Buster Keaton at the height of his powers as a physical comedian delivers the goods in Steamboat Bill, Jr., the story of a soft young man from the East joining his rough but good-natured riverboat captain father (Ernest Torrence) and trying to make good. The comedy is terrific, both in understated ways — in his father’s attempt to buy young Bill an appropriate hat to replace his beret — and in dramatic stunts — most notably in the destruction of the town in a windstorm, the sequence including perhaps Keaton’s most famous stunt, when a building wall falls on him and he escapes death only because he happened to be standing where the sole window in the wall was located. Additional human interest is added by the romance between young Bill and Kitty King (Marion Byron), daughter of Steamboat Bill’s wealthy archrival, who has brought in a new riverboat to drive his competition out of business.

  Highly recommended! Otto finds this one pleasing enough to relax.

Movie 63 for 2021.