Behind The Door (1919)
Director:
Irvin Willat (as Irvin V. Willat)
Writers:
Gouverneur Morris (story), Luther Reed
Stars:
Hobart Bosworth, Jane Novak, Wallace Beery, James Gordon, Richard Wain, J.P. Lockney
America has just entered World War I, and because of his name, German-American Oscar Krug (Hobart Bosworth) is thought to be an enemy sympathizer. He fights his foes to prove that they're wrong, then immediately enlists and is assigned to the merchant marines. The night before boarding, he marries his sweetheart, Alice Morse (Jane Novak), and she sails with him, disguised as a Red Cross nurse. A German submarine torpedoes the craft and sinks it. Krug and his bride board a lifeboat, where the sub finds them a couple of days later. The Germans take Alice and leave Krug, who swears revenge to the commander (Wallace Beery). Krug is saved by a passing ship and gets his chance a year later when he is in charge of another ship. It blows up a sub, and Krug sees the commander -- the same man he is looking for -- in the water. He pulls the commander on board and tricks him into telling Krug the details of how the commander ravished Alice and threw her body overboard. Then Krug reveals his identity and skins him alive. The movie's end shows Krug a saddened old man, whose soul rises from his broken body (with the help of double exposure) to join his dead bride. This film was based on a Gouverneur Morris story that appeared in Collier's Weekly.
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