COMEDY FOR THE STRAND
BUSTER KEATON IN “STEAMBOAT BILL, m: Really funny comedies, like fine week-ends, are few and far between, but there need be no misgivings about th'e next Strand show. ‘ Steamboat Bill, Jun.,’ is a brisk and breezy offering that rises rapidly to an overpowering gale of mirth, sweeping irresistibly forward to a climax which leaves the audience weak and aching, but completely happy. During the past two or three years Buster Keaton has advanced steadily from two-reel slapstick to a position that establishes him as one of the Big Three of screen comedy. His latest picture is quite his most ambitious effort to date, and originality—the lifeblood of the fun-maker—is the keynote throughout. The production is a delightfully unusual mixture of comedy methods. Opening in restrained style, it is amusing comedy-drama for a reel or two, and the characters are drawn firmly and realistically, giving the human little plot a solid framework. Gradually, however, the action quickens. Situation after situation, each of a screamingly funny nature, is presented, and the story whirls forward on the wings of burlesque plus roaring farce.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Star, Issue 20129, 20 March 1929, Page 5
Word Count
184COMEDY FOR THE STRAND Evening Star, Issue 20129, 20 March 1929, Page 5
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