Ian (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.

zachmoats I could have as easily written about direction here, but I want to talk about his performance. It's the physicality of his performance that's the most memorable aspect.It's no secret that Buster Keaton excels in physical comedy and his part in Steamboat Bill Jr. is no exception to that rule. The film ends with one of his most memorable, larger than life stunts: the hurricane. For that sequence alone, Steamboat Bill Jr. is worth watching. At times, Keaton himself seems to defy gravity. He scales down the side of buildings and straps himself to beds to withstand the hurricane. However, it's the smaller stunts in Steamboat Bill Jr. that make me fall in love with Keaton's performance. For instance, when his father's boat is docked next to King's boat, William (Keaton) finds himself being pulled between the two boats. I was cracking up at this scene. Another great example of Keaton's physicality is the scene where he sneaks out to meet Kitty. He has to crawl across the boat without waking his dad and get over to her boat. For me, Steamboat Bill Jr. is not as dynamic as some of his other work like The General, but it has some of his best stunts and the wonderful physical comedy you can always expect from Keaton's work. It's worth your time in laughs and entertainment.

RobertaBRoss Steamboat Bill Sr. (played by Ernest Torrance) is a captain of a river steamboat, a large man and a rather rough and ready fellow, with a rather rough and ready boat, the Stonewall Jackson, and he is expecting a visit from his son, whom he has not seen since the boy was a child. Bill Jr arrives fresh from his schooling in Boston, and he is nothing like what Bill Sr thought his son would be like, so they have a lot of catching up to do.At the same time, a girl Bill Jr knew in Boston arrives, and she has a father too, and the fathers are at odds.On these premises many excellent gags are piled up, including just about any gag you can use a boat or a river for. I highly recommend this classic silent movie, a very entertaining and fast-paced comedy with, as usual, wonderful work by Buster Keaton.My only reservation was the musical score on the version we saw. We got this movie from a TCM showing, and this version had a score from 2003, credited to Alloy Orchestra, very obtrusive, out of keeping with the style of the movie, and sometimes actually at cross- purposes with the film itself. If you have a choice, try to watch it with different music. Otherwise you might want to turn the sound off altogether.

a-choppa I really enjoyed the plot line of this film. I found it comical when Steamboat Bill's son, Willie, arrived and he was disappointed to find not a manly man but an awkward boy. The story becomes a bit of a romance conflict as Steamboat Bill finds out his son is in love with his rival, John James King's daughter, Kitty. The comical part; John James King's riverboat is far more luxurious than Steamboat Bill's paddle steamer. This causes a dispute among both fathers whom neither wish to see the two together. The plots of silent films from this decade are simplistic, because they need to be understood without words and commentary, however, they are still affective and entertaining to the viewer. I was also looking forward to seeing Buster Keaton's best known stunt which is when a building front falls all around Willie when a storm/ cyclone hits. I have acquired an appreciation for silent films after viewing this one and find that it must be difficult for the producers and directors involved to make an effective film for viewers without using words.