Steamboat Bill, Jr.

viewed July 31, 2000 on VHS   Full Details

Buster Keaton's last big hit before the era of the Sound Film rendered him obsolete (at least in Hollywood's eyes).  The father of the action film takes a while to get this movie going; the first half is more Chaplin than Keaton, as he makes cute with his steamboat captain father and a lovely young lady.  The finale, in which a huge storm rips through town, is simply one of the most amazing action sequences ever filmed.  The frightening shot where the front of a house falls on Keaton (calculated to miss his head by 3 inches) will forever be a testament to the man's unparalleled cinematic daring and comic vision.

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