The effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.
Buzzing comedies such as The Spy Who Dumped Me await you in our Summer Movie Guide. Check in for all the info you need.
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
1 win & 1 nomination.
See more awards »
Learn more
People who liked this also liked...
The Cameraman
(1928)
Comedy
|
Romance
|
Family
Directors:
Edward Sedgwick,
Buster Keaton
Stars:
Buster Keaton,
Marceline Day,
Harold Goodwin
Cops
(1922)
Short
|
Comedy
|
Family
Directors:
Edward F. Cline,
Buster Keaton
Stars:
Buster Keaton,
Edward F. Cline,
Virginia Fox
The Scarecrow
(1920)
Comedy
|
Short
|
Family
Directors:
Edward F. Cline,
Buster Keaton
Stars:
Buster Keaton,
Edward F. Cline,
Luke the Dog
The Boat
(1921)
Short
|
Comedy
|
Family
Directors:
Edward F. Cline,
Buster Keaton
Stars:
Buster Keaton,
Edward F. Cline,
Sybil Seely
The Kid Brother
(1927)
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Family
Directors:
Ted Wilde,
Harold Lloyd, and 2 more credits »
Stars:
Harold Lloyd,
Jobyna Ralston,
Walter James
Edit
Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Buster Keaton | ... | William Canfield Jr. | |
| Tom McGuire | ... | J.J. King | |
| Ernest Torrence | ... | William 'Steamboat Bill' Canfield | |
 |
Tom Lewis | ... | Tom Carter - First and Last Mate |
| Marion Byron | ... | Kitty King - King's Daughter | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (16) »
Storyline
Following through on a promise to his mother, William Canning Jr. goes to River Junction to meet his father who has not seen him since he was a child. The younger Canning isn't quite what the elder was expecting but the old man has bigger problems. He's being put out of business by J.J. King, who not only owns the local hotel and bank, but has recently introduced a new paddle wheel steamer that puts Cannings older boat, the Stonewall Jackson, to shame. Bill Jr. and Kitty King take a liking to each other much to the dismay of both of their fathers. When a fierce storm hits River Junction, Bill Jr. is forced to save Kitty, her father and his father. Written by garykmcd
Plot Keywords:
hurricane | riverboat | forbidden love | father son relationship | national film registry |Taglines:
The screen's first big Mississippi thriller See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
20 May 1928 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
El héroe del río See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
SilentColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
Edit
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film. See more »Goofs
When Bill Jr. enters the jail and the sheriff closes the door, the hand of a crew member can be seen outside reaching for the door. See more »Quotes
William Canfield Jr.: [to his father] I know what it is, you're ashamed of my baking.See more »
Contribute to This Page
Explore popular action and adventure titles available to stream with Prime Video.
This follows a pattern that Keaton would follow in a few of his most amazing films. The first half would just set up the situation and incidentally give a few mild jokes along the way. The second part is structured around a frantic set of stunts that are both comic and athletic. These must have astonished when they were new; its an odd thing that all the really interesting effects in films of this era were not for science fiction or action, but comedy.
Today, these effects and particularly Keaton's, astonish ever so much more. Jackie Chan is the closest we have now, or recently. Chan knows that when we see something that we know is real: Chan jumping off a helicopter for instance, and when that is done with a comic tone, for some reason we chuckle more deeply.
(Stephen Chow's projects are a twist on this. We know the stunts aren't real, but they are much more extreme, and they deliberately reference other movies.) This collection of stunts has Keaton take a large river steam paddlewheeler, a rig it up to operate the boiler room by ropes from the pilothouse. Keaton's agility is absolutely phenomenal: today such acrobatics would surely be computer generated. Its not obvious that the man is risking his life. But as with his railroad movie, it is obvious that this is a real machine in a real raging river during real serious wind, though the wind might be generated with machines.
This is big stuff, important to watch and real thrill.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.