La croisière du navigator

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.

Through a series of mishaps, a pampered rich boy (Buster Keaton) and his unrequited love find themselves the only two passengers on a huge steamer adrift in the middle of the ocean. Wouldn't be so bad, if they did not come across an island of cannibal savages who want to invite them to..ahem...dinner.

"The Navigator" breezes by quickly and easily, offering many chuckles and few outright chortles. There are some marvelous set pieces, like an underwater scene involving Keaton in diving gear, some swordfish, and an octopus. And there are other smaller but just as funny moments, like the scene where these two socialites who've never lifted a finger for themselves decide to cook dinner in a kitchen designed to make meals for hundreds. The depiction of the island savages is predictably cringe worthy in a film from 1924, but you just have to suck it up and get past it, accepting it as a product of its time. If you can get past that, there's much to enjoy here.

Grade: A-

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.

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.

I thought the whole set up and layout of the plot was very clever and engaging. I liked how early on, even though it is very simplistic, the audience can relate to the main character and become engaged in the story and the spectacle that much quicker. I also liked all the gags that were done, they were also very clever and well put together, I stood in awe at the fact that there was not only an underwater sequence but an important underwater sequence that was incredible to watch. There are not any characters that we are around so that leads to the few that we see to be very strong and not flat or clichéd and there relationship grows as the peril of the plot grows, it is very engaging.

Overall I'd say the pacing was very well done, though I found myself daydreaming once or twice, and technically very well put together. Bravo.