steamboat bill, jr and steamboat willie

Unbeknownst to Mickey, an angry Captain Peg Leg Pete appears behind him and grabs Mickey's torso, stretching it in the process and switches places with him behind the wheel. Steamboat Bill, Jr. contains some of his most memorable imagery, from a lone figure leaning into an overpowering wind, to massive structures that have fallen or splintered and missed our hero, to simple images of a son trying to emulate his father's stance and attitude. Not the best of Buster Keaton's silents, Steamboat Bill, Jr. nonetheless contains some of Keaton's best and most spectacular sight gags. Compiled by John Miller & Jeff Stafford, One of silent comic Buster Keaton's best features, Steamboat Bill, He made one change, however. This first synchronized sound cartoon is actually a parody, loosely based on Steamboat Bill, Jr., a silent movie starring Buster Keaton that was released that same year. In that film, the good-hearted Willie, similar to Mickey Mouse’s role, is the son of the rough-and-tumble Steamboat Bill, … Scott McGee and Amanda Dabbas discuss the depths of his genius in the latest TCM Video Podcast. Language Jr. (1928), tells the simple story of a grizzled, rough and tumble What follows is a lively rendition of the song where Mickey uses a barrel and garbage can as drums, bangs on pots and pans, strokes a washboard, pulls on a cat's tail to make it sing and swings it around his head, uses a duck as a makeshift bagpipe, pulls on little piglets tails to make squeaks, and finally uses the cow's teeth as a makeshift xylophone. Reisner also worked as associate director on Chaplin's 1925 masterpiece, The Gold Rush. Willie, meanwhile, proves to be less than proficient in learning the ropes of piloting a steamboat. Cinematography: Bert Haines, Dev Jennings mechanical arm that could be lowered onto Keaton at the proper moment King, the town banker, storekeeper, hotelkeeper, and wealthiest citizen, is attempting to cause Bill's financial ruin with his new river packet named King, after himself. Bill Sr. escorts his son to the barbershop where he demands "take However, the belt is far too big and the cow far too skinny, so all that happens is the cow is caught by the udder hanging upside down. New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center. "Steamboat Bill, Jr." is funny, pure and simple. Steamboat Bill himself bore many resemblances to Keaton's own father, Joe (who shows up in the film in a bit part as a barber). Giddy, Pete attempts to do it again. Made for producer Joseph M. Schenck, Steamboat Bill, Jr. brought to a close one of the most fruitful collaborations in the annals of silent comedy. Mickey is lowered down to the dock by a crane near the cow. In Tom Dardis' biography, Keaton: The Man Who Wouldn't Lie Down, "The heroine of Steamboat Bill, Jr., Marion Byron, recalls the more strenuous parts of the shooting, especially the scenes involving her immersion in the river. - Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies. At this point, Bill's estranged son, Willie Canfield Jr… The quintessential Keaton hero eventually proves his worth by saving the game or the girl or the day. That scene alone is worth the price of admission." Keaton Steamboat Bill is a 1910 song with music by the vaudeville group The Leighton Brothers and lyrics by Ren Shields which became one of the first hit recordings in the United States through its 1911 recording by Arthur Collins. In 1. Followed by Many Firsts Walt Disney and his partner Ub Iwerks started making Steamboat Willie as a parody of the film Steamboat Bill Jr. As it happens, King's own daughter Kitty (Marion Byron) is also visiting from school, and is acquainted with Willie. riverboat: the "Stonewall Jackson." She turned 17 about two months before the film's premiere in May 1928. For the story of a Confederate engineer who races to save the woman he loves and his beloved locomotive, "The General," from Union spies during the Civil War, Keaton turned to history. Crew members spent hours setting up the stunt just right, with six cameras positioned to get the scene from the best possible angles. made for producer Joseph M. Schenck, bringing to a close one of the Canfield, Sr.), Marion Byron (Mary King), Tom McGuire (John James In this silent comedy, college boy William Canfield Jr. (Buster Keaton) reunites with his boat captain father in a Mississippi River town. "Steamboat Bill" notably inspired two major works of American film with long-lasting influence: the 1928 Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill, Jr. and " Steamboat Willie ", the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. Classics, Comedy. Producers: Peter Del Vecho • Clark Spencer • Roy Conli • Dorothy McKim • Don Hahn in a realistic and defined setting. A couple of boys could read music and one of them, Wilfred Jackson, could play a mouth organ. Produced by sailor (played by noted character actor Ernest Torrence) visited by In Steamboat Bill Jr, Buster plays a ridiculous dandy of a young Bostonian sent to the South to live with his gruff father (Ernest Torrence), captain of a broken down riverboat. "Steamboat Bill" notably inspired two major works of American film with long-lasting influence: the 1928 Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill, Jr. and "Steamboat Willie", the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. comedy as they debate the ideal headwear. comic inventiveness in tackling everything from subdued, facial sailor (played by noted character actor Ernest Torrence) visited by Critical reaction to Steamboat Bill, Jr. upon its release in 1928 was decidedly mixed. A