Silent Sundays Series: Steamboat Bill, Jr

Silent Sundays at the Playhouse continue September 10th at 2:30pm with Buster Keaton’s last independent film, Steamboat Bill, Jr! 

Keaton plays William ‘Willie’ Canfield Jr., who just finished school and comes to River Junction, Mississippi to reconnect with his Dad, ‘Steamboat Bill’ Canfield, who hasn’t seen him since he was a baby. Their meeting doesn’t go smoothly, the burly Steamboat Bill has trouble accepting him. Can Willie win his Dad over? What happens when he falls for the daughter of his Dad’s riverboat rival, the town’s magnate J.J. King?

“Rich in period detail and energized by some of Keaton’s most inventive gags” (tcm.com), the film was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2016.

With an ending sequence that contains one of the most iconic scenes in silent cinema, we agree with Life Magazine’s film critic Robert Sherwood who stated 95 years ago, “Don’t miss Steamboat Bill, Jr. It is movie humor at, or pretty darned near, its best.”

Accompanying the film on our Mighty Wurlitzer theater pipe organ is Mark Herman. An American Theatre Organ Society Organist of the Year, Mr. Herman tours throughout the country and has performed abroad in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Our series continues with The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring Lon Chaney (1923) on October 15th and The Kid Brother starring Harold Lloyd (1927) on November 12th.

Tickets are $12. Purchase a ticket good for all three remaining films for $27. 

There are 2 ways to purchase your tickets:

1) Visit the Playhouse Box Office Thursdays from 3:00pm-7:00pm or day of show starting at 1:30pm.

2) Visit ticketmaster.com (**online orders are subject to additional service & processing fees**) Click here for a single movie ticket, click here for a ticket for all 3 remaining films.

Special thanks to the Los Angeles Theatre Organ Society!