{"id":24295,"date":"2012-02-23T11:38:32","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T18:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24295"},"modified":"2020-12-31T21:55:13","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T04:55:13","slug":"steamboat-bill-jr-1928","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24295","title":{"rendered":"Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;This floating palace should put an end to that <em>thing<\/em> Steamboat Bill is running.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Jr-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Jr-Poster-300x234.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-24296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Jr-Poster-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Jr-Poster-128x100.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Jr-Poster.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe long-lost son (Buster Keaton) of a steamboat operator (Ernest Torrence) attempts to bond with his father while illicitly romancing the daughter (Marion Byron) of Torrence&#8217;s competitor (Tom McGuire).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Buster Keaton Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Father and Child<\/li>\n<li>Rivalry<\/li>\n<li>Silent Films<\/li>\n<li>Star-Crossed Lovers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBuster Keaton&#8217;s final film for United Artists is widely considered one of his best &#8212; in large part because of its truly stunning climax, in which a cyclone rips through town, affording not only Keaton&#8217;s character but Keaton himself multiple opportunities to narrowly escape death as buildings literally collapse just inches around him; as noted in Chris Dashiell&#8217;s CineScene Review, the entire cyclone sequence is &#8220;perhaps the high point of Keaton&#8217;s career as a designer of amazing stunts and visual effects.&#8221; However, I&#8217;ll admit that I don&#8217;t personally find this film to be one of Keaton&#8217;s most consistently amusing outings. Other than a clever early sequence in which Keaton&#8217;s disappointed father attempts to buy him a new, &#8220;manlier&#8221; hat, the film&#8217;s comedic energy (for me, at any rate) doesn&#8217;t really kick into gear until about halfway through, once Keaton is finally allowed to show his mettle by attempting to sneak his wrongly imprisoned father out of jail. From thence, he&#8217;s the typically inventive and daring Keaton we know and adore, battling storms, rescuing his loved ones from harm&#8217;s way, and performing death-defying physical stunts. <\/p>\n<p>My favorite line (as a handful of smuggled tools fall out of a loaf of bread Keaton is trying to hand over to his father in jail): <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;That must have happened when the dough fell in the tool chest.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> In his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>, despite conceding that <em>SBJ<\/em> &#8220;isn&#8217;t a pivotal Keaton film&#8221;, Peary nonetheless names Keaton Best Actor of the Year for his performance here, noting that &#8220;one can see why many consider him the most lovable of the silent stars and every bit as sexy as the silent screen&#8217;s romantic athlete, Douglas Fairbanks&#8221;. Amen to that!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keaton&#8217;s attempt to sneak his father out of jail<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Loaf.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Loaf.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Loaf.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Loaf-128x102.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Loaf-300x240.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The stunning cyclone sequence<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone1.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone1-128x102.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone1-300x240.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone2.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone2-128x102.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Steamboat-Bill-Cyclone2-300x240.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its breathtaking technical bravado. Listed as a film with Historical Importance and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. Available for free viewing on <a href=\"www.archive.org\">www.archive.org<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0019421\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?res=9A0CEFDE173CE73ABC4D52DFB3668383639EDE\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1012keaton.html\">DVD Savant Review (scroll down)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.combustiblecelluloid.com\/steambill.shtml\">Combustible Celluloid Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/stea.html\">FilmSite Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/326477\/steamboat-bill-jr#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/steamboat-bill-jr-1\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;This floating palace should put an end to that thing Steamboat Bill is running.&#8221; Synopsis: The long-lost son (Buster Keaton) of a steamboat operator (Ernest Torrence) attempts to bond with his father while illicitly romancing the daughter (Marion Byron) of Torrence&#8217;s competitor (Tom McGuire). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Buster Keaton Films Comedy Father and Child Rivalry Silent Films Star-Crossed Lovers Review: Buster Keaton&#8217;s final film for United Artists is widely considered one of his best &#8212; in large part&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24295\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24295"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60875,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24295\/revisions\/60875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}