The Boat

Keaton always said that if he had not been a comedian then he would have become an engineer. This short shows that he had quite the talent with gadgets.

Keaton plays a family man who has built a boat and plans to take his family - his wife and two sons - out for a day's pleasure.

The first impediment he faces is getting the boat out of the garage in which he built it. The door is not big enough. Eventually the door is almost big enough, he pulls the boat through the enlarged door, and it takes enough of the rest of the supporting wall with it that one side of the house comes down, revealing furnishings within. I don't think that this was a tear down.

Next is the launching. You may wonder how a boat sank and then was retrieved from the water in OK condition. The boat launch, in which the vessel slides out of the launching ramp and sinks straight into the water, took three days to film and there were actually two 35 foot boats constructed for the short. The biggest problem was that the boat that was supposed to sink did not sink cleanly and multiple attempts were required.

This short is different in that, for once, Buster is not trying to get the girl. He already has her, is married to her, and has two children. What's surprising is that she is so easygoing about the destruction of her home and then the possibility of drowning at the hands of the weather and Buster's bad judgment. Sybil Seely played the wife in this film and in several other Buster Keaton shorts including "One Week".

'The Boat' shows Buster Keaton as a boat builder, taking his wife and two children to the launch of his boat. As the four hit the ocean they learn there are quite some surprises to this boat. That things will not happen as planned is an understatement. Although there are quite some nice gags in this short film, it is only mildly funny.

The first half is so much more entertaining than the second, which seems a little boring. It uses more of the same gags and the new ones play too long. Keaton is able to show his physical a couple of time, using the entire boat as a prop, making this short a nice part in his oeuvre. On the other hand, he could have done without 'The Boat'.

This is definitely one of Buster Keaton's better short films. The key is the simplicity of the premise...Keaton's character builds a houseboat...and the multitude of problems that it causes.

The jokes are simple but usually funny (even now in our more "enlightened times" and Keaton's slapstick acrobatics are, as usual, simply wonderful to watch. He uses that one basic, if large, prop...the boat...to great effect.

And the final line, while an old joke, is still funny.

Buster Keaton just wants to take his family out on a pleasant boat trip to enjoy some sea breezes and sunshine. A simple enough request, no? Well if you've ever seen a Buster Keaton movie, you already know the answer to that question....

A pretty funny short that involves many of the pratfalls you would expect in a slapstick comedy about a doomed boating expedition -- people falling in the water (a lot), a dinner preparation gone all wrong when nothing is tied down, a storm and its predictable outcome on our beleaguered hero. A cute twist at the end reveals that our protagonist family was never in any danger to begin with.

The name of Keaton's boat is the Damfino, which provides a running joke and gives the film its final punchline.

While I love everything Keaton did, I particularly like his short comedies the best. They're packed full of gags and it's always an endless laugh riot from beginning to end. The Boat is one of my favorites, along with The Scarecrow and One Week. Keaton's brusque treatment of his children in this short speaks to my heart since I'm not very fond of children, either. The gag where he measures the temperature of the water before jumping in to save his kid from drowning is priceless and I never cease to laugh. This short is also an early example of Keaton's ability to take one prop and base a whole story around it, a la The General. Sybil Seeley is also excellent as his patient wife and her performances in Keaton's other shorts are equally delightful.