Cinematheque in Kibla - projection of the film Steamboat Bill, Jr. Projection of the film Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Buster Keaton films) on Tuesday 04/12/2007 at 8pm.
Short introductory film: surprise
Main film: Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), 71 minutes
USA, 1928, DVD, 71', feature film,
Story: Carl Harbaugh, script and direction: Buster Keaton and Charles Reisner;
Cast: Buster Keaton, Tom McGuire, Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron and others;
Steamboat Bill Jr. is Keaton's last independent film that was completed with his standard film crew. Following two subsequent financial blows (The General and Steamboat Bill Jr.), he was forced to sell himself to MGM, where he had no artistic freedom and created mediocre films in artistic terms, yet ironically they were the greatest commercial successes in his career. In the last film that enabled Keaton artistic freedom, the hero, after finishing his studies, goes to Mississippi, where he intends to serve as a steamboat captain, just as his father used to. Unfortunately he falls in love with the daughter of his father's business rival. The film is a parody of Disney's commercial success »Steamboat Willie«, the first film featuring Mickey Mouse, who immediately attracted the attention of the auidence as well as Keaton. The scene of fighting the storm is beyond any doubt the peak of the film as well as Keaton's creation, ranking among the most iconoclastic moments in film history.
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