This film was released on Friday 18th September 2015 and is no longer screening.

IFI CLASSIC – EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI

Following the success of the reissue of Buster Keaton’s The General (1926) at the IFI earlier this year, we’re delighted to present this new restoration of his final film for United Artists. ‘Steamboat Bill’ Canfield captains a dilapidated paddle steamer from a small Mississippi town, but is in danger of being put out of business by wealthy rival operator J.J. King. When the son (Keaton) he hasn’t seen since childhood arrives, Canfield believes all of his problems are solved. However, rather than being a chip off the old block, Canfield Junior is a city boy with no sea legs.

To make matters worse, he quickly falls for King’s daughter. When a cyclone tears through the town, young Bill (and Keaton) risks life and limb to become a hero, most famously narrowly avoiding being crushed by a collapsing building front. (Notes by Kevin Coyne.)

Steamboat Bill, Jr. will be accompanied by Buster Keaton’s vaudeville-set short, The Play House (20 minutes, U.S.A., 1921, silent, digital).

Don’t forget we now schedule weekly.