Steamboat Bill, Jr. (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #14 extract: Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Words can't do this justice, but... Steamboat Bill, Jr. is simply incredible. 

Not only does Keaton provide his stone-faced slap-stick brilliantly, but the focus on narrative in this film is surprisingly strong. In such, Steamboat Bill, Jr. works so incredibly well thanks to its exploration of father-son relationships as well as the themes of alienation and failure attached to that relationship. Combining this with the age-old tale of torn young love, this narrative really adds dimension to the spectacle that we all know this to be. 

But, on that note, it cannot be overstated just how brilliant the final set-piece is. The icon of Keaton standing in that fallen house front, however over-used, is something that undoubtedly represents a height of cinema that virtually no entertainer has ever really reached before or after Keaton. 

It can be said a million times over and it will still be true: a masterpiece.