ABSTRACT
Produced by Buster Keaton Productions and distributed by United Artists (UA), Steamboat Bill, Jr. is usually characterized as silent film comedian Buster Keaton’s last independent movie, after which he began working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). This chapter’s examination of the film addresses the characteristics of Keaton’s work, with reference to his earlier career and the circumstances of the film’s production, to situate Steamboat Bill, Jr. in an industrial context characterized by changing configurations of vertically integrated major studios and independent filmmaking. In addition, Krämer considers Keaton’s famous “stoneface” as well as his reliance, as a filmmaker, on long shot long takes in terms of the filmmaker’s independence, placing the film outside of the classical Hollywood style, the dominant aesthetic conventions of the time.
