Hero's Journey in Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Introduction and Plot Overview

The Initiation stages of the hero's journey are evident in the 1928 silent comedy classic Steamboat Bill, Jr., starring Buster Keaton as the titular hero. In the film, the young college graduate Willie Canfield returns home to River Town Junction to rejoin his father, Steamboat Bill — a big, tall, burly man who wears blue-collar riverboat clothes and owns and operates the steamer Stonewall Jackson. There is new competition on the river in the form of the new steamer King, owned by the wealthiest man in town, J. J. King. The film opens with King's steamer paddling up to a grand reception at the pier while Bill, in his dilapidated steamer, looks on and expresses his disdain. A letter then arrives telling Bill that his son is heading home. Bill tells his partner excitedly that he has not seen young Willie since he was a little boy and reckons he must be big and tall like himself by now. This is what sets the action in motion.

When Willie arrives, he is dressed like a dapper dandy — small, frail-looking, and thin. He also acts like a bumbling fool, lacking all sense of balance and constantly tripping over steps and wires. Bill is dismayed but attempts to explain to Willie how the steamboat works, and though Willie keeps falling over things, this lesson turns out to play a critical part in his development into a hero later on. Willie also happens to be in love with J. J. King's daughter, and both fathers forbid the romance when they discover evidence of it. Bill specifically forbids Willie from seeing the girl. When Willie sneaks out to meet her and is discovered, Bill buys Willie a one-way ticket back to his college town.

The next morning, however, Bill is arrested and sent to jail after getting into an altercation with King. Willie, on his way to the train station, sees his father being locked up, tears up his train ticket, and determines to make things right with his father by breaking him out of jail. But because he is such a bumbling, inept fool, he blows the breakout and is wounded and hauled off to a hospital to recover while Bill remains locked behind bars. Then a hurricane arrives and barrels up the river, tearing the town apart. The hospital literally blows away and Willie scrambles to get out of harm's way while the townsfolk flee for safety. A tree knocks the prison into the river, and Bill — still locked up — cannot escape and is in danger of drowning.

Willie escapes the town wreckage, leaps onto the Stonewall Jackson, ties ropes to the necessary levers needed to power and steer the steamer, and pilots it into the floating prison, breaking Bill free and saving his father's life. Willie then sees his love, J. J. King's daughter, crying for help: she is on King's steamer, which is sinking. Willie ties himself off to the Stonewall Jackson and dives in to rescue her. She clings to him as Bill pulls them both back up to safety on the Stonewall. Then they all hear J. J. King crying for help from the river. Willie dives in for him as well and saves his life. All parties reconcile and the lovers embrace.

As Ebert (2002) observes, Keaton's Willie rises to the heroic by demonstrating "grace under pressure" — that is, courage when it matters most. This is especially true in the final act of the film, when Willie transforms from a bumbling fool into a kind of Olympian, vaulting over obstacles, climbing railings and the side of the steamboat, diving into the river, and saving lives as if it all came second nature to him. His hero's journey starts, however, with many awkward steps that allow him to absorb helpful information — such as how the steamboat works — though he hardly wins any accolades from his father during their initial time together due to his bumbling manner.

References

Ebert, R. (2002). The films of Buster Keaton. Retrieved from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-films-of-buster-keaton

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKKfjeg58Uk