''The Oyster Dredger'' is a 1915 American 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-g ...

written and directed by

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

, and starring J. Warren Kerrigan and Vera Sisson. Chaney did not appear in the film himself. Chaney only directed two films that he himself wrote, ''The Oyster Dredger'' and ''The Chimney's Secret'', both 1915. The film is now considered to be

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. The film was marketed in the USA with one-sheet, three-sheet and six-sheet posters. The film was released in Canada on June 21, 1915.

Plot

On a trip to the seashore, a wealthy heiress named Vera is intrigued by Jack, an oyster dredger whom she sees at the beach. She instructs the driver of her boat to bump the other craft as a joke, which causes the oyster dredger to tumble into the sea. Later the two become good friends. She convinces Jack to trade places with her, desiring to adopt his more primitive lifestyle. Jack agrees to the proposition and moves into the girl's beautiful mansion, while she goes off to work at his job. Vera instructs her lawyer (Quinn) to alter her personal property records to reflect that Jack is the owner of Vera's estate. When Vera tires of the exhausting job, she tells her lawyer to switch all the records back, but the lawyer pretends not to understand what she is talking about. He tells her that she must marry him or he will remain silent and not restore her estate and property to her. Vera is indignant at the lawyer's proposal. The lawyer tells Jack that since Vera has rejected his amorous advances, he is going to allow Jack to keep Vera's property indefinitely, but Jack grows weary of the "easy life" and wants to go back to his job as an oyster dredger. In a saloon, Jack overhears the lawyer making insulting remarks about Vera, and just as he is about to beat him up, the lawyer steps backward and falls into the sea and drowns. In the end, Jack and Vera are reunited and get married.

Cast

J. Warren Kerrigan George Jack Warren Kerrigan (July 25, 1879 – June 9, 1947) was an American silent film actor and film director. Controversy In May 1917, Kerrigan was nearing the end of a four-month-long personal appearance publicity tour that had taken ...

as Jack *

Vera Sisson Vera Sisson (July 31, 1891 – August 6, 1954) was an American actress of the silent era. Biography Vera Sisson was born on July 31, 1891 in Salt Lake City. She received her education at Brownlee Collegiate School for Girls in Denver, Color ...

as Vera * William Quinn as The Lawyer

Reception

"Rather impossible, yet the presence of Jack Kerrigan and Vera Sisson in the principal roles serves to life it from the ordinary. There are many bits of comedy throughout the two reels which make the film doubly enjoyable. The scenes and photography are good." ---Motion Picture NewsBlake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Pg. 45.. "A two-reel comedy drama written by Lon Chaney. The plot is not to be taken very seriously; it is made entertaining largely through interest in the principal performers. Otherwise it is not very strong." ---Moving Picture World "This two-part drama...is a good, interesting picture, well acted and ably directed." --- New York Dramatic Mirror

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oyster Dredger, The 1915 films 1915 drama films 1915 short films Silent American drama films American silent short films American black-and-white films Lost American drama films Films directed by Lon Chaney Universal Pictures short films 1915 lost films English-language drama films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films