The Navigator is an American black and white silent comedy of 1924 with the participation of the popular comedian Buster Keaton . It is in the public domain .
| Navigator | |
|---|---|
| The navigator | |
 | |
| Genre | comedy |
| Producer | Buster Keaton , Donald Crisp |
| Producer | Buster Keaton |
| Author script | Clyde Brackman Gene C. Haves, Joseph A. Mitchell |
| In the main cast | Buster Keaton Katherine McGuire |
| Operator | Elgin Lessley |
| Composer | Robert Israel |
| Film company | Buster keaton productions for Metro-goldwyn |
| Duration | 59 min |
| Budget | $ 220,000 |
| A country |  USA |
| Tongue | silent movie English (intertitles) |
| Year | 1924 |
| IMDb | |
Content
Story
On board a ship drifting on the high seas there is no one but two accidentally caught up here men and women, Rollo Treadway (performed by Buster Keaton ) and Betsy O'Brien (actress Catherine McGuire).
The action takes place during the First World War. Foreign agents, trying to interfere with the navigation of the Navigator, tied up the shipowner and released the ship into free drift. Since Rollo's beloved, Betsy refused to marry him, he decided to go on a trip all alone, but mistakenly got on the wrong boat, and the fate of the villain still brings him to the failed bride on this very ship. Betsy, who refused him, the daughter of the shipowner came to the ship with her father, but lost her and heard a cry for help, she tries to find him.
Two young people initially did not even suspect what was happening on board and did not meet immediately, but before they involuntarily played hide and seek, scaring each other half to death. Children of wealthy parents, not spoiled for work, spoiled by the luxurious life, they can’t get comfortable in this situation, even cooking becomes a problem for them. When, after several weeks of sailing, they finally adapt to the circumstances, then a new danger arises before them: they see the coast, but inhabited by cannibals. The current slowly carries the ship directly to them.
While the hero of Keaton puts on a diving suit to patch a hole in the ship, Betsy is already captured by bloodthirsty natives. Out of the sea ashore, right in the spacesuit, Rollo scares away the savages and returns to the ship with Betsy, and Betsy sails while riding on Rollo, like a boat, and working with an oar. Cannibals attack the ship, but Rollo and Betsy, after a fierce struggle with the natives, try to get away from them in a small boat. When their pursuers, it would seem, are about to catch up and capture, unexpected salvation comes in the form of a submarine that emerged to the surface.
Cast
- Buster Keaton - Rollo Treadway
- Katherine McGuire - Betsy O'Brien
- Frederick Wroom - John O'Brien, Betsy's Father
Filming
When shooting the film, the real passenger-cargo ship USAT Buford , which served as a military vehicle during the Spanish-American War and World War I. The ship was also notorious as the “ Red Ark ” due to the transportation of 249 American “unwanted” citizens deported from Soviet Russia (among them was the famous anarchist Emma Goldman ). After traveling to Alaska in the second half of 1923 and even to the southern seas in early 1924, the ship at a reasonable price (for $ 25,000) was chartered for three months by Keaton for filming his project [1] .
Underwater shooting turned out to be rather difficult. In the film, Keaton has to dive into the water in a diving suit (to eliminate holes in the bow of the ship). Filming took place in a specially equipped pool for a month. Keaton said: “I could stay below no more than thirty minutes, because the cold from the water reached my kidneys. After about half an hour, you become inactive. Then I want to go upstairs faster ” [2] .
Premieres
- USA - October 13, 1924 the American premiere of the film. The success was impressive, at that time at the box office it was Keaton's most successful work, only in 1926 his film "Warrior Butler" will collect a large box office [3] .
- France - The European premiere of the film took place on March 13, 1925 in Paris .
... The spirit of adventure, the 1st and most powerful sensations (fear, surprise, etc.) brought to an almost fantastic degree, a geometric directorial style that changes from space-time, which itself changes with the same ingenuity for every gag: all the components the elements of Keaton’s art, successively honed by him in short films, come together in this picture and make it the first true masterpiece of the great comedian. - Jacques Lursell “The Encyclopedia of Films for Authors” [4] |
Recognition
In 2000, the American Film Institute (AFI) listed Navigator on the list of "100 Funniest American Films in 100 Years," placing it in 81st place.
Notes
- ↑ imdb.com.trivia ( en ) ( en ) ( en )
- ↑ Kevin Brownlow , Pioniere des Films , p. 559. ( de )
- ↑ J. Kline, The Complete Films of Buster Keaton , pp. 101, 110. ( en )
- ↑ Jacques Lursell, “Encyclopedia of Films for Authors” (Translation from French by Sergey Kozin ). - S.P. — M.: Rosebud Publishing, 2009.- T. 2. - S. 187-188.
Literature
- Jacques Lursell "The Encyclopedia of Authors Films" (Translation from French by Sergey Kozin ). - S.P. — M.: Rosebud Publishing, 2009.- T. 2. - S. 187-188 .— 927 p. - ISBN 978-5-904175-02-3
- Buster Keaton, Charles Samuels. "My wonderful world of farce." - M .: The cognitive book +, KRPA "Olympus", 2002. - 368 p. - ISBN 5-05-005129-0 .
- Kirill Vinokurov. “Comedians. Great and forgotten. " - M .: AST, 2008 .-- ISBN 978-5-17-053644-3 .
- Kevin Brownlow. Pioniere des Films. Vom Stummfilm bis Hollywood . Basel und Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-87877-386-2 .
Links
- Navigator on the Internet Movie Database
- The Navigator on allmovie
- Watch Navigator (1924) on YouTube