Steamboat Bill, Jr. is a 1928
silent comedy film starring
Buster Keaton and co-directed by
Charles Reisner. The film found humour from the relationship between a husky
riverboat captain and his gawky, college-student son, who meet for the first time. Keaton performed his own stunts, and the film is known for the most famous of them all: the facade of an entire house falls on top of him while he stands in the perfect spot to survive unscathed as the frame of an open attic window lands around him. The film inspired the title of
Walt Disney's cartoon
Steamboat Willie, which was released six months later.
Film credit: Charles Reisner and Buster Keaton