Day 125 - 5/5/09 - Movie #124
BEFORE: Most people have entertainment preferences - Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Letterman vs. Leno, and Charlie Chaplin vs. Buster Keaton. For me, it's Keaton all the way - he was so much more versatile than that one-note "little tramp".
THE PLOT: The effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.
AFTER: Here Keaton plays the Boston-raised son of a Mississippi boat captain, and of course, his love interest is the daughter of his father's main rival. It's a little like "Romeo and Juliet", but with physical stunt gags. Some of the gags go on too long, like when it takes 5 minutes to select a hat in a shop - I suppose it's funnier then when the wind blows the hat away, but still... This film is most famous for the often-imitated scene where the side of a house falls on Keaton, but he's safe thanks to a strategically-placed window. Keaton executes a number of other classic comedy bits, like walking against the wind, walking off of planks, and mistaking a backdrop for reality and trying to walk into it. When a hurricane hits, it's his chance to keep the boat afloat and save the day - while winning the girl's heart too, of course.
RATING: 6 out of 10 paddle-wheels
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