Cross Currents (1935) DVD-R

Starring Ian Colin, Marjorie Hume, Evelyn Foster, Frank Birch, Aubrey Mallalieu
Directed by Adrian Brunel

Print: black/white
Runtime: 68 min.
Genre: drama

D.W. Griffith served as supervisor (but not director) for the Fine Arts production Cross Currents. Helen Ware plays Elizabeth Crane, the fiancee of handsome and wealthy Paul Beale Courtenay Foote. Upon learning that her kid sister Flavia (Teddy Sampson) is hopelessly in love with Beale, Elizabeth nobly steps aside to allow sis to marry the man. After the marriage, Beale and Flavia go on a yachting voyage, accompanied by Elizabeth and several other wedding guests. The yacht catches fire, stranding Elizabeth and Beale together on a desert island. By an amazing coincidence, the island is inhabited by one of Elizabeth's former suitors, Silas Randolph (Sam DeGrasse). The two men fight over Elizabeth's attentions, and for a moment it looks as though the physically stronger Silas will win. But Elizabeth takes a hand in matters by killing Silas, allowing her and Beale to live as common-law husband and wife until their rescue. Returning to civilization, the couple discovers that Flavia is pregnant with Beale's child. With the same nobility she exhibited in reel one, Elizabeth once again removes herself from Beale's life, insisting that he "belongs" to Flavia and swearing him to silence regarding their idyllic island romance.