The Love Flower (1920)

A man murders his wife's lovers, escapes with his daughter to the South Pacific. A detective pursues him, joined by a young man who eventually falls in love with the daughter.

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Writers:

D.W. Griffith, Ralph Stock (story)

Stars:

Carol Dempster, Richard Barthelmess, George MacQuarrie

Cast

Cast overview:
Carol Dempster	...	Stella Bevan
Richard Barthelmess	...	Bruce Sanders
George MacQuarrie	...	Thomas Bevan
Anders Randolf	...	Matthew Crane
Florence Short	...	Mrs. Bevan
Crauford Kent	...	Her Visitor
Adolph Lestina	...	Bevan's Old Servant
William James	...	Crane's Assistant
Jack Manning	...	Crane's assistant

Storyline

A man murders his wife's lovers, escapes with his daughter to the South Pacific. A detective pursues him, joined by a young man who eventually falls in love with the daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | detective | crime of passion | unfaithfulness | outsider | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 August 1920 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Beach

Filming Locations:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

D.W. Griffith Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

D.W. Griffith and crew experienced a perilous voyage from Miami to the Bahamas during the making of this film, with two washed overboard and no food for the crew for three days.

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Connections

Featured in Time of the Robots (2012)

User Reviews

A Mixed Blessing!

On 4 February 1919, David Wark Griffith joined with Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford in establishing United Artists as a major film distributor. Griffith had one film ready for U.A. release in "Broken Blossoms", but he had also negotiated a contract with First National in which he had promised them three films.

Griffith duly delivered "The Idol Dancer" (1920) to First National, but had second thoughts regarding "The Love Flower". Griffith decided to augment the footage shot on location in the Bahamas with an underwater swimming scene (shot in Florida). He also felt the film needed additional close-ups of both Carol Dempster and George MacQuarrie. (These were made in a studio and can easily be detected as the players are photographed against a pure black backdrop). The re-cut movie was then handed to United Artists but it received only lukewarm reviews and was not a great commercial success.

However, although "The Love Flower" has a poor reputation, it is by no means the clinker most references suggest. True, there is no great outpouring of lavish spectacle or rousing crowd scenes, but the South Seas locations are both pictorially fascinating and dramatically utilized. The characters are likewise sympathetic and the story holds more than enough suspense to grip one's attention.

In the acting department, Anders Randolf delivers a consistently strong and most compelling performance as the Inspector Javert character, while Florence Short makes quite an impression in her brief role as the heroine's unsympathetic step-mother. I also thought Richard Barthelmess handled his role with all the necessary charm and conviction—although I should mention that Barthelmess is an actor who can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.

As for the two leads, however, I have mixed feelings. (Despite his status as the hero of the piece, Barthelmess—as in the Victor Hugo novel from which this story is derived—doesn't come into the action until the movie is half over). MacQuarrie is generally able enough, despite a tendency to over-emote, but simply lacks the charisma that a lead role calls for. This miscasting is actually a serious flaw, because the audience doesn't share the heroine's obsessive desire to protect him at all costs.

Equally at fault is Carol Dempster. Oddly enough, she seems more convincing as the young girl chasing shadows in the movie's opening scenes, despite the fact that she is obviously too old for the part. When called upon to act her actual age, she is less successful. Her simpering close-ups are especially unappealing.