Scarlet Seas

Scarlet Seas
Scarlet Seas
	Film poster
Directed by	John Francis Dillon
Written by	Bradley King (scenario); Louis Stevens (intertitles)
Story by	W. Scott Darling
Produced by	Richard A. Rowland
Starring	Richard Barthelmess; Betty Compson; Loretta Young
Cinematography	Sol Polito; Frank Bangs (still photography)
Edited by	Jack Gardner; Edward Schroeder
Music by	Karl Hajos
Production; company	First National Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release date	January 12, 1929;
Running time	7 reels (6,337 feet)
Country	United States
Languages	Sound (Synchronized); (English Intertitles)

Scarlet Seas is a surviving^[1] 1929 American synchronized sound romantic adventure film produced by Richard A. Rowland and distributed by First National Pictures. Although there is no audible dialogue, the film was released with a musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc recording process. The picture was directed by John Francis Dillon. It starred Richard Barthelmess, Betty Compson, and a teen-aged Loretta Young. Originally, the film was presumed lost.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The story was written by W. Scott Darling.^[5]

Cast

Richard Barthelmess as Steven Dunkin
Betty Compson as Rose
Loretta Young as Margaret Barbour
James Bradbury Sr. as Johnson
Jack Curtis as Toomey
Knute Erickson as Captain Barbour

uncredited

Shorty English as Sailor

Music

The film featured a theme song entitled "Blossoms (That Bloom In the Moonlight)" which was composed by Ben Black and James Dietrich.

Critical reception

A review in Harrison's Reports found that the film contains "offenses to logic", including the nimbleness of the hero and heroine as they climb a rope ladder despite having survived days of hunger and thirst and the way the hero easily overcomes "a giant", lifts him, and throws him overboard.^[5]

Preservation status

The film was long thought to be lost. A print has been discovered in Italy at Cineteca Italiana.^[6]

References

^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Scarlet Seas
^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30, The American Film Institute, c. 1971
^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Scarlet Seas
^ Scarlet Seas at Arne Andersen's Lost film Files: First National Pictures 1928
^ ^a ^b "'Scarlet Seas' (S) -- with Dick Barthelmess". Harrison's Reports. January 12, 1929. p. 6. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
^ see-----Library of Congress, American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog

External links

Scarlet Seas at IMDb
Synopsis at AllMovie
Scarlet Seas at silentera.com
Lobby posters of the film: #1,...#2(Wayback)
Southseascinema.org a website devoted to island themed films
Surviving Vitaphone track samples: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5
Vitaphone Soundtrack Collection

This article about a silent adventure film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Scarlet Seas

[2] The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30, The American Film Institute, c. 1971

[3] The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Scarlet Seas

[4] Scarlet Seas at Arne Andersen's Lost film Files: First National Pictures 1928

[hr-5] "'Scarlet Seas' (S) -- with Dick Barthelmess". Harrison's Reports. January 12, 1929. p. 6. Retrieved May 14, 2022.

[6] see-----Library of Congress, American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog

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v t e Films directed by John Francis Dillon
1910s	The Key to Yesterday (1914) His Taking Ways (uncredited) (1914) Cats, Cash and a Cook Book (1915) Curing Father (1915) Deserted at the Auto (1915) One to the Minute (1915) Almost a Widow (1915) Johnny the Barber (1915) Anita's Butterfly (1915) Two Hearts and a Thief (1915) Kiddus, Kids and Kiddo (1915) Getting in Wrong (1916) Some Night (1916) Bungling Bill's Burglar (1916) Walk This Way (1916) Paddy's Political Dream (1916) Igorrotes, Crocodiles, and a Hat Box (1916) Heaven Will Protect a Woiking Goil (1916) Too Much Married (1916) Love Dynamite and Baseballs (1916) More Truth Than Poetry (1916) Bungling Bill's Peeping Ways (1916) Search Me! (1916) The Lion Hearted Chief (1916) Bungling Bill, Detective (1916) Knocking Out Knockout Kelly (1916) A Mix-Up in Photos (1916) Slipping It Over on Father (1916) Bungling Bill, Doctor (1916) A Mixup at Rudolph's (1916) Chinatown Villains (1916) National Nuts (1916) When Papa Died (1916) Nailing on the Lid (1916) His Blowout (1916) Delinquent Bridegrooms (1916) The Iron Mitt (1916) Just for a Kid (1916) Hired and Fired (1916) A Deep Sea Liar (1916) For Ten Thousand Bucks (1916) Bungling Bill's Dress Suit (1916) Indiscreet Corinne (1917)
1920s	Suds (1920) The Right of Way (1920) Blackbirds (1920) The Plaything of Broadway (1921) Children of the Night (1921) The Roof Tree (1921) Gleam O'Dawn (1922) The Yellow Stain (1922) The Cub Reporter (1922) Calvert's Valley (1922) Man Wanted (1922) The Broken Violin (1923) The Self-Made Wife (1923) The Huntress (1923) Flaming Youth (1923) Lilies of the Field (1924) The Perfect Flapper (1924) Flirting with Love (1924) If I Marry Again (1925) One Way Street (1925) Chickie (1925) The Half-Way Girl (1925) We Moderns (1925) Too Much Money (1926) Don Juan's Three Nights (1926) Midnight Lovers (1926) Love's Blindness (1926) The Sea Tiger (1927) The Prince of Headwaiters (1927) Smile, Brother, Smile (1927) The Crystal Cup (1927) Man Crazy (1927) The Noose (1928) The Heart of a Follies Girl (1928) Out of the Ruins (1928) Scarlet Seas (1928) Children of the Ritz (1929) Careers (1929) Fast Life (1929) Sally (1929)
1930s	Spring Is Here (uncredited) (1930) Bride of the Regiment (1930) The Girl of the Golden West (1930) One Night at Susie's (1930) Kismet (1930) Millie (1931) The Finger Points (1931) The Reckless Hour (1931) The Pagan Lady (1931) Behind the Mask (1932) The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood (1932) Man About Town (1932) Call Her Savage (1932) Humanity (1933) 'Tis Spring (1933) The Big Shakedown (1934)