Those Who Dare

Those Who Dare
Those Who Dare
	Advertisement from 1923 using the film's working title Superstition
Directed by	John B. O'Brien
Written by	Frank S. Beresford
Story by	I. W. Irving
Starring	Marguerite De La Motte ; John Bowers ; Joseph J. Dowling
Cinematography	Devereaux Jennings
Production; company	Creative Pictures
Release date	November 15, 1924;
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Last updated December 28, 2025

Those Who Dare is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by John B. O'Brien and starring John Bowers, Marguerite De La Motte, and Joseph J. Dowling.^[1] Though some reference books consider it a horror film, it is not known how overt the voodoo element was, since the film no longer exists. The film co-stars a couple of actors however who were associated with the 1920s horror film genre, Sheldon Lewis (who starred in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920 Haydon film)), and Cesare Gravina (who starred with Lon Chaney in The Man Who Laughs , 1928). Director O'Brien quit directing in 1926, and spent the last ten years of his life acting in bit parts.^[2]

Plot

Captain Manning, the owner of the ship The Swallow, is ordered to remove it from a town's harbor because it has the reputation for being cursed. Afterwards he settles down in an old folk's home where he tells the story of how he came to own the Swallow. It seems that years before, he found the ship adrift at sea, manned by a crew of mutineers, whose captain was struggling to maintain control over his crew. Manning learns that the men were under a peculiar voodoo practitioner's influence. He succeeds in besting the voodoo master and bringing the mutinous crew back under control, at which time the owner gives him the ship.

Cast

John Bowers as Captain Manning
Marguerite De La Motte as Marjorie
Joseph J. Dowling as David Rollins
Claire McDowell as Mrs. Rollins
Martha Marshall as Cecilia Thorne
Edmund Burns as Harry Rollins
Spottiswoode Aitken as Thorne Wtherell
Sheldon Lewis as Serpent Smith
Cesare Gravina as Panka
June Norton
J. Farrell MacDonald
Grace Gordon
Fred Walker

Preservation

A print of Those Who Dare is held by the Cineteca Italiana in Milan.^[3]

References

↑ Munden p. 802
↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
↑ "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Those Who Dare". memory.loc.gov. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2025.

Bibliography

Munden, Kenneth White. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1. University of California Press, 1997.

External links

Those Who Dare at IMDb

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[1] Munden p. 802

[2] Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

[3] "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Those Who Dare". memory.loc.gov. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2025.

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