The Law of the Sea (1931) Online

It takes 20 years for old sea captain William Farnum to get the opportunity to settle an old score with the evil man who was responsible for his wife's suicide. The film opens in 1912 when a capsized boat leaves Farnum, his wife Priscilla Dean, son Wally Albright and old pal Jack Clifford stranded and documents how an unruly ship's captain (Ralph Ince) plotted to save them just so he could rape the wife. Twenty years later, the grown son (Wally Albright) is a hero, and the sounds of hideous laughter from Albright's commander reveal the truth. Farnum, now blind, keeps hearing the sinister sound which has haunted him for years, and the stage is set for a showdown concerning Albright's girlfriend (Sally Blane).

Cheaply filmed, this is still a mesmerizing melodrama with many implausibilities to be sure, but fast pacing and a short running time make it more tolerable than it might have otherwise been. Farnum grabs your sympathy from the get-go, but Ince is such a despicable character that his villainy seems straight out of a silent movie. There's also an interesting characterization from Eve Southern as Blane's trampy cousin who acknowledges from the get-go who she is and makes no apologies for it.

Mostly land locked tale of blind father and his son. years ago they had been on ship that went down with the wife and mother. Picked up by an evil crew that had designs on the woman, the father and young son were tossed over board and the mother kills herself rather than face a fate worse then death. After a good many side plots, the evil Captain comes to town and the blind father recognizes his voice. A long 55 minutes that is full of lots of digressions that aim toward the appointed conclusion. Not bad, but not really good either, for most of it I was wondering where it was heading and then when it got there I was underwhelmed. Thats it? Apparently. More a footnote than anything else. Once you've seen it you won't need to see it again. Then again unless pressed into watching it you're probably better off grabbing something else. 4 out of 10, though its probably better than that but the pacing and its long way round make it lose some points for disappointment)

Available on the same Grapevine DVD disc as "The Sea Ghost", "Law of the Sea" (1931) proves some-what disappointing.

The girls (Sally Blane, Priscilla Dean and most especially Eve Southern) are certainly quite interesting, but the male leads led by hammy William Farnum, sulky Rex Bell and barnstorming Ralph Ince manage to rake up quite considerably less appeal.

Half-hearted direction (some scenes are forcefully handled but many are merely dreary) by Otto Brower doesn't help overcome the movie's firmly "B" atmosphere.

"Law of the Sea" is a cheap B-movie. While not exactly terrible, it is far from being great entertainment. In other words, unless you are a huge fan of this sort of thing, I cannot see much reason for you to watch it.

The film begins with a small group of people being shipwrecked. Some time later when they see another ship, they assume that their troubles are over...but it's far from it. The crew is full of rogues and the only reason they take the family aboard is because the captain has rape on his mind! After murdering one of them and casting a man and his son adrift once again in their dingy, the captain turns his attentions on the wife--only to find that she's killed herself rather than suffer her fate. This sort of story is clearly the sort you would NOT have seen just two years later when a toughened Production Code would be enforced in Hollywood!

Twenty years pass. Now the father and son have grown. The father (the silent film star William Farnum) is now blind--and they say it's a result of this incident 20 years earlier (??). As for the son, he's a heroic sort who works for a Coast Guard-like organization--saving lives of shipwrecked folk. While a hero and his life seems perfect, the young man is a bit of a yutz--as the night he's to receive a medal for bravery, he's out making it with his fiancé's trashy cousin!

Into this mess comes something that is very, very predictable. Another reviewer pointed out just how predictable it was. The father, though blind, has vowed to one day find the man responsible for his wife's death--and wouldn't you know it, this rogue captain now has just been appointed the son's new boss. What's to come of this and the fallout from the escapade with the trashy woman? See the film and learn for yourself...or not.

The film has a lot working against it. During a lifesaving portion, the movie is jam-packed with stock footage that obviously is stock footage. The acting is occasionally poor and the overall film offers few surprises. You can do better.