Buster Keaton, der Matrose

Wealthy Rollo Treadway (Buster Keaton) preposes to his neighbor across the street, Betsy O'Brien (Kathryn McGuire), and sends his servant to book passage for a honeymoon sea cruise to Honolulu. Surprised that she would reject such a wonderful guy as himself, he decides to go on the trip anyway. Because the pier number is partially covered and it is nighttime, he ends up on the wrong ship, the Navigator, which Betsy's rich father (Frederick Vroom) has just sold to a small country at war. Agents of the other small nation set the ship adrift that night. Betsy boards the ship to rescue her father, thinking he is aboard, prior to the ship being cut loose.

So McGuire and Keaton are both onboard the same ship, alone except for each other, and don't know that the other is there. How they find each other is part of the fun. How they manage to grasp the simple things like making coffee and using a can opener - with great difficulty -is a running commentary on the idle rich of the roaring 20s since these two have always had servants to do every simple task for them.

The Navigator makes the gutsy choice for its time to allow African American actors the chance to be spear-chucking cannibals since such roles normally went to white actors in black face. It's also notable that these actors were performing their own stunts like the rest of the cast with Keaton, as always, taking the biggest risks with the most physically demanding stunts.

Donald Crisp, the co-director, was hired to direct the dramatic (non-boat) scenes, and was removed when he tried to direct the boat scenes as well. Keaton took over. In the gag where McGuire tosses the portrait that ends up dangling outside Keaton's window to frighten him, the portrait of the scary man is Crisp.

The scene where Buster and his girl, two rich youngsters who are stuck together alone on a ship, attempt to feed themselves is one of the funniest scenes I've ever watched. For about 10 minutes, I could not stop laughing. After that scene, the comedy is, well, I was going to say hit and miss, but that's not right. No joke really misses. It's just the difference between a smile, a chuckle, and a guffaw. I would say that, especially compared to my two favorite Keaton films, Our Hospitality and Sherlock Junior, The Navigator is considerably less funny (though almost anything is considerably less funny than those two films). Plus, the film never reaches a solid conclusion. A situation was set up at the film's start which was never advanced at all. Still, The Navigator beats out most modern comedies. Nothing can really beat Buster Keaton. I would give it a 7/10 if it lacked the food sequence, but I'll add 1 point for that, so a total of 8/10.

This story of a helpless, spoiled rich boy set adrift upon a giant ship with his equally helpless girlfriend has a clever story line and a series of excellent gags, but the plot is slow to develop. It is held up by some slow-moving scenes which are not as funny as they try to be. Although the sequence of events which result in the stranding of the couple upon the sea are highly improbable, they were well-executed and the humorous possibilities to be explored make that easy to overlook. Most of the attempted humor pays off, but somehow the movie drags a bit. I especially found the underwater scene to be too long and was an anchor to the movie's momentum. However, it did lead to some very humorous moments when Keaton made it ashore. Keaton's trip back to the ship from the island may have inspired the scene in Woody Allen's Sleeper in which Allen and Diane Keaton escaped from the futuristic police by using an inflatable suit to float across a lake. Whatever one's opinion of the bulk of The Navigator, the ending is unquestionably inspired. This is a great example of Keaton pulling a rabbit out of a hat to the surprise of the audience. It's a great audience pleaser. I would not recommend this movie as an introduction to Buster Keaton, but if you're already a fan, then you have to see it.

While it might not be one of Keaton's very best movies, "The Navigator" is a good comedy that has some great scenes. It never quite hits high gear the way that some of Buster's masterpieces do, but there is a good variety of material, and it is pleasant and funny to watch.

Keaton and Kathryn McGuire work together well, and their scenes together make up most of the movie, including some of the funniest parts. Their scenes in the ship's kitchen are especially good. The well-known scene of Buster going deep-sea diving is also very entertaining, and must have taken some real skill to film at the time.

This is one that any fan of Keaton or of silent comedy should enjoy.

Lifestyles of the rich and famous are satirized in The Navigator, a silent film starring Buster Keaton and Kathryn McGuire, and interestingly enough, directed by Buster and Donald Crisp! Buster and Kathryn wind up stranded together on a ship with no crew or outside help, and as they try to fend for themselves, they give the audience plenty of chuckles. Kathryn picks out a few individual beans to brew their coffee, then ties a raw slab of bacon into a knot to make it look pretty. Buster repeatedly breaks eggs by trying to fish them out of boiling water without a spoon. Since they're that clueless, it's no wonder they have no chance of surviving! And to make matters worse, they're ex-sweethearts; at the start of the movie Kathryn rejects Buster's proposal.

There are a few cute moments to this movie, but there's also a large chunk of the movie that focuses on their dealings with island cannibals. That portion hasn't stood the test of time very well, but if you can put it in the back of your mind, you'll be in a better position to appreciate the underwater scenes and marvel at Buster who fights with an octopus while running out of oxygen in his deep sea suit.