''Black Waters'' is a 1929 British/American horror all-talking sound film produced by

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox Order of the British Empire, CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and film director, director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best know ...

and directed by

Marshall Neilan Marshall Ambrose "Mickey" Neilan (April 11, 1891 – October 27, 1958; also credited Marshall Neilon) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, whose work in films began in the early Silent film, silent era. Early life Born ...

. It was the first British-produced talking picture ever shown in England, but it was actually made in Hollywood since that is where the needed sound equipment was at that time. Wilcox sent Neilan to the U.S. to film the picture there, using a mostly American cast and crew. (

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's ''

Blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

'' (1929) is often said to be the first British talking picture, but it was actually released after ''Black Waters''.) Wilcox went on to star American actors in many of his later British films as well, to make them more appealing to British filmgoers, a practice that Hammer Films did away with after 1957. ''Black Waters'' was written by American John Willard, based on his play ''Fog''. Willard was the writer of the successful play '' The Cat and the Canary'' (1922), which was filmed several times and ripped off by a number of other filmmakers, and he was trying to repeat his success with this film, only replacing the "old dark house" setting with that of an "old dark houseboat". The cast featured Hollywood actor

Noble Johnson Noble Johnson (April 18, 1881 – January 9, 1978), later known as Mark Noble, was an American actor and film producer. He appeared in films such as '' The Mummy'' (1932), '' The Most Dangerous Game'' (1932), ''King Kong'' (1933) and '' Son o ...

(of ''King Kong'' fame). ''Black Waters'' is today considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

Plot

A weird night watchman lures a group of people onto a rundown old yacht at a San Francisco pier at midnight. Once the boat sets sail, the passengers are murdered off one by one, until only two of them (Charles and Eunice) remain, along with a kindly old reverend who turns out to actually be the murderer, a crazy ship's captain named Tiger Larabee who disguises himself as a reverend to pull off a succession of murders.

Cast

* John Loder as Charles, the hero * Mary Brian as Eunice, the heroine * James Kirkwood as the reverend Eph Kelly *

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reichert; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in M ...

as Randall * Robert Ames as Darcy *

as Jeelo *

Hallam Cooley Hallam Burr (February 8, 1895 – March 20, 1971), known by his stage name Hallam Cooley, was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1913 and 1936. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and died in Tib ...

as Chester * Lloyd Hamilton as Temple * Ben Hendricks Sr. as Olaf

Production

Herbert Wilcox produced the film after visiting Hollywood to see the development of sound. He rented a soundproofed studio from

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and

Al Christie Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, ...

in Hollywood for five days at £1,000 a day. Wilcox claimed it was the fifth talking picture ever made. He later obtained a license from

Western Electric Western Electric Co., Inc. was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that operated from 1869 to 1996. A subsidiary of the AT&T Corporation for most of its lifespan, Western Electric was the primary manufacturer, supplier, ...

to equip the first sound studio in Europe.Wilcox p 84 Photoplay magazine noted that the film had a titular theme song, but it is not known to survive today.

Reception

Wilcox struggled to get the film exhibited in England, as only a few British cinemas were equipped to handle sound pictures.Wilcox p 84 Historian Chris Howarth stated "The film was long thought to have received scant attention upon its initial release, though some modern film critics who have studied the original reviews suggest that it might have been more inventive than originally assumed....".

References

Sources

* Wilcox, Herbert; "Twenty Five Thousand Sunsets" (1967)

External links

*
''Black Waters''
at Silent Era
''Black Waters''
at BFI {{Herbert Wilcox 1929 films British horror drama films 1929 drama films British black-and-white films Transitional sound films Lost British films 1929 lost films Lost drama films Lost horror films Films directed by Marshall Neilan 1920s English-language films 1920s British films