Episode Details

(USA, 1919, Silent with Subtitles, b&w, Drama|Thriller|War)
Director: Irvin Willat (as Irvin V. Willat)
Writers: Gouverneur Morris (story), Luther Reed
Stars: Hobart Bosworth, Jane Novak, Wallace Beery

Oscar Krug, an old sea-faring man, returns to his village in Maine after a long absence and reminisces. In a flashback, he is seen as a middle-aged German American who faces anti-German sentiment when the United States enters World War I. He enlists as a navy captain to prove his loyalty, then secretly marries Alice Morse who follows him on his boat after being thrown out by her father who objects to the marriage. A German submarine sinks their vessel, and Oscar and Alice are the sole survivors. Days later, a German U-boat appears and takes Alice aboard, but abandons Oscar, who vows revenge after being rescued. A year later Oscar takes Lieutenant Brandt, the U-boat commander, prisoner. When Oscar learns the sad fate of his wife who was brutalized by Germans, he retaliates by killing the man, attempting to skin him alive behind a closed door. Back in Maine, the broken old man has a vision of his bride. His soul rises and embraces her.

Discussion Guest: Geoffrey O'Brien, Critic & Writer

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