The Lighthouse by the Sea | |
---|---|
Directed by | Malcolm St. Clair Clarence Kolster (assistant) |
Written by | Darryl F. Zanuck (credited as Gregory Rogers) |
Based on | The Lighthouse by the Sea by Owen Davis |
Starring | William Collier Jr. Rin Tin Tin |
Cinematography | H. Lyman Broening Lee Garmes |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Budget | $91,000 [1] |
Box office | $330,000 [1] |
The Lighthouse by the Sea is a 1924 American silent adventure film produced by and distributed by Warner Bros. The film's star is canine sensation Rin Tin Tin, the most famous animal actor of the 1920s. The film was directed by Malcolm St. Clair. [2] [3]
As described in a review in a film magazine, [4] shipwrecked off the coast of Maine, young Belgian Albert Dorn would have perished from exposure and the difficulties he encountered were it not for his dog Rin Tin Tin. When their little boat finally drifts to the shore, Flora Gale, daughter of the lighthouse keeper Caleb, rescues Albert. She has the job of keeping the light as the old man has gone blind and is worried that he will lose his job if this becomes known. Bootleggers operating in the vicinity scheme to extinguish the light on a certain night when they will discharge their cargo. They kidnap Albert, tying him up, and put a net around Rin Tin Tin, taking them out to the ship, and then fell the old man and put out the light. Rin Tin Tin chews his way out of the net, and then gnaws the ropes that bind Albert. After battling the crew, they make their way to shore. Edward Cavanna, leader of the bootleggers, and his pal Joe Dagget chain Albert, but he succeeds in setting fire to some waste so Rin Tin Tin can dash up the lighthouse with the burning waste, drop it into the light, and starting it again. Flora has been kidnapped and taken to the boat. The old man frees Albert, and he and Rin Tin Tin get aboard the boat. They are battling to rescue Flora when a revenue cutter captures the ship. Albert finds happiness in Flora's love. [5] [6]
St. Clair had demonstrated skill in handling animals in two-reeler comedies for Mack Sennett Studios before directing Rin-Tin-Tin for Warner Bros. His 1919 Rip & Stitch Tailors and The Little Widow featured Teddy the Dog, a clever canine who engages in domestic duties and misadventures. [7]
The Lighthouse by the Sea, “a melodramatic action-adventure,” is the second of back-to-back features starring Rin-Tin-Tin, first Find Your Man (1926) directed by St. Clair directed for Warner Bros. The movie was delivered ahead of schedule, in compliance with producer Jack L. Warner’s dictum, “I don’t want it good, I want it Tuesday.” [8]
Film critic Charles S. Sewell in a Moving Picture World review of the film provided fulsome praise for The Lighthouse by the Sea, based on the “thrilling stage melodrama” by Owen Davis. Conceding that some of canine hero Rin-Tin-Tin’s “stunts” are “rather implausible,” Sewell declares that the picture “remains a melodrama of unbridled and primitive emotions…played up to the utmost.” [9]
The battle between uncooperative inanimate objects and humans featured in Buster Keaton’s The Blacksmith (1922), and co-directed by St. Clair, is revisited in Lighthouse By the Sea. Here the contest pits Rin-Tin-Tin against the temperamental mechanisms of the lighthouse, which the insightful canine masters and in turn serves to advance plot development. Film historian Ruth Anny Dwyer describes the picture as “an amalgam of a Keaton-like obstreperous machines and one of St. Clair’s intelligent dogs.” [10]
As a melodramatic action-adventure, the scenario is reduced to a manichean formula: Good vs. evil, weak vs. strong, oppressed vs. oppressor. [11]
According to Warner Bros records the film earned $284,000 domestically and $46,000 in foreign markets. [1]
The Lighthouse by the Sea survives today, with a print in the Library of Congress and several film archives around the world. [12] It was transferred onto 16mm film by Associated Artists Productions [2] [13] in the 1950s and shown on television. It has also been issued on DVD.
For her thirteenth birthday, the Jewish diarist Anne Frank watched this film from a rented reel with an early projection machine along with her friends who thoroughly enjoyed it. Frank was a fan of Rin Tin Tin and mentioned this film in her diary. [14]
Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, Lee Duncan, who nicknamed him "Rinty". Duncan trained Rin Tin Tin and obtained silent film work for the dog. Rin Tin Tin was an immediate box-office success and went on to appear in 27 Hollywood films, gaining worldwide fame. Along with the earlier canine film star Strongheart, Rin Tin Tin was responsible for greatly increasing the popularity of German Shepherd dogs as family pets. The immense profitability of his films contributed to the success of Warner Bros. studios and helped advance the career of Darryl F. Zanuck from screenwriter to producer and studio executive.
