Stunt work and special effects that puts CGI to shame

Part of what made Buster the phenomenon he is was his uncanny ability to push the envelope just far enough to entail real risk, but not enough to kill himself. One of his most dangerous stunts was also one of the most understated -- dejectedly riding the rod of the locomotive in "The General".

His crew had instructions, no matter what happened, to keep filming until Buster yelled "Cut" -- or was killed. This resulted in some amazing stuff, such as the scene in "The Three Ages" where he tries to jump from a plank onto the roof of another building. Keaton intended to land safely, but instead he smacked against the wall and fell 35 feet into a net (laying himself out in bed for three days). But because his crew were disciplined they got it on film, and Keaton just pulled together the bit where he falls through the awnings, grabs the drain pipe, and ends up going in the window, across the floor, and down the fire pole.

Yeah, the last 15 minutes where incredible. Too bad the rest of the movie wasn't that fast-paced.

I think even the bit where he is clinging to the tree has an absurd surreal quality. The storm is my favorite 10-15 minute segment of Keaton.
That segment in addition to the heelarious bit of pantomime when he is trying to break his father out of jail combine to make Steamboat my favorite Buster movie.

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"Apart from one VERY dodgy sequence with Buster hanging from a tree..."

Now according to this website:
http://rjbuffalo.com/steamboat_bill_jr.html

There are two versions of that sequence - one where it's obvious that Buster's tree is hanging from a crane, and one that looks much more dramatic.

"In a fiercely raging wind, the very convincing tree uproots Buster and smashes him into the turbulent river. It was only a fraction the length of the usual version seen nowadays, and it will scare you half to death. Unforgettable. Absolutely unforgettable. It is that brief scene, more than the famous falling-house scene, that really made the movie stand out."

The author's theory is that there were two different versions of the film - an original print that was sent off to Europe, and a second version for release later in the States that used some inferior takes to pad the film out. Seemingly the original version is hard to find and doesn't appear to have been part of the recent Blu-Ray release.