The Navigator (1924)

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 4)

Economy Size

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The Navigator on DVD

What can one say about a Buster Keaton masterpiece that hasn't already been said?

The Navigator looks and feels like it could be one of today's summer mega-blockbusters. It has a great, simple premise that includes the destroying of a huge set. It's endlessly imaginative, funny, inventive, etc. It's one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. It kicked off the Castro theatre's two-week retrospective of one of the cinema's greatest artists, if not its greatest artist.

I was shocked by a very elaborate underwater sequence. I didn't think they had the equipment back then, much less the gumption. But Keaton had gumption in buckets. I laughed when he gets his hands dirty, scoops a bucket of water from the ocean floor, washes his hands, then thoughtfully throws the dirty water out. Later he gets into a duel, with Buster holding a swordfish in his arms and battling another swordfish.

All I can say is that I loved it and I laughed and I felt better when I left the theatre. Keaton has been analyzed in several books and hundreds of articles, and I have nothing more to add except that I love his work unconditionally; I'll see any of his films, anytime. And that I think he's magic. Just magic. There's no other explanation.

(Note: I viewed the 2-reelers The Electric House, One Week and The High Sign at the same showing. All are spectacular.)

Starring: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Frederick Vroom
Written by: Clyde Bruckman, Jean C. Havez, Joseph A. Mitchell
Directed by: Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 59 minutes
Date: July 8, 1995