The Silent Command

This article is about the 1923 film. For the 1915 film, see its entry in the list of Universal Pictures films.

The Silent Command
A man in a suit; behind him, a woman wearing jewelry and holding a cigarette holder. Smoke rising from the cigarette appears to become water; in it, a Navy ship is on fire and sinking. Captioned: "Love Intrigue and the High Seas / William Fox presents / The Silent Command / with Edmund Lowe – Alma Tell – Martha Mansfield – Betty Jewel – Florence Martin – Bela Lugosi / 'Wrecked by Womens Wiles' / A J. Gordon Edwards production / Directed by the Man who staged 'Queen of Sheba' / Story by Rufus King"
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJ. Gordon Edwards
Written byAnthony Paul Kelly
Rufus King
Produced byWilliam Fox
StarringEdmund Lowe
Bela Lugosi
CinematographyGeorge W. Lane
Distributed byFox Film Corporation
Release date
  • August 9, 1923 (1923-08-09)
Running time
8 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Silent Command is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards featuring 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, Alma Tell, and Martha Mansfield. Shot in New York, The Silent Command began Lugosi's career in the American film industry[1][2]. The film's focus on his eyes, at times in extreme close-up, helped to establish his image for later roles.

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 (Mansfield). Decatur pretends to be seduced into the conspiracy, costing him his career and estranging him from his wife (Tell), but he 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. The Silent Command was shown at the opening of several Fox Theatres locations and was sometimes marketed in conjunction with naval recruitment efforts. It received generally positive reviews from contemporary film critics, although modern appraisals consider the film mediocre.

Unlike most Fox Film productions of the silent era, several copies of The Silent Command have survived. It has been released in multiple home video formats, and is now in the public domain and available online.

  1. ^ Rhodes 1997, pp. 74–75.
  2. ^ Lennig 2003, pp. 42–43.