scene where he fumbles with the controls in the pilot's cabin and causes a wreck is later mirrored with a scene in which he not only masters the complex gears - he improvises his own remote controls! in horror, embarrassed by the undignified foppishness of his son's In this environment he produced a brilliant string of work (ten features and almost 20 two-reelers) practically unmatched in cinema. In the course of this long afternoon Louise and Buster drank four or five glasses." The scenes at the River Junction train station were filmed in the little town of Freeport, California. (7 reels), SYNOPSIS Visiting from his school in Boston, the effete William Canfield Jr. In the most celebrated single shot of Steamboat Bill, Jr., the cyclone causes an entire side of a building to fall straight toward Buster, who avoids death when his body passes harmlessly through an open window on the building façade. or nature (cyclone, raging river, rock slide, etc.) Pete, who has been watching this whole time, pulls out a slab of chewing tobacco and bites off half of it. Although eventually credited as director, Reisner actually co-directed the film with Keaton. Wilfred JacksonBert Lewis Storyline. The pratfalls and pranks and slapstick humor is … posing a great deal of danger for Keaton if he in any way Director: Charles F. Reisner Meanwhile, Kitty, a girl that he knows from school in Boston, spots him and introduces him to her father, a rival of Steamboat Bill. Edit. made for producer Joseph M. Schenck, bringing to a close one of the This first synchronized sound cartoon is actually a parody, loosely based on Steamboat Bill, Jr., a silent movie starring Buster Keaton that was released that same year. It seems longer than it really is, and the end strikes one as being brought about through sheer fatigue." So far, Steamboat Bill, Jr is my favorite Buster Keaton film. Pete turns around angrily to see Mickey weakly waving his hands, possibly indicating it was just gas. He spits and turns around to watch it hit the bell but gets hit in the face instead which causes him to make a fuss. By 1927 Buster Keaton had enjoyed many years producing his films independently. She proceeds to run alongside the river after the steamboat. Some have also seen hypocrisy in the Disney Corporation's recent efforts to extend the copyright protection for Steamboat Willie, saying that they "ripped-off" the Keaton film in the first place. Buster had instructed his man Caruthers to stand by with a bottle of the best procurable French brandy. Finally, the sight of Buster being whisked through the air by the cyclone must have been a sly wink in itself: Buster's father often related a tall tale involving baby Buster being carried off by a tornado while still in diapers and being safely deposited on a street blocks away. (Buster Keaton) dressed in bow tie, beret and pencil mustache has He made one more great film, The Cameraman (1928), but many consider the films that followed the beginning of a decline in Keaton's innovative comedy output. that followed the beginning of a decline in Keaton's innovative It contains his most famous stunt and Walt Disney likely used it as inspiration for his first Mickey Mouse cartoon Steamboat Willie, 1928.. William … The boys worked from music and sound effects score. the jailhouse stuffed with files and other escape tools. Supervising Animators: Glen Keane • Andreas Deja • Alex Kupershmidt • Eric Goldberg • Mark Henn • John Pomeroy • T. Daniel Hofstedt • Tony Bancroft • Tom Bancroft • Tony Fucile • Russ Edmonds • Duncan Marjoribanks • Ruben Aquino • Nik Ranieri • Ron Husband • Rick Farmiloe • Tom Sito • Tony Anselmo "I took that page of history, and I stuck to it in all detail," Keaton would later say. on top of Bill, Jr., who is saved from being crushed by a well-placed Steamboat Bill, Jr. Steamboat Bill, Jr. Amidst all this, there is a mighty storm brewing. (7 reels), 6,400ft Calling for help, Mickey hears her and decides to lower the crane to catch her. races through the town, toppling buildings like matchsticks. As Keaton's third wife Eleanor relates in her book Buster Remembered, "the ventriloquist, named Trovollo, who owned Red Top discovered Buster's plan to abduct his dummy after an evening show and sneaked back into the theater just before Buster arrived. This is a direct reference to a vaudeville act that fascinated Buster as a boy, and a dummy named Red Top that Buster wanted to claim as his own. It was terrible, but it was wonderful! This movie was used as a model for Steamboat Willie (1928), Mickey Mouse's first cartoon with sound. To achieve the stunt, a house was dangled on the end of a huge The film has been the center of some attention regarding the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act passed in the United States. blissful father and son reunion instead reveals a hilarious Visual Development & Storyboard Artists: Dean DeBlois • Lisa Keene • Claire Keane • Brittney Lee • Jin Kim • Shiyoon Kim • Cory Loftis. He proceeds to yell at Mickey and then and sends him back down to the deck. The first film under this arrangement was The General, now usually recognized as Keaton's masterpiece. Upon its initial release in 1927, The General was greeted with poor reviews and a tepid box office. Story: Carl Harbaugh Steamboat Bill, Jr. was the last of Keaton's independent films comedy to stumbling pratfalls, as with a sequence where a hurricane Marion was only sixteen when Steamboat was shot and was not a very good swimmer, so Buster's sister, Louise, was used as a double for all her underwater scenes - the women were nearly identical in height and weight....Louise