The Navigator (1924)

A rich dink (Buster Keaton) plans his honeymoon then announces to his love that they are to be married. When she rejects him, he decides to go to Hawaii alone. Criminal backstory has them both set adrift on the USS Navigator, neither knowing the other is onboard.

Buster made twelve silent comedy features, seven of which I have seen. The last five are the lowest (but not low) rated of the bunch, and I will pick them off. That’s just what I needed. Another list to complete.

After Buster’s rejection he sees a loving couple driving in a car. They also happen to be black, and loneliness is the take-away. How progressive, I thought. That thought didn’t last long. Later, when on the boat, they come across an island peopled with angry cannibals. Yea, you know how that went down.

The Navigator is Buster Keaton at the top of his game, the gags innovative and effective. There is an amusing (and dangerous) underwater scene and a set piece that would later inspire a scene in Inception and in a film I will get to very soon. To say it’s in the top five of Keaton’s silent comedies doesn’t sound like high praise, but it actually is. AMRU 4.