Below the Surface (1920 film)

Last updated

Below the Surface
Below the Surface (1920) - Ad 2.jpg
Ad for film
Directed by Irvin Willat
Written by Luther Reed (screen story)
E. Magnus Ingleton (scenario)
Produced by Thomas H. Ince
Starring Hobart Bosworth
Grace Darmond
Cinematography J.O. Taylor
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • June 1920 (1920-06)
Running time
60 minutes; 6 reels (6,220 feet)
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)
Below the Surface

Below the Surface is a surviving 1920 American silent drama film directed by Irvin Willat and starring Hobart Bosworth. Thomas H. Ince produced the picture with distribution through Paramount Pictures. [1] [2]

Contents

The film survives in the Library of Congress along with outtakes from the production and it has been released on DVD. [3] [2]

Plot

Based upon a description in two film magazines, [4] [5] Martin Flint (Bosworth) and his son Paul Flint (Lloyd Hughes) are partners in a deep sea diving business who save dive to save the lives of twenty men trapped in a sunken submarine. This brings their names to the attention of promoter James Arnold (Webb), who tries to interest them in a fraudulent scheme to extract treasure from a sunken wreck. The father declines, but the son accepts, attracted by a young woman with the promoter, Edna Gordon (Darmond), whom Luther is tricked into marrying. As a result of the dive on the treasure ship Luther becomes delirious. Edna leaves Luther and goes with James to New York City, so the father goes to an underworld dive bar in an attempt to get her back. Later, a steamer they were on sinks after a collision with a derelict, carrying the promoter and Luther's wife to their deaths. Luther refuses to accept his father's story that the woman was worthless, and dives on the sunken steamer only to discover his dead wife embraced in the arms of her lover James.

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Devils Holiday</i> 1930 film

The Devil's Holiday is a 1930 American Pre-Code film starring Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, ZaSu Pitts, James Kirkwood, Sr., Hobart Bosworth, and Ned Sparks, and released by Paramount Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobart Bosworth</span> American film actor

Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer. Bosworth began his career in theater, eventually transitioning to the emerging film industry. Despite a battle with tuberculosis, he found success in silent films, establishing himself as a lead actor and pioneering the industry in California. Bosworth started his own production company, Hobart Bosworth Productions, in 1913, focusing on Jack London melodramas. After the company closed, Bosworth continued to act in supporting roles, surviving the transition to sound films. He is known as the "Dean of Hollywood" for his role in shaping the California film industry. In 1960, Bosworth was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Darmond</span> Canadian-American actress

Grace Darmond was a Canadian-American actress.

<i>The Half-Way Girl</i> 1925 film

The Half-Way Girl is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by John Francis Dillon that was filmed around the Jersey Shore.

<i>The Devil-Stone</i> 1917 film

The Devil-Stone is a 1917 American silent romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, co-written by his mother Beatrice deMille and Jeanie MacPherson, and starring Geraldine Farrar. The film had sequences filmed in the Handschiegl Color Process. Only two of six reels are known to survive, in the American Film Institute Collection at the Library of Congress. This was the last of Farrar's films for Paramount Pictures.

<i>Treasure Island</i> (1920 film) 1920 film by Maurice Tourneur

Treasure Island is a 1920 silent film adaptation of the 1883 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, directed by Maurice Tourneur, and released by Paramount Pictures. Lon Chaney played two different pirate roles in this production, "Blind Pew" and "Merry", and stills exist showing him in both makeups. Charles Ogle, who had played Frankenstein's Monster in the first filmed version of Frankenstein a decade earlier at Edison Studios, portrayed Long John Silver. Wallace Beery was supposed to play Israel Hands, but that role went to Joseph Singleton instead. The film was chosen as one of the Top Forty Pictures of the Year by the National Board of Review.

<i>A Kiss for Cinderella</i> (film) 1925 film by Herbert Brenon

A Kiss for Cinderella is a 1925 American silent fantasy film taken from the 1916 stage play by James M. Barrie. The film stars Betty Bronson and Tom Moore and was made at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens. The play had starred stage actress Maude Adams in the Bronson role.

<i>A Yankee Princess</i> 1919 silent film by David Smith

A Yankee Princess is a 1919 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by David Smith and stars Bessie Love, who also wrote the screenplay. It is a lost film.

