''Below the Surface'' is a surviving 1920 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- ...

directed by

Irvin Willat Irvin V. Willat (November 18, 1890 – April 17, 1976) was an American film director of the silent film era. A short biography reprinted from ''Blue Book of the Screen'' (1923). He directed 39 films between 1917 and 1937. Early in his career ...

and starring

Hobart Bosworth Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth (August 11, 1867 – December 30, 1943) was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer. Early life Bosworth was born on August 11, 1867, in Marietta, Ohio. His father was a sea captain in the Civil W ...

. Thomas H. Ince produced the picture with distribution through

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

.Progressive Silent Film List: ''Below the Surface''
at silentera.com The film survives in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

along with outtakes from the production and it has been released on DVD.

Plot

Based upon a description in two film magazines, Martin Flint (Bosworth) and his son Paul Flint (Lloyd Hughes) are partners in a deep sea diving business who save dive to save the lives of twenty men trapped in a sunken submarine. This brings their names to the attention of promoter James Arnold (Webb), who tries to interest them in a fraudulent scheme to extract treasure from a sunken wreck. The father declines, but the son accepts, attracted by a young woman with the promoter, Edna Gordon (Darmond), whom Luther is tricked into marrying. As a result of the dive on the treasure ship Luther becomes delirious. Edna leaves Luther and goes with James to New York City, so the father goes to an underworld dive bar in an attempt to get her back. Later, a steamer they were on sinks after a collision with a derelict, carrying the promoter and Luther's wife to their deaths. Luther refuses to accept his father's story that the woman was worthless, and dives on the sunken steamer only to discover his dead wife embraced in the arms of her lover James.

Cast

as Martin Flint *

Grace Darmond Grace Darmond (born Grace Marie Glionna; November 20, 1893 – October 8, 1963) was a Canadian-American actress. Early life Grace Marie Glionna was born in Toronto on November 20, 1893. Her parents were Vincent Baptiste "James" Glionna, an I ...

as Edna Gordon * Lloyd Hughes as Paul Flint *George Webb as James Arnold *

Gladys George Gladys George (born Gladys Clare Evans; September 13, 1904 – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen. Though nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in '' Valiant Is the Word for Carrie'' (1936), she spent most ...

as Alice *

J. P. Lockney John P. Lockney (March 17, 1867, date of death unknown) was an American actor of the silent film era. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1915 and 1937. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Partial filmography * ''The Bride of Hat ...

as Dave *

Edith Yorke Edith Yorke (born Edith Murgatroyd; 23 December 1867 – 28 July 1934) was an English actress. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1919 and 1933. Biography Yorke was born in Derby; her family later moved to Croydon, Surrey. Edith re ...

as Marth Flint *George Clair as Geb Quail

References

External links

*
allmovie/synopsis; ''Below the Surface''
* from the Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam (Dutch intertitles) {{DEFAULTSORT:Below the Surface 1920 films American silent feature films Paramount Pictures films Films based on short fiction 1920 drama films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by Irvin Willat 1920s American films 1920s English-language films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links