October 13, 1924—the day The Navigator was released. Other than the cheap “cannibal” tropes, I love this movie, so much so that I’ve already done a Top Five Gags post, along with Favorite Characters posts for both Rollo and Betsy. So what’s left? Rollo and Betsy together, of course!
Pound for pound, Kathryn McGuire was my favorite leading lady in Buster’s features. She’s great in Sherlock Jr. (if we’re counting that as a feature,) and she’s fabulous here. In both cases, she really gets to do something. Whether it’s action, agency, or humor, she’s more than just a pretty girl for Buster to swoon over, rescue, or do fun gags around. I think that’s the key element that makes Rollo and Betsy’s relationship so much fun.
Rollo is far from the only clueless dandy Buster has played, though he’s definitely a delightful one. But Betsy is clueless too, and when the two of them get stranded on an adrift ship together—the day after Betsy turned down Rollo’s proposal, yikes!—it’s a hoot to watch these two try to figure out how to keep themselves alive. You’ve got to love the first breakfast sequence, where both of them are utterly incapable in the galley. I adore Betsy fussily setting the table with giant serving utensils and Rollo dumping a mountain of sugar in his terrible coffee in an attempt to spare Betsy’s feelings.
They chase away a passing ship because Betsy suggests they get its attention by putting up “the bright” flag, inadvertently signaling that the Navigator is quarantined. When Rollo tries to catch up with the ship in a lifeboat, he first hooks the Navigator to his tiny little boat so he can tow it along with him. Both of them are an absolute wreck trying to get some sleep that first night, and when Betsy falls overboard and Rollo jumps in after her, I laugh out loud as he looks up the long rope ladder in dismay when she faints in his arms.
As the two of them muddle through figuring out ship life together, the edgy awkwardness of the failed proposal and the bickering of overwhelmed survivors gives way to a nice synchronicity. Just as Betsy gets to be hapless and funny like Rollo, she gets to be resourceful too. In the second breakfast sequence, both of them make easy use of the various devices they’ve rigged up in the galley. And while Rollo is the one who puts on the diving suit to make the underwater repairs to the Navigator, Betsy diligently turns the crank to maintain his oxygen supply—even when the ship is attacked, she tenaciously does everything she can to stay at her post.
In a lot of Buster’s movies, the relationship is very simple: Buster’s in love with a pretty girl, something keeps them apart (Buster’s broke, her parents don’t approve, he has a romantic rival, etc.), and after some slapstick heroics on Buster’s part, he manages to win her hand. There isn’t much differentiation between the girls. Betsy and Rollo are different because we watch their relationship grow onscreen through everything they experience together. We see their similarities, both their hapless side at the start of the movie and their more mature side as they develop. In short, we get to see why they like each other. Yes, The Navigator is hilarious and a ton of fun, and I’m sure I’d love it no matter what, but a big reason that it’s one of my favorites is the relationship between Rollo and Betsy.
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