The Yankee Clipper | |
---|---|
Directed by | Rupert Julian |
Written by | Denison Clift (story) Garrett Fort (adaptation) John W. Krafft (titles) Garnett Weston (adaptation) |
Produced by | Cecil B. DeMille |
Starring | William Boyd John Harron Elinor Fair Junior Coghlan |
Cinematography | Robert LaPresle |
Edited by | Claude Berkeley |
Distributed by | Producers Distributing Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Yankee Clipper is a 65-minute 1927 American silent adventure film directed by Rupert Julian. It is set against the maritime rivalry between the United States and Great Britain in the mid-19th century. [1] [2]
The film opens in England in the court of Queen Victoria. Lord Anthony Huntington, the country's foremost shipbuilder, is tasked with preventing the United States from breaking England's grip on the tea trade. Huntington boasts that his new ship, Lord of the Isles, will outsail any American ship.
In America, the U.S. president meets with a Boston shipbuilder, Thomas Winslow, who vows that his new vessel will challenge England's vaunted speed. The builder introduces his son, Hal Winslow (William Boyd), who will command the new Yankee Clipper on its maiden voyage to China. The President tells the young captain that America's hope of prestige on the seas rests with him.
Several days into the journey, a stowaway, a young boy named Mickey Murphy (Junior Coughlan) is found hiding in a burlap sack. The boy is an orphan who announces his hatred of women.
While in China, Winslow attends a dinner hosted by a wealthy Chinese merchant and rescues an English woman Lady Jocelyn Huntington (Elinor Fair) from rioting beggars. Winslow agrees to a race from China to Boston against the Lord of the Isles. He wins the race and the affection of Lady Jocelyn.
Following the film's screen debut in Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh Press called it "a screen classic that will rank among the best of the season's output." [3]
The website AllMovie gave the film a rating of three stars. [4]
William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor who is known for portraying the cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy.
Edgar Livingston Kennedy was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to portray characters whose anger slowly rose in frustrating situations.
Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook was an English film actor.
Heinz Roemheld was an American composer.
Gray Lady Down is a 1978 American submarine disaster film directed by David Greene and starring Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox and Rosemary Forsyth, and includes the feature film debut of Michael O'Keefe and Christopher Reeve. It is based on David Lavallee's 1971 novel Event 1000.
Charles D. Brown was an American stage and film actor.
Julia Faye Maloney, known professionally as Julia Faye, was an American actress of silent and sound films. She was known for her appearances in more than 30 Cecil B. DeMille productions. Her various roles ranged from maids and ingénues to vamps and queens.
Elinor Virginia Martin, known professionally as Elinor Fair, was an American motion picture actress.
Lord Jim is a 1925 American silent drama film starring Percy Marmont, Noah Beery, and Duke Kahanamoku. The film was directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 novel Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad.
A Night to Remember is a 1958 British historical disaster docudrama film based on the eponymous 1955 book by Walter Lord. The film and book recount the final night of RMS Titanic, which sank on her maiden voyage after she struck an iceberg in 1912. Adapted by Eric Ambler and directed by Roy Ward Baker, the film stars Kenneth More as the ship's Second Officer Charles Lightoller and features Michael Goodliffe, Laurence Naismith, Kenneth Griffith, David McCallum and Tucker McGuire. It was filmed in the United Kingdom and tells the story of the sinking, portraying the main incidents and players in a documentary-style fashion with considerable attention to detail. The production team, supervised by producer William MacQuitty used blueprints of the ship to create authentic sets, while Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall and ex-Cunard Commodore Harry Grattidge worked as technical advisors on the film. Its estimated budget of up to £600,000 was exceptional and made it the most expensive film ever made in Britain up to that time. The film's score was written by William Alwyn.
Lucien Littlefield was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men before he was of voting age.
John Farrell MacDonald was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed forty-four silent films from 1912 to 1917.
Charles Montague Discombe Sparrow, known by his stage name C. Montague Shaw, was an Australian character actor, often appearing in small supporting parts in more than 150 films. Many of his roles were uncredited.
Frank Coghlan Jr. also known as Junior Coghlan, was an American actor who later became a career officer in the United States Navy and a naval aviator. He appeared in approximately 129 films and television programs between 1920 and 1974. During the 1920s and 1930s, he became a popular child and juvenile actor, appearing in films with Pola Negri, Jack Dempsey, William Haines, Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, William Boyd and Bette Davis. He appeared in early "Our Gang" comedies, but he is best known for the role of Billy Batson in the 1941 motion picture serial, and first comic book superhero film, Adventures of Captain Marvel. Coghlan later served 23 years as an aviator and officer in the U.S. Navy, from 1942 to 1965. After retiring from the Navy, he returned to acting and appeared in television, films, and commercials. He published an autobiography in 1992 and died in 2009 at age 93.
Edmund Breon was a Scottish film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1907 and 1952.
Yankee Doodle in Berlin is a 1919 American silent comedy and World War I film from producer Mack Sennett. It was Sennett's most expensive production up to that time. Hiram Abrams was the original State's Rights marketer before the film's release, but producer Sol Lesser bought the rights in March 1919.
Moran of the Lady Letty is a 1922 American silent adventure drama film directed by George Melford and stars Rudolph Valentino and Dorothy Dalton. Melford and Valentino had previously worked together on the box office hit The Sheik, in 1921. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Frank Norris and was adapted for the screen by Monte Katterjohn.
Lord of the Isles was the first iron-hulled tea clipper, built in Greenock in 1853. She served in the tea trade until 1862, and also made voyages to Australia. She is known for a record passage between Greenock and Shanghai, and for her close finish in the 1856 Tea Race from China to England, docking in London just ten minutes before Maury. This race was the basis for the plot of a 1927 movie by Cecil B. DeMille The Yankee Clipper.
Old Loves and New is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur in one of his final American films.
RichardRobert Elliott was an American character actor who appeared in 102 Hollywood films and television shows from 1916 to 1951.