Stormswept

{{short description|1923 film by Robert Thornby}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = Stormswept | image = Stormswept.jpg | caption = Promotional poster for ''Stormswept'' | director = Robert Thornby | producer = | writer = Winifred Dunn<br>H.H. Van Loan (story) | starring = Wallace Beery<br>Noah Beery | cinematography = Ben F. Reynolds | editing = | distributor = Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) | released = {{Film date|1923|2|18}} | runtime = 5 reels | country = United States | language = Silent (English intertitles) }}

right|thumb|270px|{{center|1923 magazine ad}} '''''Stormswept''''' is a 1923 silent film starring brothers Wallace Beery and Noah Beery.<ref name="afi">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/12436-STORMSWEPT |title=''Stormswept'' |work=afi.com |access-date=April 5, 2026}}</ref> The advertising phrase used for the movie was "Wallace and Noah Beery, The Two Greatest Character Actors on the American Screen." The film was written by Winifred Dunn from the H. H. Van Loan story, and directed by Robert Thornby.<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/S/Stormswept1923.html Progressive Silent Film List: ''Stormswept''] at silentera.com</ref>

==Plot== As described in a film magazine,<ref name="ETR">{{cite journal |title=''Stormswept'': Distributed by F.B.O. |journal=Exhibitor's Trade Review |volume=13 |issue=13 |page=[https://archive.org/details/exhibitorst00newy/page/676 676] |publisher=Exhibitor's Trade Review, Inc. |location=East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania |date=February 24, 1923 |url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorst00newy}}</ref> William McCabe is a bitter man seeking solitude in which to forget the wife whom he loved and who betrayed him. He wanders about the waterfront and, seeing a man falling from the deck, rescues him. The two become friends and when the rescued man, Shark Moran, learns that William wants solitude, he suggests that he take a job on a lightship as he is its captain. "You will find solitude there," he says. William takes the job, although the monotony of the life has upset the minds of many of the men who live on the ''Relief''. There a tug that brings supplies the lightship also brings a ray of hope to William in the form of a beautiful young woman, Ann Reynolds, who is the daughter of the master of the tug. But William does not know if his wife is alive or dead, so his moodiness deepens. One day a small boat occupied by a young woman is sighted drifting near the lightship, and the captain goes out to give help. He brings the woman back to the ''Relief'', thinking he finds favor in her eyes. However, this assumption is without grounds and his spurned advances lead to a fight between Shark Moran and William, who is shocked to see the woman is Hedda, the wife who deserted him. The captain then apologises to William, and their friendship is renewed. The unfaithful wife then departs, and William looks forward to his suit of the woman of the supply tug.

==Cast== *Wallace Beery as William McCabe *Noah Beery as Shark Moran *Virginia Browne Faire as Ann Reynolds *Arline Pretty as Hedda McCabe *Jack Carlyle as Snape

==Production== Stormswept was filmed at Greenwood Plantation, built in 1830 by William Ruffin Barrow in Francisville, Louisiana. Greenwood was built in the Greek Revival style of architecture with 28 columns surrounding the mansion. It is considered the South's finest example of classic colonial.

==Preservation== A complete print of ''Stormswept'' is held by the BFI in London.<ref name="American Silent Feature Film Database">{{cite web |url=https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.344/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021141101/http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.344/default.html |archive-date=2021-10-21 |title=American Silent Feature Film Database: ''Stormswept'' |access-date=2026-04-05 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref>

==See also== *''Godless Men'' (1920) *''Code of the Sea'' (1924) *''Rugged Water'' (1925) *''Sensation Seekers'' (1927) *''The Perfect Storm'' (2000)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Stormswept}} *{{IMDb title|0014512|Stormswept}}

Category:1923 films Category:1923 drama films Category:1923 American films Category:1923 English-language films Category:American black-and-white films Category:American silent feature films Category:Film Booking Offices of America films Category:Films directed by Robert Thornby Category:American silent drama films Category:Surviving American silent films Category:English-language drama films