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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9786305609957
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Silent, NTSC
ISBN: 6305609950
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Release Date: October 26, 1999
Running Time: 111 minutes
Sales Rank: 84967
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: May 20, 1928
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Flavored with Americana and loaded with cinematic inventiveness, 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.' (1928, 69 min.) was Buster Keaton's final independent production, a comic masterpiece. Set on the Mississippi River, 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.' follows the adventures of a spoiled young man who is forced by his crusty father (Ernest Torrence) to learn riverboating. Highlighted by remarkable special effects, the film includes the legendary stunt in which the front of a building collapses over Junior, who passes unharmed through an open window. Added to this DVD are two Keaton shorts. Surprisingly dark yet wickedly funny, 'Convict 13' (1920, 20 min.) combines gallows humor with rapid-fire slapstick. In 'Daydreams' (1922, 22 min.), Buster tries to establish himself in a profession--from veterinary assistant to street-sweeper to actor--and, in one of his most cleverly staged chases, is pursued by a herd of New York City 'bulls.' Digitally mastered from archival prints, with original musical scores.
Amazon.com essential video:
Buster Keaton stars in the story of a college-educated young man who comes home to help his father work on his Mississippi River steamboat and immediately demonstrates just what a landlubber he is. What's worse, the woman he falls for is the daughter of his father's worst rival, a bullying rich guy who wants to drive Buster's boat out of business. Keaton's slapstick is inspired and precise, particularly during an amazing sequence in which he tries to walk across town during a tornado. Watch in amazement as the front of a building falls on Keaton and he walks away without a scratch. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Steamboat Bill Jr.
Co-directed by Keaton, this delightful comic romp follows a hapless steamboat operator who just can't seem to please his steely, rough-edged pop. As always, Keaton's antics and sight gags are a hoot, such as when he tries, feebly, to bust his dad out of jail for socking McGuire, the ferryboat proprietor who's edging into his business. His expressive facial gestures here rival Chaplin's for sheer sad-clown poignancy. The film's set piece, which involves a raging tornado and an uprooted tree, culminates in one of the comedian's most daring stunts--all of which he performed himself. Steamboat Bill Jr. is a gas, powered by a master of physical comedy.
Rating:  - Truly Funny Silent Comedy
Steamboat Bill (Ernest Torrence) is in competition with another local riverboat man (Tom McGuire). Aside from his problems at home, his son (Buster Keaton) is coming home from college. Bill Jr. is a bit of a klutz and besides causing trouble that way, he's in love with the rival boatman's daughter (Marion Byron). Because of his son, Bill lands in jail in the midst of a wild storm.
Steamboat Bill, Jr. features some of the most well known stunts of Keaton's career including the scene where the house falls down on him and he's in the window looking around. The storm scene is one of the best parts of the film. It features many impressive stunts and lots of action as well as comedy. However, Keaton does not only excell in outrageous scenes. The bit in the jailhouse is subtley hilarious.
Rating: - Two rare restorations and a Keaton classic
These three samples of Buster Keaton' work span most of his silent solo career (1921-28) and show the infinite diversity of mood and theme he was able to create. The short films are particularly interesting in being rarely seen and only recently preserved and reconstructed; one of them, Daydreams, is still fragmented but with enough of the film rescued to be worthwhile. Both of the shorts show significant signs of decomposition and many scenes have very poor quality. Of course, none of that matters to Keaton fans, who will be happy to see his movies in any state but lost.
Convict 13, the earliest of the 3 films in this set, was the third short since his departure from his mentor Fatty Arbuckle. It reveals some remnants of the Arbuckle-Keystone influences, including wild scenes of mob chaos , as when Buster wields a heavy leg shackle to subdue a prison riot. But the formula of the film is pure Keaton, as his character undergoes a series of mishaps, first as a golfer, then as a prisoner, before displaying superhuman skill at singlehandedly thwarting a prison riot and winning the girl.
Daydreams, one of his last shorts from late 1922, has a formula that is rich enough in comic possibilities that one could almost imagine it as a feature film. In fact, it suggests the formula of "The Three Ages", insofar as the story is told in disjointed fragments with different settings. It also has the characteristic hints of darkness, as Keaton's character resolves to prove ... Read More
Rating: - Sight gags to structural collapse
This was a surprising and remarkably paced film of Keaton's. What starts out as pretty quaint and rural extends to higher and higher proportions as the comedy switches from the difficulties of two lovers trying to get together despite a family feud to Keaton running around town during a tornado. All of it is filled with those Keaton conceits one comes to love, but it's the most physical of his full-length features, where even in quiet parts he will do pratfalls of stunning dexterity that can leave you no less than awestruck.
The beginning, however, is a lot more a set-up of sight-gags, most of which are very funny and surprisingly inside-jokey. At this point, it seems Keaton expects the audience to know him, which leads to some pretty original takes on his own character. Another earlier site-gag involving a mix-up in the father and son trying to reconnect and accidentally coming across various and unamused strangers is a little politically incorrect for our time, but is still very funny anyway.
--PolarisDiB
Rating: - Steamboats and Slapstick
STEAMBOAT BILL, JR (1928) was Buster Keaton's final independent film -- the last feature he would make before financial issues forced him to sign what would be a disastrous contract with MGM. Therefore, it seems fitting that this film contains a quick throwaway laugh where, upon being handed a familiar looking porkpie hat (a mainstay throughout his career), he throws the headwear away in horror. This movie has a lot going for it. While it takes a little time to get started, it finishes strong with a finale that shows exactly how hilarious Keaton could be when given the creative control he craved.
Steamboat Bill is a rough, working man, trying to keep his head above water in the steamboat ferry business despite his extremely wealthy competitor. He welcomes the forthcoming return of his son, who he hasn't seen since the boy's childhood. But when short, pampered Buster Keaton (the Junior of the title) arrives, Bill Sr.'s hopes of having a strong, vigorous young man to help his trade are dashed. But to make matters worse, Keaton is madly in love with the fetching young daughter of his rival, and the two lovers continue to see one another, despite the objections of their respective families. Yes, it's "Romeo and Juliet", had Shakespeare been less interested in suicide and more friendly with steamboats and slapstick.
Three years earlier, Keaton had done a film called SEVEN CHANCES (1925), a movie I felt wasn't really memorable until the long and hilarious chase sequence that ... Read More
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