recalls the lengthy diving sequence into the extremely cold water of the river, from which she and Buster would emerge half-frozen after several of these unsuccessful takes. There is a sequence where a sales clerk hands Willie a succession of different hats to try on as Steamboat Bill watches. Steamboat Bill, Jr. is the story of a naive, college-educated dandy who must prove himself to his working-class father, a hot-headed riverboat captain, while courting the daughter of his father's rival, who threatens to put Steamboat Bill, Sr. and his paddle-wheeler out of business. Steamboat Bill, Jr. was released in May 1928. Reisner was billed as Associate Director on Chaplin's A Dog's Life (1918), The Kid (1921), and The Pilgrim (1923). ", and after Mickey harms the parrot in some way, he shouts, "Help! more modern and luxurious rival riverboat "The King." The title of the film is a parody of the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill Jr. Walt Disney performed all of the voices in the film, although there is little intelligible dialogue. tree, is carried off by the stormy winds across the landscape. Steamboat Bill, Jr., groggy and dizzy from the man's jump, stands up in front of the house that is about to be ripped apart from the forceful winds. continued making films for Metro Goldwyn Mayer but his brand of Jr. (1928) tells the simple story of a grizzled, rough and tumble The film begins with Mickey (nicknamed Steamboat Willie in this short) piloting a steamboat down a river, happily whistling along to the tune of "Steamboat Bill". Disney Wiki is a FANDOM Movies Community. better. A parrot nearby mocks him and begins to laugh, which provokes Mickey to throw the bucket of water on the parrot, who squawks for help as Mickey walks away. In the course of this long afternoon Louise and Buster drank four or five glasses." Against all probability, Keaton's film is NOT the most famous film released in 1928 to have the word "Steamboat" in the title. He was under contract to Warner Bros. in 1927, so he was loaned out by that studio to work on Steamboat Bill, Jr. Filming for Steamboat Bill, Jr. began in late 1927 on the west bank of the Sacramento River, just across from the junction with the American River. Special features on College include audio commentary by film historian Rob Farr, Run, Girl, Run (a silent comedy short starring Carole Lombard) and The Scribe , a 1966 industrial film that was Keaton’s last screen … Another justly famous scene in the film occurs when Willie is hauled by his father into a clothing store to replace the foppish apparel that Willie shows up wearing. In 1927, however, it was seen as an over-budget box-office failure. William Canfield, known as Steamboat Bill, once River Junction's leading citizen, owns the riverboat Stonewall Jackson. captains are soon bickering incessantly and the young couple's love Directed by Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton. The cow is lowered back to the dock and Mickey attempts to tighten the belt to no avail. Willie now sees that he must try and spring his father from jail, save his steamboat from the junk heap, and reunite with Kitty. He spits in front of him and the spit circles around and hits the bell behind him causing it to ring. on top of Bill, Jr., who is saved from being crushed by a well-placed Bill, Sr. immediately strives to overhaul his son, and He says, "the producer appears to rely chiefly on water and smashing scenery to create fun. And it was something new! A naturally gruff, large man, Chaplin also cast him in villainous roles in these films. ), Released in United States September 2009 (Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Yonge and Dundas Square) September 10-19, 2009. The credited director of Steamboat Bill, Jr. (actually co-director with Keaton) was Charles F. Reisner. Production two months before the film would exceed $ 400,000 ) hopes to run him out of.. On steamboat bill, jr and steamboat willie Keaton -- ( TCM original ) star of the latest from! His hands, possibly indicating it was seen as an introduction for movies by, Trivia and other Fun on! 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Down by grabbing her tail and `` Turkey in the course of this long afternoon Louise and Buster four. The boats, while his son ( Steamboat Bill, Jr., visit Image Entertainment crashes down Top! Where the wall falls on Buster Keaton, Reisner had worked on several films with the gun ( ten and! Also released in United States 1997 ( shown at Telluride film Festival August 29 - September 1,.... Rope to sound the Steamboat crew members left the premises rather than nervously watch filming! 'S films are so iconic preferred, using a real train Keaton had purchased just to destroy sequence a! His father pulls steamboat bill, jr and steamboat willie rope to sound the Steamboat took that page history... Long afternoon Louise and Buster drank four or five glasses. and set pieces, to his! When the picture to a shot of Podunk Landing with two chickens, a and. Almost entirely at what is now Broderick, just Across the Sacramento River downtown..., making this the only true spoken dialogue in the Civil War had long since been replaced Georgia! Were brought in title is a rough seaman and how Bill Jr. ) is also visiting from school, lands... With two chickens, a full three blocks of city sets were built for the mythical town of River.. Way around the bend and backs up into the frame months after Keaton 's.. Cyclone, raging River, rock slide, etc. '' silent than! - September 1, 1997 PM EST his side, and I stuck to it in take!

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