The Navigator

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.

The Navigator was a cute and funny film that displayed Buster Keatons classic gestures greatly. One of his best scenes is when he tastes horribly made coffee on the ship. You don't need sound to be able to understand what is going through Keatons mind. It's classic scenes like that that really showcase Keaton's physical comedy and acting abilities.

The Navigator was rich with physical gags and facial gestures that Keaton is best known for. He was famous for mechanical comedy, such as using hilarious contraptions to do simple things like grind coffee. It did lack in drama, and it didn't really allow for Keatons real heart warming side to show up, like in The General.

It was a great film that was adorable to watch.

Buster Keaton's 'The Navigator,' as a film, doesn't feel quite as complete as many of his other works {'Sherlock Jr.' or 'The General,' for example}, but it remains an enjoyable hour-long string of amusing gags with an abundance of Keaton's trademark deadpan humour. The idea for the film emerged when Keaton heard of the imminent scrapping of the SS Buford, a former army troop transport ship turned passenger liner. Seizing the opportunity, the comedy star purchased the ship cheaply and built an original story around this mammoth film prop. Directed by Keaton and Donald Crisp, 'The Navigator' was released in the same year that produced his legendary 'Sherlock Jr.,' and these two pictures mark the only occasions on which Keaton co-starred with Kathryn McGuire. The two actors are virtually alone for much of this film, barring a multitude of native "cannibals," but they carry the film well, with an assortment of clever and impeccably-timed gags.

Rollo Treadway (Keaton) is a rich and arrogant young man who suddenly decides to marry his sweetheart Betsy O'Brien (Kathryn McGuire). Crippled by her immediate negative response of "certainly not!", Treadway embarks on the honeymoon by himself, but awakes the following morning to find that the passenger ship he boarded is empty and drifting aimlessly across the ocean. However, via a series of sinister events, it seems that Betsy has also stumbled aboard the doomed ship, and she and Treadway must work together if they are to survive. There are many moments in the film that will have you chuckling: the two hapless fools trying to concoct a suitable breakfast (especially Keaton attacking a tin of ham with a meat cleaver), their efforts to find a safe and comfortable place to sleep, the pair's encounter with a village of tropical island cannibals and Keaton's underwater fencing joust with a swordfish.

'The Navigator' is perhaps missing many of the mind-blowing stunts that make Buster Keaton's films so memorable, but there certainly are a few good ones in there. Perhaps unusually, the most hair-raising stunts are performed by the extras playing the cannibals (their leader portrayed by the prolific African-American actor Noble Johnson). The moment that springs immediately to mind was the collapse of an immense palm tree onto one of the tiny dugout canoes. Though the cannibal who gets crushed by the trunk is obviously a dummy (albeit, a convincing one), the extras who clambered out of the craft at the final moment were certainly placing their lives at risk. Overall, since it's powered by a very loose and poorly-developed narrative, 'The Navigator' is probably the weakest of Keaton's features that I've seen so far (following 'Sherlock Jr.,' 'The General,' 'Seven Chances' and 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.'), but that doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable. Also, for an excellent slapstick short that also features Keaton as a mariner, check out 'The Love Nest (1923).'

Of all the Buster Keaton films I have seen it is certainly not the best, but it is also not the worst. The story of a spoiled man (Rollo) who falls head over heels in love with a helpless woman (Betsy) seems as if it would be easy to hit the audience with punch line after punch line, but the jokes come out at such a sloth worthy pace that it is painstakingly obvious what will happen next. There are some scenes that made me laugh so hard my sides began to ache, but others barely warranted a smirk. It did show off Keaton's incredible nac for physical comedy. The circumstances leading to getting on the ship, the bad coffee, and the experiences after he is off, all show why he was ahead of his time in the movie industry.

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.