Across to Singapore

1928 AdventureDrama 85 minutes Directed by William Nigh

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About Across to Singapore

In 1857 Joel Shore loves Priscilla Crowninshield. In church she is betrothed to his older brother, Captain Mark Shore, and she will not kiss Mark. Mark sails for Singapore with Joel and the other brothers, drinks after she rejects him, and threatens whoever she loves. In Singapore the mate Finch and the crew abandon Mark. He is reported killed in a bar fight, and Joel is ironed for not helping him. Freed at home, Joel takes Priscilla back to Singapore. They find Mark alive and drunk. He sees that she does not love him and steps aside.

Cast & crew

More about Across to Singapore

William Nigh directed and produced. Ted Shane wrote the screenplay from Ben Ames Williams’s 1919 novel All the Brothers Were Valiant. Joseph Farnham wrote the titles. Richard Schayer did the continuity. John F. Seitz photographed it. Ben Lewis edited. William Axt wrote the music. MGM released it on April 30, 1928.

Themes

  • a betrothal announced in church
  • a captain drinking on the Singapore run
  • a brother left for dead
  • Mark stepping aside
  • Joel Shore
  • Mark Shore
  • Priscilla Crowninshield
  • Singapore
  • Finch
  • 1857
  • sailing ship

Making

This is the second film from Williams’s novel. Crawford was a new MGM lead in 1928, opposite Novarro and Torrence.

Look

John F. Seitz shot the film, from the New England church to the Singapore bar.

Music

Silent, with English titles by Joseph Farnham. William Axt wrote the music.

Preservation

The film survives. A WebM is on Wikimedia Commons.

Notes

  • Ramon Novarro plays Joel. Joan Crawford plays Priscilla. Ernest Torrence plays Mark.
  • Frank Currier plays Jeremiah Shore. Dan Wolheim plays Noah. Duke Martin plays Matthew. Edward Connelly plays Joshua Crowninshield.
  • The ship’s mate Finch is played by an actor billed as James Mason, not the later British star.
  • Anna May Wong appears, uncredited, as a Singaporean woman.
  • The 1923 film of the same novel, All the Brothers Were Valiant, is lost. MGM filmed the book again in 1953 under the novel’s title.

Scenes

  • The church announces Priscilla’s betrothal to Mark. She refuses the kiss.
  • Mark, drunk on the voyage, sees Priscilla when she is not on the ship.
  • Finch’s crew leaves Mark in Singapore.
  • Joel finds him alive, and Mark gives Priscilla up.

Influenced by

  • Ben Ames Williams's novel All the Brothers Were Valiant (1919)

Also available

  • Wikimedia Commons (Across to Singapore (1928) by William Nigh.webm)

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