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Cult Review
Archivist John
Senior Editor
If you like old silent movies where people have very intense staring contests, you should probably watch this one. It is a decent pick for a Sunday afternoon if you don't mind reading title cards, but action fans will hate how slow the trial scenes are.
The whole plot is about Captain Corlaix, who is played by Paul Lukas. He looks like he is wearing a lot of starch in his collar, very stiff and serious. ⚓
His ship gets sunk in a fight, which is actually the coolest part of the movie because the models they used look surprisingly good for 1928. It is not exactly a big budget spectacle like The Stealers, but it works.
The real mess starts because his wife, Alice, was trapped in a cabin with her ex-lover when the boat went down. She was just there to talk, supposedly, but try telling that to a military court.
Billie Dove plays the wife and she has these incredibly big eyes that do all the heavy lifting. You can see her panicking just by the way she twitches her hands near her throat.
There is a scene where she is hiding in the cabin while the captain is right outside the door. The way the camera lingers on the door handle turning is actually pretty stressful, even if it goes on a bit long.
The subordinate officer, the ex-boyfriend, is kind of a boring guy. I honestly didn't see why she would risk her whole reputation for him, he mostly just looks worried and sweaty.
It reminds me of the vibe in The Deadlier Sex where the stakes feel way higher than they actually are. Everyone is just so dramatic about everything back then.
One thing that bothered me was how the captain’s hat stayed perfectly on his head while the ship was literally tilting. I guess they had really good glue in the French navy or something. 😂
The trial part gets a bit repetitive after a while. They keep showing the same three judges looking grumpy and it starts to feel like the movie is stalling for time.
It is definitely better than The Far Cry, which I found way harder to sit through. At least here you have the threat of a ship exploding to keep things moving.
The lighting in the lower cabins is really dark, almost too dark. I think they were trying to be artistic, but I just kept squinting at my screen trying to see who was talking.
There is a weird moment where a guy reacts to a loud noise, but since it is a silent movie, he just jumps like he got poked with a needle. It made me laugh a little bit when it shouldn't have.
I also liked the way the title cards were phrased. They use these very fancy words for simple things like 'I was scared' or 'I love you.'
If you enjoy the kind of tension found in Tartuffe, you might appreciate the way the secret hangs over the characters. It is all about what people aren't saying.
The ending is a bit of a letdown because it feels like they solved everything way too fast. One minute everyone is in trouble, and the next, it's just over. 🎬
Still, it is a fine watch for the history of it. Billie Dove is really the star and she makes the whole thing feel more real than it probably is.
Don't expect a masterpiece, but it’s a good example of how they used to do soap opera drama on the high seas. It’s got a certain charm that modern stuff lacks sometimes.
IMDb —
1918
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