henri sauvage Valentino does a quite creditable job of portraying a bored San Francisco society swell, whose life is turned upside down when he gets shanghaied by a villainous arms smuggler. His performance is refreshingly naturalistic (for a silent) as he discovers unexpected pleasure in his rough-and-tumble life as a smuggler -- at least, until the more sinister side of his captain's nature emerges. Walter Long makes a good heavy, and Dorothy Dalton is passable as the love interest.What captivated me, though, were the locations: That harbor chock-full of tall ships, just at the end of the era of commercial viability for sail. And especially the two merchant ships on which most of the action takes place. When you see a sailing ship in a movie it's usually a replica of a warship from the 18th Century or earlier. I found those little details of actual workhorse merchant vessels from the late 1800s/early 1900s -- the zenith of commercial sailing -- fascinating.For instance, there's a pretty authentic sequence in which the Lady Letty's cargo of coal spontaneously combusts -- a bad enough prospect when you're at sea, but much, much worse when you're at sea on something as inflammable as a ship constructed out of very dry wood. After the captain and a couple of men are overcome by fumes while trying to fight the fire, the remaining crew panics and abandons ship, leaving the captain's daughter behind, easy prey for vultures like Capt. "Slippery" Kitchell.Whether you're a seafaring history buff or not, this is still an entertaining example of an action film from the heyday of the silents, and for my taste one of Rudolph Valentino's most watchable performances.

MartinHafer I liked this Rudolph Valentino movie. Perhaps this was because unlike his usual "latin lover" persona, this film features him as a rich guy who becomes an action hero! Hardly what you'd expect from this actor.The film begins with Valentino at a high-class party. He's rich and bored with the lifestyle--longing for something different. Well, his wish is unexpectedly granted when he is shanghaied aboard a rough and tumble ship skippered by tough-guy, Walter Long. Despite his background, it seems that Rudy is a natural seaman and takes to the life of a sailor.Later, they happen upon a derelict ship that is smoldering. It seems that the crew abandoned the ship and refused to try to save her despite pleadings from the ships' captain's daughter, Moran. When Walter Long and his crew board this stricken ship, Moran is the only one left alive. Rudy is warned NOT to let Long know the person rescued was a woman, as Walter is anything but a gentleman! In fact, at one point he seems poised to rape her and at another he tries to sell to to a band of bandits! In fact, Long is such a dirt bag that he plans not only to sell her, but murder his crew and replace them with bandits! Well, the crew discovers this and Rudy leads them in defending the ship. The marauders are killed, but no one on board knows that Walter Long slipped back aboard during the mêlée. Later, when the ship reaches home, Rudy goes to see his old friends. Moran and the crew think he's gone for good to resume life in high society, but he returns in time to see Long trying to molest Moran. In a climatic fight, Long gets whipped and Rudy gets the girl! Hooray! I liked this film because so much story was stuffed into the film and there was little room left for extreme sentimentality or schmaltz. It tells the story briskly and well--something not found in many silent films. For the genre (silent action/adventure films), this is a very good example.

movingpicturegal On the sailing vessel the Lady Letty, we meet Moran (Dorothy Dalton), a Norwegian tomboy, reared as a seaman, who wears pants and works the ship right alongside the men. In San Francisco on Nob Hill lives rich and handsome Ramon (Valentino), idol of the débutantes, who spends his time throwing house parties and sailing on yachts. One day he's late for one of his yacht parties and gets himself shanghaied by a ship full of sea-outlaws. Forced to become Second Mate on a voyage headed towards Mexico, Ramon seems to take a shine to being shipboard and changes rapidly from dandy to able-bodied seaman, and before you know it he's happily swabbing the decks and looking gorgeous in white sleeveless t-shirt. Meanwhile, sailing in the same waters is the Lady Letty which suddenly catches on fire, and the outlaws go aboard to loot it, coming back with nothing but rum and a "loco sailor" - actually Moran dressed as a boy, brought over by Ramon who tries to keep her hidden away from the evil Captain. Now Ramon seems to develop a crush on Moran, but this may not work out for him - see, she wishes she were born a boy!This film is packed with lots of shipboard action, fights, etc. - a bit too much for my taste actually. There is also a plot element that seems a little odd to me and that is the fact that Ramon seems so happy being on the ship with bad men who kidnapped him and are committing crimes. I am also not sure I like the match between Valentino and the woman, I kind of like them better as just "mates". The mainly sepia-tinted print shown on TCM looked okay, a tiny bit washed-out here and there but pretty good as a whole, and featured an excellent music score that matched the action well. For me, Valentino is the main reason to see this - he looks stunningly handsome in all of his scenes - sigh! I like Dorothy Dalton too, well cast in her tomboy part. Worth seeing for the beauty of Valentino alone.

ducdebrabant It's hard to know whether Dorothy Dalton was always a dud or if she simply hasn't worn well, but her appeal these days is not readily apparent. Since that's true of a number of ladies who once made multitudes salivate in the silents, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Her acting's okay. Despite her top billing, it's absolutely Rudy's picture, and he's very good in it. He never looked better, and it's a nice, varied, physical part. Despite his exotic looks, and the fact that he's given a Latin background, this is still a nice-boy part. Wallace Reid could have played it.As with so many silents, one of the main draws is the realness and thereness of the exteriors. No need to record sound, so they go on location to San Francisco, they shoot on water, and I wouldn't take anything for the scene in front of a small movie house, where you get a feel of what it was like to walk in. TCM showed it in an absolutely marvelous, digitally restored print.