The Silent Command (1923)

The Silent Command is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards and features Bela Lugosi as a foreign saboteur in his American film debut. The film, written by Anthony Paul Kelly and Rufus King, also stars Edmund Lowe. The film depicts the story of Benedict Hisston (Lugosi), who is part of a plot to destroy the Panama Canal. Initially unable to obtain necessarily intelligence from Richard Decatur (Lowe), a captain in the United States Navy, he enlists the aid of femme fatale Peg Williams (Martha Mansfield). Decatur pretends to be seduced into the conspiracy, costing him his career and marriage, but ultimately betrays the saboteurs in Panama and stops their plan. He returns home to the Navy and his wife, and to popular acclaim for his heroics.

The film was produced in cooperation with the Navy and was intended as a propaganda film to encourage support for a larger navy. It began Lugosi's career in the American movie industry. Unlike most Fox Film productions of the silent era, several copies of The Silent Command have survived, and it is available in on home video.

Synopsis

Benadict Hisston is a foreign agent, part of a conspiracy to destroy the Panama Canal and the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet. He attempts to acquire information about mine placement in the Canal Zone from Captain Richard Decatur, but fails. With that information essential to the conspiracy's success, he then hires vamp Peg Williams to obtain the intelligence through seduction.

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