Whereas trains brought out the cinematic poet in Keaton, boats tended to underscore his apparent powerlessness against recalcitrant objects on a massive scale. Keaton heroes had a masochistic affinity for the most unseaworthy of vessels, culminating with the ghostly ocean liner of The Navigator capriciously transporting Buster from the California coast to the shoals of Cannibal Island. The Boat is quite straightforwardly about how not to build and launch a boat and what not to do when at sea. Buster assembles his boat, the Damfino’ (damned-if-I-know) in the basement of his house, like a model in a bottle, only to realise that the doors are too narrow to get it out. The epic demolition that follows is reminiscent of the end of One Week, with the train violently smashing Buster and Sybil Seely’s home: as a matter of fact, Keaton had initially conceived the two films as a four-reel feature to follow the misadventures of a married couple, now a family with kids. The launch of the Damfino at sea is one of Keaton’s most celebrated and beautifully shot sequences, with the vessel continuing down the ramp under the water to exhilarating effect. Keaton’s inventiveness is unleashed completely once the boat reaches the open sea, with visual gags such as retractable mast poles to go under bridges, hare-brained ideas such as puncturing holes in the hull to fix leaks, and some of the actor’s best physical beatings as his surroundings cause him grief at every turn. Without a dull moment, The Boat is a quintessential Keaton delight.

Cecilia Cenciarelli

For the restoration of The Boat four elements – all from Cohen Film Collection – were inspected, digitised and compared. Two of them were selected for their photographic quality and completeness: a (possibly second-generation) dupe negative (CO_COLU_PDN_RR646_R01) for the first half of the film, and another fifth-generation dupe positive (CO_COLU_PDP_SEC_RR4773_ R01) for the second half.