This is the first time I have ever reviewed a movie I have not seen. I doubt if this film survives. However, under the circumstances, I could not help doing a brief review, to join my plot summary (above).
I recently won an October 1916 Photoplay magazine on ebay and found an intriguing summary of the movie in it. Apparently it was commonplace for short story-like versions of an upcoming movie to be published in the movie magazines, with stills from the actual film, when available.
Jerome Shorey writes a detailed recap of the story in this issue, complete with some very intriguing stills. The Fox film is the story of a wild young woman named Ellinor, who has been raised by an aging lighthouse keeper on a remote beach after he rescued her and her dying mother in a lifeboat years before.
Now entering womanhood, Ellinor has known virtually nothing but 'Old Pete,' the lighthouse and the sea. They can sit for hours, staring out at the sea, which holds a mysterious power over both of them. Gradually, though, Ellinor begins feeling other yearnings and a desire to see what the future may have for her beyond the sea.
One day she sees a ship in the distance, then spies a man swimming to shore. Mason, it turns out, has mutinied and killed a cruel ship captain. He is now on the run but takes time to visit with the attractive young woman. He takes a ring of his and one of Ellinor's and joins them, throwing them into the surf. 'Now you're mine,' he tells her. 'Whom the sea hath joined, only the sea can part.' He then hightails it, leaving Ellinor to brood over these events.
Later, George Hudson, a well-to-do widower from the nearest port village, visits and also falls for the attractive, mysterious Ellinor. He convinces her to spend a year with a friend who will help refine her, before joining him as his wife. Although reluctant to leave Old Peter, the lighthouse keeper, she does so.
The story picks up a year later, as she marries Hudson and vainly tries to win over his 12-year-old daughter, Ann. The girl can't let go of her late mother (dead since she was 7) and builds up a wall of silence that nearly drives Ellinor back to the sea.
She has all but given up on making the marriage work when she remembers Mason and his rings. She tells her legal husband about this ritual and he naturally laughs it off. This is a 1916 melodrama, though, and no sooner has Hudson reminded Ellinor that this mysterious sailor never did return, when who should burst into the house but .(you guessed it!) Mason, the long-lost sailor. Of course he sees the Christian marriage vows as being as silly and meaningless as Hudson sees the old ring-tossing vows.
Ellinor, increasingly miserable in the Hudson household, opts to go with Mason. She has just convinced Hudson of the inevitability of this when (melodrama, remember!) the daughter runs sobbing to Ann and begs her not to go even calling her 'mother!' Now Mason bows to the inevitable and leaves, muttering that only love can overwhelm the power of the sea.
While I, of course, cannot comment on the performances of the cast, the stills look most interesting. Valda Valkyrien, a real-life countess and quite a looker, is most captivating in the photos going from wild animal-like youth on the beach to refined wife to tortured soul who still hears the call of the sea. I wish I could see this one, if for no other reason, to see whether or not the enchanting Danish baroness is as enticing and captivating in the film itself as she is in the stills.
I recently won an October 1916 Photoplay magazine on ebay and found an intriguing summary of the movie in it. Apparently it was commonplace for short story-like versions of an upcoming movie to be published in the movie magazines, with stills from the actual film, when available.
Jerome Shorey writes a detailed recap of the story in this issue, complete with some very intriguing stills. The Fox film is the story of a wild young woman named Ellinor, who has been raised by an aging lighthouse keeper on a remote beach after he rescued her and her dying mother in a lifeboat years before.
Now entering womanhood, Ellinor has known virtually nothing but 'Old Pete,' the lighthouse and the sea. They can sit for hours, staring out at the sea, which holds a mysterious power over both of them. Gradually, though, Ellinor begins feeling other yearnings and a desire to see what the future may have for her beyond the sea.
One day she sees a ship in the distance, then spies a man swimming to shore. Mason, it turns out, has mutinied and killed a cruel ship captain. He is now on the run but takes time to visit with the attractive young woman. He takes a ring of his and one of Ellinor's and joins them, throwing them into the surf. 'Now you're mine,' he tells her. 'Whom the sea hath joined, only the sea can part.' He then hightails it, leaving Ellinor to brood over these events.
Later, George Hudson, a well-to-do widower from the nearest port village, visits and also falls for the attractive, mysterious Ellinor. He convinces her to spend a year with a friend who will help refine her, before joining him as his wife. Although reluctant to leave Old Peter, the lighthouse keeper, she does so.
The story picks up a year later, as she marries Hudson and vainly tries to win over his 12-year-old daughter, Ann. The girl can't let go of her late mother (dead since she was 7) and builds up a wall of silence that nearly drives Ellinor back to the sea.
She has all but given up on making the marriage work when she remembers Mason and his rings. She tells her legal husband about this ritual and he naturally laughs it off. This is a 1916 melodrama, though, and no sooner has Hudson reminded Ellinor that this mysterious sailor never did return, when who should burst into the house but .(you guessed it!) Mason, the long-lost sailor. Of course he sees the Christian marriage vows as being as silly and meaningless as Hudson sees the old ring-tossing vows.
Ellinor, increasingly miserable in the Hudson household, opts to go with Mason. She has just convinced Hudson of the inevitability of this when (melodrama, remember!) the daughter runs sobbing to Ann and begs her not to go even calling her 'mother!' Now Mason bows to the inevitable and leaves, muttering that only love can overwhelm the power of the sea.
While I, of course, cannot comment on the performances of the cast, the stills look most interesting. Valda Valkyrien, a real-life countess and quite a looker, is most captivating in the photos going from wild animal-like youth on the beach to refined wife to tortured soul who still hears the call of the sea. I wish I could see this one, if for no other reason, to see whether or not the enchanting Danish baroness is as enticing and captivating in the film itself as she is in the stills.
