''A Maid of the Silver Sea'' is a 1922 British silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Guy Newall Guy Newall (25 May 1885 – 25 February 1937) was a British actor, screenwriter and film director. He was born on the Isle of Wight on 25 May 1885. He began his film career by acting in the 1915 film '' The Heart of Sister Ann''. In 1920 he dire ...

and starring Newall, Ivy Duke and Cameron Carr. It is an adaptation of the 1910 novel of the same name by

John Oxenham John Oxenham ( "John Oxnam", died ) was the first non-Spanish European explorer to cross the Isthmus of Panama in 1575, climbing the coastal cordillera to get to the Pacific Ocean, then referred to by the Spanish as the ''Mar del Sur'' ('Southern ...

Plot

''The Bioscope'' provided the following synopsis of the film: :To a small island off the French coast comes Stephen Gard, a young Englishman, in charge of a gang of Cornish miners, whose presence arouses the hostility of the natives. Especially resentful is Tom Hamon, the bullying brother of Nance, in whom Stephen finds a friend. immediately after a fight one night with Stephen, Tom is found dead at the foot of a steep cliff. Although his assertion of innocence is accepted by the local magistrate, the fisher-folk, goaded on by the dead man's wife, believe that Stephen murdered Tom and threaten to lynch him. Hearing of their intentions, Nance rows Stephen to a lonely rock whither she brings him food. The angry fisher-folk discover Stephen's hiding-place, however, and, landing on the island, blockade his cavern. Meanwhile, another fisherman is killed on the spot where Tom died. Determined to solve the mystery, Nance visits the place with the magistrate and discovers that both men were killed by the kick of a wild pony, which attacks her. Hastening to Stephen's island, she is able to prove his innocence and secure his release.

Cast

* Ivy Duke as Nance Hamon *

as Stephen Gard * A. Bromley Davenport as Old Tom Hamon * Cameron Carr as Tom Hamon * Lilian Cavanagh as Julie * Charles Evemy as Berne Hamon * Winifred Sadler as Mrs. Hamon * Percy Morrish as Peter Mauger * Marie Gerald as Grannie * Charles Wood as Seneschal * Norman Loring as Doctor

Reception

According to ''The Biograph'', "charming rocky coast scenes and clever Breton type studies are the most noteworthy features of this version of John Oxenham's novel, adapted and directed by Guy Newall. The story opens well, but tails off rather weakly. However, the production is varied in interest and, as a whole, makes a fairly satisfactory entertainment of a class which is always welcome." According to the reviewer, "

's direction of individual scenes is always intelligent and artistic, and often original. The photography by Hal Young is generally excellent, especially in the coast scenes, a few of which are real gems of screen art," and the acting good, but "the solution of the 'murder' mystery is in the nature of an anti-climax, owing largely to the unconvincing and altogether inadequate staging of the wild pony's attack upon the heroine.""'A Maid of the Silver Sea," ''The Bioscope'', 9 Nov. 1922, 59-60.

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Low, Rachael. ''The History of the British Film 1918-1929''. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.

External links

* 1922 films 1922 drama films British silent feature films Films directed by Guy Newall Films based on British novels British black-and-white films 1920s English-language films 1920s British films Silent British drama films {{1920s-UK-film-stub