The Navigator (1924 film)
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| The Navigator | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Buster Keaton Donald Crisp |
| Produced by | Buster Keaton |
| Written by | Clyde Bruckman Jean C. Havez Joseph A. Mitchell Buster Keaton |
| Starring | Buster Keaton Frederick Vroom Kathryn McGuire |
| Music by | Robert Israel (1995 score) |
| Cinematography | Byron Houck Elgin Lessley |
| Release date(s) | October 13, 1924 |
| Running time | 59 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Navigator is a 1924 comedy directed by and starring Buster Keaton. The film was written by Clyde Bruckman and co-directed by Donald Crisp.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Buster Keaton (as Rollo Treadway) is accidentally stranded on a ship with the girl who scorned him, Betsy O'Brien (Kathryn McGuire).
[edit] Background
The Navigator contains some of the most elaborate and well-known stunts by Keaton.
The actual vessel used was the S.S. Buford, a passenger liner that had also served as a World War I troopship and was infamous as the "Red Ark" for carrying 249 Communists deported during the First Red Scare. Scheduled to be scrapped, Keaton bought it as a very large prop.[2]
[edit] Cast
- Buster Keaton as Rollo Treadway
- Frederick Vroom as John O'Brien
- Kathryn McGuire as Betsy O'Brien
- Clarence Burton as Spy
- H.N. Clugston as Spy
- Donald Crisp as Face on picture at porthole
- Noble Johnson as Cannibal chief
[edit] Critical reception
When the film was released, the staff at Variety magazine gave the film a mixed review, and wrote, "Buster Keaton's comedy is spotty. That is to say it's both commonplace and novel, with the latter sufficient to make the picture a laugh getter...The actual story carries little weight. It has Keaton as a wealthy young man being matrimonially rejected by the girl. Having secured passage to Hawaii, he unknowingly boards a deserted steamship selected to be destroyed by foreign and warring factions. The girl's father, owner of the vessel, visits the dock, is set upon by the rogues who are bent on casting the liner adrift, and when the girl goes to her parent's rescue she is also caught on board with no chance of a return to land. The entire action practically takes place on the deserted ship, with the girl (Kathryn McGuire) and Keaton the only figures."[3]
More currently, film critic Dennis Schwartz praised the film, and wrote, "The film was shot in ten weeks, in Avalon Bay off the coast of Catalina Island. It proved to be Keaton's biggest commercial success. Its theme of civilized man versus the machine (seen as making life difficult for moderm man because we have become so dependent on it and it's not always reliable), was never used more effectively in cinema."[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Navigator at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ The Navigator at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Variety. Film review, 1924. Last accessed: June 5, 2008.
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, October 10, 2006. Last accessed: June 5, 2008.
[edit] External links
- The Navigator at the Internet Movie Database
- The Navigator at SilentEra
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