Blood "N" Bubbles

The History of Diving In the Movies.

This month's Blood 'N' Bubble picture already answers part of the question. One of Hollywood's biggest silent era comedians, Buster Keaton, starred in a movie that actually had a lengthy underwater scene. The year was 1924 and this blockbuster film had Keaton donning a hard hat outfit to win the heart of a girl and to scare the grass skirts off a tribe of island cannibals. Can you name the film?

Answer

The 1924 Black and White, Silent 60 minute movie was called The Navigator. Made by Metro-Goldwyn Pictures, the film was directed by Keaton and starred Keaton along with Kathryn McGuire, Frederick Vroom and Noble Johnson. The movie pits a pair of inept rich kids against a tribe of savages. Buster Keaton and Kathryn McGuire are alone on board a disabled steamship. Keaton dons a hard hat outfit and goes over the side to fix the vessel's broken prop. Underwater he encounters a number of dangerous creatures and schools of friendly fish. At one point he actually acts as a traffic cop amongst the busy fast moving fish and then grabs a marlin to duel a prowling swordfish!. Keaton's underwater skit with the fish was a cinematic first, no other actor had tried comedy under the waves. The hard hatted Keaton ends up walking to shore after completing his rudder routine. He makes land just in time to save his girl who has been grabbed by the natives.

This was the first time that the savages had come in contact with Western civilisation and the appearance of technology (Keaton wearing a brass helmet, a canvas suit and 10 pound boots) is enough to send them cowering into the jungle.

The natives do get restless and attempt to recapture the girl by boarding the boat. Keaton uses his suit as a raft and the couple look like they are going to float away to freedom. As the movie ends the pair begin to sink into the ocean where Davy Jones might be preparing the bridal suite, just next door to his locker. No need to worry, the two sink below the water, but, they are saved just in the nick of time by a submarine which fortuitously surfaces under foot.

Director, producer and star Buster Keaton had planned to do all his underwater scenes inside a Los Angeles high school swimming pool. A life size replica of the ship's 12 foot tall prop was built and placed inside the pool. Unfortunately the size of the screw, in the vernacular, screwed that ideait was four feet higher than the depth of the tank. Keaton had his crew build a retaining wall around the pool making it significantly deeper. When water was added to newly enlarged indoor swimming hole, the added weight caused the walls to crumble ruining the set and the pool.

After paying for the repair of the facility, he took his act to Catalina Island. The Los Angeles area isle has long been a favourite spot for movie makers, however, during certain times of the year, thanks to a plankton bloom in the water, the visibility is so poor that no underwater film making is impossible; that was just about the time that the crew of the Navigator arrived at the port of Avalon. Exasperated, over budget and running out of time, Keaton moved his props and equipment to Lake Tahoe in Nevada. There the weather was great and the water was crystal clear. It was also very very cold. Keaton did all his sub surface acting in 15 minutes bursts. That was all the time he could stay underwater without succumbing to the body numbing frigid temperatures of the deep desert lake.