''Thundering Dawn'' is a 1923 American

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

directed and produced by

Harry Garson Harry Garson (1882 – September 21, 1938) was an American film director and producer. He directed 29 films between 1920 and 1934, and produced 11 films before that. He was born in Rochester, New York and died in Los Angeles, California. ...

. The story was originally written by John Blackwood and was adapted by Universal City scenario editor, Raymond L. Schrock.

Lenore Coffee Lenore Jackson Coffee (July 13, 1896 – July 2, 1984) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. Biography Lenore was born in San Francisco in 1896 to Andrew Jackson Coffee Jr. and Ella Muffley. She attended Dominican College ...

and John F. Goodrich are also credited for working on the screenplay. The film stars

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 h ...

Anna Q. Nilsson Anna Quirentia Nilsson (March 30, 1888 – February 11, 1974) was a Swedish-American actress who achieved success in American silent movies. Early life Nilsson was born in Ystad, Sweden in 1888. Her middle name Quirentia is derived from her ...

, and

Thomas Santschi Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

. It was released on November 5, 1923. Before settling on ''Thundering Dawn'', the film had two working titles; ''Havoc'' and ''The Bond of the Ring''.

Plot

A young man by the name of Jack Standish (played by

) disappears on the eve of his marriage after the discovery of a financial scandal involving his father, John Standish (played by

Winter Hall Winter Hall (21 June 1872 – 10 February 1947) was a New Zealand actor of the silent era who later appeared in sound films. He performed in more than 120 films between 1916 and 1938. Prior to that, he had a career as a stage actor in Austr ...

). In order to protect his father from public disgrace, Jack suddenly flees Boston and thus takes the fall. The young Bostonian ends up fleeing to Java and inevitably succumbs to the lure of the tropics. Months later, his fiance, Mary Rogers (played by

) follows him to Java in hopes of bringing him home. Once Mary finds him, she is faced with the challenge of reviving him, both mentally and physically. Her task becomes more difficult when a native by the name of Lullaby Lou (played by

Winifred Bryson Winifred Bryson (born Winifred Brison; December 20, 1892 – August 20, 1987) was an American actress of the stage and of silent films. Biography Winifred Bryson was born Winifred Brison on December 20, 1892, in Los Angeles, the daughter of O ...

), and a Dutch trader by the name of Gordon Van Brock (played by

) try to interfere with the couple. Mary and Jack are able to escape when a tropical storm hits and spawns a typhoon that destroys the coastal settlement.

Cast

as Jack Standish *

as Mary Rogers *

as Lullaby Lou *Richard Kean as The Professor *

as Gordon Van Brock *Edward Burns as Michael Carmichael *

Charles Clary Charles Clary (March 24, 1873 – March 24, 1931) was an American actor of the silent film era. Clary appeared in more than 200 films between 1910 and 1930. He was born in Charleston, Illinois and died on his 58th birthday in Los Angeles, Ca ...

as Morgan Sprott *

Herbert Fortier Herbert Fortier (1867 – 16 February 1949) was a Canadian actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1915 and 1937. He was born in Toronto and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1913 he lived with his wife Franc ...

as The Doctor *

as John Standish *Georgie Woodthorpe as Phoebe Standish *

Anna May Wong Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain interna ...

as The Honky Tonk Girl

Production

The typhoon scene at the end of the film was shot at the Garson Studio. Forty-six thousand gallons of water was used, along with twelve wind machines which swirled the water around and flooded the Garson Studio. Harry Garson had eight cameras capturing the scene. Lenore Ulrich, who was the star of a David Belasco film, visited the set on the day they filmed this particular scene and said, "It was the most wonderful thing I've ever seen, either on stage or in a studio."

Preservation

While ''Thundering Dawn'' is presumed to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

, a copy of its trailer is held by 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 ...

.Progressive Silent Film List: ''Thundering Dawn''
at silentera.com

References

External links

* *
Film stills
at the British Film Institute {{Harry Garson 1923 films Universal Pictures films American black-and-white films Lost American films American silent feature films Films directed by Harry Garson 1920s American films