Dangerous Hours
Encyclopedia
Dangerous Hours is a 1919 silent
drama film
directed by Fred Niblo
. Prints of the film survive in the UCLA Film and Television Archive
. It premiered in February 1920.
The film was based on a short story published in the Saturday Evening Post. Its working title was Americanism (Versus Bolshevism), the title of a pamphlet published by Ole Hanson
, the mayor of Seattle who claimed to have broken the Seattle General Strike in 1919.
The film tells the story of an attempted Russian infiltration of American industry. It includes a depiction of the "nationalization of women" under Bolshevism, including "extras on horseback, rounding up women, throwing them into dungeons and beating them." College graduate John King is sympathetic to the left in a general way. Then he is seduced, both romantically and politically, by Sophia Guerni, a female agitator. Her superior is the Bolshevik Boris Blotchi, who has a "wild dream of planting the scarlet seed of terrorism in American soil." Sofia and Boris turn their attention to the Weston shipyards that are managed by John's childhood sweetheart. The workers have valid grievances, but the Bolsheviks set out to manipulate the situation. They are "the dangerous element following in the wake of labor as riffraff and ghouls follow an army." When they threaten John's earlier love, he has an epiphany and renounces revolutionary doctrine.
A reviewer in Picture Play protested the film's stew of radical beliefs and strategies: "Please, oh please, look up the meaning of the words 'bolshevik,' and 'soviet.' Neither of them mean [sic] 'anarchist,' 'scoundrel' or 'murderer' – really they don't!"
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Fred Niblo
Fred Niblo
Fred Niblo was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer.-Biography:He was born Frederick Liedtke in York, Nebraska, to a French mother and a father who had served as a captain in the American Civil War and was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg...
. Prints of the film survive in the UCLA Film and Television Archive
UCLA Film and Television Archive
The UCLA Film and Television Archive is an internationally renowned visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds more than 220,000 film and television titles and 27 million feet of...
. It premiered in February 1920.
The film was based on a short story published in the Saturday Evening Post. Its working title was Americanism (Versus Bolshevism), the title of a pamphlet published by Ole Hanson
Ole Hanson
Ole Hanson was an American politician who served as mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1918 to 1919. Hanson became a national figure promoting law and order when he took a hardline position during the 1919 Seattle General Strike...
, the mayor of Seattle who claimed to have broken the Seattle General Strike in 1919.
The film tells the story of an attempted Russian infiltration of American industry. It includes a depiction of the "nationalization of women" under Bolshevism, including "extras on horseback, rounding up women, throwing them into dungeons and beating them." College graduate John King is sympathetic to the left in a general way. Then he is seduced, both romantically and politically, by Sophia Guerni, a female agitator. Her superior is the Bolshevik Boris Blotchi, who has a "wild dream of planting the scarlet seed of terrorism in American soil." Sofia and Boris turn their attention to the Weston shipyards that are managed by John's childhood sweetheart. The workers have valid grievances, but the Bolsheviks set out to manipulate the situation. They are "the dangerous element following in the wake of labor as riffraff and ghouls follow an army." When they threaten John's earlier love, he has an epiphany and renounces revolutionary doctrine.
A reviewer in Picture Play protested the film's stew of radical beliefs and strategies: "Please, oh please, look up the meaning of the words 'bolshevik,' and 'soviet.' Neither of them mean [sic] 'anarchist,' 'scoundrel' or 'murderer' – really they don't!"
Cast
- Lloyd HughesLloyd HughesLloyd Hughes was an American silent film actor.-Life and career:Born in Bisbee, Arizona, Hughes received his education at the Los Angeles Polytechnic School. He sought a career as an actor early in life, and his clean-cut appearance and ability soon gained him recognition...
- John King - Barbara CastletonBarbara CastletonBarbara Castleton was an American silent film actress. Castleton appeared in motion pictures from 1914 through 1923, accumulating twenty-eight screen credits.-Career:...
- May Weston - Claire Du BreyClaire Du BreyClaire Du Brey was an American actress. She appeared in over 200 films between 1916 and 1959.She was born in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 100 years, 11 months....
- Sophia Guerni - Jack RichardsonJack Richardson (actor)Jack Howard Richardson was an American actor.Born in New York, New York, he was signed to a contract in silent films in 1911 by the Thanhouser Company, where he worked for several years....
- Boris Blotchi - Walt Whitman - Dr. King
- Louis Morrison - Michael Regan (as Lew Morrison)
- Gordon Mullen - Andrew Felton