. Marion Byron is Kitty King. Tom McGuire is J. J. King.
- Joe Keaton, Buster's father, is in the cast.
- The facade gag used a real house front with a measured window. Keaton stood on the exact mark.
- The picture failed commercially and was his last for United Artists. He moved to MGM, where The Cameraman was the next film he still controlled.
- In 2016 the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry. The copyright had lapsed in 1956.
Scenes
- Bill tries to replace Willie's beret with a workingman's cap.
- The house facade falls and the window frame clears Keaton.
Influenced by
- The 1910 song Steamboat Bill
Also available
- Internet Archive (SteamboatBillJr)