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors. He produced three films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture during his tenure at 20th Century Fox.
The Clash of the Wolves is a 1925 American silent Western film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Directed by Noel M. Smith, the film stars canine actor Rin Tin Tin, Charles Farrell and June Marlowe. It was filmed on location in Chatsworth, California, and at what would later become the Joshua Tree National Park. It was transferred onto 16mm film by Associated Artists Productions in the 1950s and shown on television. A 35mm print of the film was discovered in South Africa and restored in 2003. In 2004, The Clash of the Wolves was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Malcolm St. Clair was a Hollywood film director, writer, producer and actor.
A Woman of the World is a 1925 American silent comedy-drama film starring Pola Negri, directed by Mal St. Clair, produced by Famous Players–Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
The Grand Duchess and the Waiter is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Mal St. Clair and starring Florence Vidor and Adolphe Menjou. A “sophisticated comedy,” this Paramount production is based on a stage play by Alfred Savoir entitled La Grande-duchesse et le garcon d'etage (1924).
The Show-Off is a 1926 American silent film comedy produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, based on the play of the same name by George Kelly. Directed by Mal St. Clair, the film stars Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks.
Hollywood Cavalcade is a 1939 American film featuring Alice Faye as a young performer making her way in the early days of Hollywood, from slapstick silent pictures through the transition from silent to sound.
Find Your Man is a 1924 American silent action/melodrama film starring Rin Tin Tin and June Marlowe. It was directed by Mal St. Clair who persuaded Warner Bros. to hire his friend, Darryl F. Zanuck, to write the screenplay; this began a long association between Zanuck and Rin Tin Tin. Filming took place in Klamath Falls, Oregon. This film survives. It was transferred onto 16mm film by Associated Artists Productions in the 1950s and shown on television.
A Dog of the Regiment is a 1927 American synchronized sound drama film directed by D. Ross Lederman. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. This film is presumed lost. According to Warner Bros records the film earned $188,000 domestic and $59,000 foreign.
Below the Line is a 1925 American silent drama film featuring canine star Rin Tin Tin and directed by Herman C. Raymaker. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.
The Night Cry is a 1926 American silent family drama film directed by Herman C. Raymaker and starring Rin Tin Tin. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.
Frozen River is a lost 1929 sound part-talkie film directed by F. Harmon Weight and starring the canine star Rin Tin Tin and boy actor Davey Lee. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. Warner Bros. produced and distributed the film.
Tracked in the Snow Country is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Herman C. Raymaker, written by Edward J. Meagher and Herman C. Raymaker, and starring Rin Tin Tin, June Marlowe, David Butler, Mitchell Lewis, Charles Sellon, and Princess Lea. It was released by Warner Bros. on July 13, 1925.
The Jones Family in Hollywood is a 1939 American comedy film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and written by Harold Tarshis. The film stars Jed Prouty, Spring Byington, Kenneth Howell, George Ernest, June Carlson and Florence Roberts. It was released on June 2, 1939 by 20th Century Fox.
On Thin Ice is a 1925 American silent crime drama film directed by Mal St. Clair and starring Tom Moore, Edith Roberts, and William Russell. It was produced and distributed by the Warner Bros. and based upon a 1924 novel by Alice Ross Colver.
George Washington Jr. is a lost 1924 American silent comedy film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and written by Rex Taylor. It is based on the 1906 play George Washington Jr. by George M. Cohan. The film stars Wesley Barry, Gertrude Olmstead, Léon Bary, Heinie Conklin, Otis Harlan, and William Courtright. The film was released by Warner Bros. on February 2, 1924.
The Golden Cocoon is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Millard Webb and written by Louis D. Lighton, and Hope Loring. It is based on the 1924 novel The Golden Cocoon by Ruth Cross. The film stars Huntley Gordon, Helene Chadwick, Richard Tucker, Frank Campeau, Margaret Seddon, and Carrie Clark Ward. The film was released by Warner Bros. on January 30, 1926.
After Business Hours is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and starring Elaine Hammerstein, Lou Tellegen, and Phyllis Haver.
Thunder the Dog was a male German Shepherd that performed in American silent films from 1923 through 1927. Although Thunder's filmography is rather brief, his six- and seven-reel features were much longer and more elaborate than the films in which many of his fellow canine actors appeared during the silent era. His releases did, though, have to compete in the 1920s with other feature films starring rival German Shepherds such as Peter the Great, Napoleon, Rex, and, most notably, Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin. During his career, Thunder worked for Paramount, Gotham Pictures, and Fox Film Corporation; and he shared screen time with Clara Bow, Dorothy Dalton, William Russell, Caryl Lincoln, and other prominent actors of the period.