Flames (1926 film)

Flames is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Lewis H. Moomaw and starring Eugene O’Brien, Virginia Valli, Jean Hersholt, and Boris Karloff.[1] Its plot follows a railroad laborer who, while working on a bridge in rural Oregon, must face off with a desperado who kidnaps his boss's daughter.

Flames
Promotional photograph of actor Jean Hersholt in the film as Ole Bergson
Directed byLewis H. Moomaw
Screenplay byAlfred A. Cohn
Based onTo the Brave
by Alfred A. Cohn
Produced byLewis H. Moomaw
Starring
CinematographyHerbert H. Brownell
King D. Gray
Edited byFrank Lawrence
Distributed byAssociated Exhibitors
Release date
  • September 15, 1926 (1926-09-15)
Running time
6 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

One reel of the feature survives at the Library of Congress, though the remaining five are lost.[2] The film was shot on location in Portland, Oregon,[3] as well as Oregon's Cascade Mountain range in the fall of 1925. Though mostly filmed in black and white, the film's climactic sequence, which features a forest fire, was shot in color.

Plot

Herbert Landis is sent to supervise the construction of a bridge in Oregon by James Travers, a railroad magnate and father of Anne Travers, whom Herbert is secretly in love with. Herbert is dismayed when Anne invites Hilary Fenton, high-society playboy, to accompany them to a rural encampment where the project is headquartered. Anne is attended by Mrs. Edgerton, who acts as a chaperone.

Herbert is dismayed by Anne's interest in Hilary, who is wooing her in an attempt to access her family's fortune. Ole Bergson, Herbert's cabin roommate, devises a plan to help make Anne fall in love with Herbert: Ole disguises himself as Blackie Blanchette, a local desperado, and kidnaps Anne, urging Herbert to "rescue" her from him.

Ole's plan is foiled when he himself is kidnapped by the real Blackie Blackfoot. When a forest fire breaks out in the area, Herbert confronts Blackie, who has brought Anne to a secluded cabin. Blackie is killed when the cabin catches fire, while Herbert and Anne manage to escape the blaze by seeking shelter in a river. The dramatic event leaves Hilary exasperated, finding country life too difficult, and he returns to the city. Upon Hilary's departure, Anne determines Herbert to be the true object of her affection.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in Portland, Oregon in the fall of 1925 under the working title To the Brave, the name of the story by Alfred A. Cohn on which the film is based.[4][5] It was subsequently retitled How to Train Your Wife before being retitled one final time as Flames, referring to a forest fire sequence that occurs at the climax of the film.[5] The Forest Fire Protective Service oversaw the filming of the dramatic climactic sequence in Oregon's Cascade Range near Odell Lake[4] in central Oregon.[5] Though the majority of the film was shot in black and white, the climactic sequence was filmed in color.[5]

Release

Associated Exhibitors released Flames theatrically on September 15, 1926.[5]

Critical response

A review published in The Pasadena Post noted that the film "was not so outstanding as to attract unusual attention, but the work of its three principal [actors] was."[6] Roscoe McGowen of the New York Daily News wrote that the film was "not a bad picture," though he singled out Hersholt's performance as the standout, noting that he "contributes a Von Stroheim touch of realism."[7]

Availability

Flames is considered a lost film, although one of its six reels is known to survive, and is held by the Library of Congress.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Progressive Silent Film List: Flames". Silent Era. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
  2. "Flames / Lewis H Moomaw [motion picture]". The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022.
  3. "Filmed in Oregon 1908-2015" (PDF). Oregon Film Council. Oregon State Library. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  4. "Moomaw Borrows Jean Hersholt". Los Angeles Times. August 28, 1926. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Nollen & Nollen 2021, p. 76.
  6. "'Flames' Is Previewed At Bard's". The Pasadena Post. September 28, 1926. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. McGowen, Roscoe (November 17, 1926). "He-Man Heroism Flares from Celluloid 'Flames'". New York Daily News. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.

Sources
  • Nollen, Scott Allen; Nollen, Yuyun Yuningsih (2021). Karloff and the East: Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern and Oceanian Characters and Subjects in His Screen Career. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-1-476-64086-0.
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