<i>The Eternal Three</i> 1923 film

The Eternal Three is a 1923 American silent drama film produced and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures. It was directed by both Marshall Neilan and Frank Urson. Hobart Bosworth, Claire Windsor, and Bessie Love star.

<i>Treasure Island</i> (1918 film) 1918 film by Sidney Franklin, Chester M. Franklin

Treasure Island is a 1918 American silent adventure film based on the 1883 novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. This is one of many silent versions of the story and is noteworthy because it is almost entirely acted by child or teenage actors. The film was co-directed by brothers Sidney and Chester Franklin. The film is one of Fox's Sunset Kiddies productions following in the wake of previous Kiddie productions like Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp. This is a lost film.

<i>Behind the Door</i> (film) 1919 film by Irvin Willat

Behind the Door is a surviving 1919 silent war drama film produced by Thomas Ince, directed by Irvin Willat and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The picture is a starring vehicle for veteran actor Hobart Bosworth and the supporting cast features Jane Novak and Wallace Beery. The film's source is a short story by Gouverneur Morris, also titled "Behind the Door," published in McClure's Magazine in July 1917. The film is extant at the Library of Congress and the Gosfilmofond Russian State Archive. In 2016, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, working with the Library of Congress and Godfilmofond, created a more fully-restored print of the film.

<i>Winds of Chance</i> 1925 film

Winds of Chance is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and produced and released by First National Pictures.

<i>Marys Ankle</i> 1920 film by Lloyd Ingraham

Mary's Ankle is a 1920 American silent comedy film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and written by Luther Reed based upon the play of the same name by May Tully. The film stars Douglas MacLean, Doris May, Victor Potel, Neal Burns, James Gordon, and Lizette Thorne. The film was released on February 29, 1920, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Lets Be Fashionable</i> 1920 film by Lloyd Ingraham

Let's Be Fashionable is a lost 1920 American silent comedy film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and written by Mildred Considine and Luther Reed. The film stars Douglas MacLean, Doris May, Wade Boteler, Grace Morse, George Webb, and Wilbur Higby. The film was released on June 13, 1920, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>The Sawdust Paradise</i> 1928 film by Luther Reed

The Sawdust Paradise is a lost 1928 American silent drama film directed by Luther Reed and written by Julian Johnson, Louise Long, and George Manker Watters. The film stars Esther Ralston, Reed Howes, Hobart Bosworth, Tom Maguire, George B. French, Alan Roscoe and Mary Alden. The film was released on September 1, 1928, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>The Silent Watcher</i> 1924 silent film by Frank Lloyd

The Silent Watcher is a lost 1924 American silent melodrama film directed by Frank Lloyd. It stars Glenn Hunter and Bessie Love. It was produced by Frank Lloyd Productions/First National and distributed by First National Pictures. It was based on the story "The Altar on the Hill" by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

<i>Our Wife</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by John M. Stahl

Our Wife is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by John M. Stahl and starring Melvyn Douglas, Ruth Hussey and Ellen Drew. When a composer comes up with a hit, his ex-wife sets out to break up his romance with another woman and get him back.

<i>If I Marry Again</i> 1925 film

If I Marry Again is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and written by Kenneth B. Clarke. The film stars Doris Kenyon, Lloyd Hughes, Frank Mayo, Hobart Bosworth, Anna Q. Nilsson, and Myrtle Stedman, and was released on February 15, 1925, by First National Pictures. It was based on a story by the British writer Gilbert Frankau.

<i>Doctor Neighbor</i> 1916 movie by Lloyd B. Carleton

Doctor Neighbor is a 1916 American silent feature film black and white melodrama. The film was directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. It stars Hobart Bosworth and pairs Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson in leading roles.

<i>Steel Preferred</i> 1925 film

Steel Preferred is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by James P. Hogan and starring Vera Reynolds, William Boyd, and Hobart Bosworth. The film portrays a power struggle at a steelworks.

References

  1. The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20 by The American Film Institute, c.1988
  2. 1 2 Progressive Silent Film List: Below the Surface at silentera.com
  3. Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress by The American Film Institute, c.1978
  4. "Below the Surface: Bosworth's Acting and Graphic Incidents Make Entertaining Picture". Motion Picture News. New York City: Motion Picture News, Inc. 21 (26): 5009. June 19, 1920. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  5. "Reviews: Below the Surface". Exhibitors Herald. New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company. 10 (23): 72. June 5, 1920.