''Black Waters'' is a 1929 British/American horror sound film produced by

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wif ...

and directed by

Marshall Neilan Marshall Ambrose "Mickey" Neilan (April 11, 1891 – October 27, 1958) was an American actor. Early life Born in San Bernardino, California, Neilan was known by most as "Mickey." Following the death of his father, the eleven-year-old Mickey ...

. It was the first British-produced talking picture ever shown in England, but it was actually made in Hollywood since that is where the needed sound equipment was at that time. Wilcox sent Neilan to the U.S. to film the picture there, using a mostly American cast and crew. (

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's ''

Blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

'' (1929) is often said to be the first British talking picture, but it was actually released after ''Black Waters''.) Wilcox went on to star American actors in many of his later British films as well, to make them more appealing to British filmgoers, a practice that

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

did away with after 1957. ''Black Waters'' was written by American

John Willard John Willard ( 1657 - August 19, 1692) was one of the people executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials. He was hanged on Gallows Hill, Salem on August 19, 1692. At the time of the first allegations of witchc ...

, based on his play ''Fog''. Willard was the writer of the successful play '' The Cat and the Canary'' (1922), which was filmed several times and ripped off by a number of other filmmakers, and he was trying to repeat his success with this film, only replacing the "old dark house" setting with that of an "old dark houseboat". The cast featured Hollywood actor

Noble Johnson Noble Johnson (April 18, 1881 – January 9, 1978), later known as Mark Noble, was an American actor and film producer. He appeared in films such as ''The Mummy'' (1932), ''The Most Dangerous Game'' (1932), ''King Kong'' (1933) and ''Son of ...

(of ''King Kong'' fame). ''Black Waters'' is today considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

Plot

A weird night watchman lures a group of people onto a rundown old yacht at a San Francisco pier at midnight. Once the boat sets sail, the passengers are murdered off one by one, until only two of them (Charles and Eunice) remain, along with a kindly old reverend who turns out to actually be the murderer, a crazy ship's captain named Tiger Larabee who disguises himself as a reverend to pull off a succession of murders.

Cast

* John Loder as Charles, the hero *

Mary Brian Mary Brian (born Louise Byrdie Dantzler, February 17, 1906 – December 30, 2002) was an American actress who made the transition from silent films to sound films. Early life Brian was born in Corsicana, Texas, the daughter of Taurrence J. ...

as Eunice, the heroine * James Kirkwood as the reverend Eph Kelly *

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reicher; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in Mu ...

as Randall * Robert Ames as Darcy *

as Jeelo *

Hallam Cooley Hallam Cooley (February 8, 1895 – March 20, 1971) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1913 and 1936. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and died in Tiburon, California. Cooley attended Nort ...

as Chester *

Lloyd Hamilton Lloyd Vernon Hamilton (August 19, 1891 – January 19, 1935) was an American film comedian, best remembered for his work in the silent era. Career Having begun his career as an extra in theatre-productions, Hamilton first appeared on film in ...

as Temple * Ben Hendricks Sr. as Olaf

Production

Herbert Wilcox produced the film after visiting Hollywood to see the development of sound. He rented a soundproofed studio from

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

and

Al Christie Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, 1 ...

in Hollywood for five days at £1,000 a day. Wilcox claimed it was the fifth talking picture ever made. He later obtained a license from

Western Electric The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...

to equip the first sound studio in Europe.Wilcox p 84

Reception

Wilcox struggled to get the film exhibited in England, as only a few British cinemas were equipped to handle sound pictures.Wilcox p 84 Historian Chris Howarth stated "The film was long thought to have received scant attention upon its initial release, though some modern film critics who have studied the original reviews suggest that it might have been more inventive than originally assumed....".

References

Sources

* Wilcox, Herbert; "Twenty Five Thousand Sunsets" (1967)

External links

*
''Black Waters''
at Silent Era
''Black Waters''
at BFI {{Herbert Wilcox 1929 films British drama films 1929 drama films British black-and-white films Transitional sound films Lost British films 1929 lost films Lost drama films Films directed by Marshall Neilan 1920s English-language films 1920s British films