Title: The navigator /
Authors: Keaton, Buster, 1895-1966; Crisp, Donald, 1880-1974,
Publisher: Metro Goldwyn,
Year: 1924
Subjects: Self-preservation Drama.; Man-woman relationships Drama; Steamboats Drama.; Deep diving Drama.; Cannibalism Drama.; Submarines (Ships); Tahoe, Lake (Calif. and Nev.); Oceania
Abstract: Filmed on Lake Tahoe on board the ship Beaufort in 1919, this is Keaton's personal favorite of all his films. The Navigator follows the comic and romantic mishaps that ensue when a pair of pampered youths are set adrift on a ship that is without power or lights. Keaton uses this tall tale of two pampered lovers to make comic observations about America's new millionaires. A young man who is incapable of shaving himself and a young woman who has never had to survive without servants, must now take on cannibals and gangsters, and navigate a steamboat adrift on the high seas. Buster Keaton's comic timing is impeccable, but no scene is as remarkable as the deep sea diving sequence. The director Luis Bunuel said of Buster Keaton: "Buster's face is as unassuming as a bottle, although his clear round pupils reflect his aseptic soul....Can greater heights of cinematic virtue be reached?"