Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Afternoon Adventures)

Show & Culture

Cinémathèque LIVE, with live piano accompaniment by Hughes Maréchal. France, 1928 | Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton | silent film with EN and FR intertitles | 78 min | digital | Cast: Buster Keaton, Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron | Recommended for ages 6 and up. It’s a festive day in River Junction, a small town on the banks of the Mississippi. William “Steamboat Bill” Canfield, Sr. is delighted to be reunited with his son, William Canfield, Jr., whom he has not seen since he was a baby. He is preparing to welcome a strapping young man, sturdy like himself. But what a disappointment when he discovers that his son is a frail, scrawny, poorly dressed weakling! What’s more, he is in love with the lovely Marion Kitty King, the daughter of his worst enemy…