THE SEA URCHIN

Released 8/22/13 by Universal/Powers; Director: Edwin August; Screenplay: Jeanie MacPherson; 1 reel

CAST: Jeannie MacPherson (The Girl), Lon Chaney ("Barnacle" Ben), Robert Z. Leonard (The Stranger)

SYNOPSIS: "Barnacle" Ben, a gloomy hunchbacked fisherman finds a little girl, lashed to a mast and sole survivor of a wreck at sea. He takes the girl to his cabin and cares for her. Ten years pass, and the girl has become a beautiful young woman who promises to marry the hunchback out of gratitude. One day a handsome stranger arrives in town and the hunchback gives him a job. The stranger and the girl soon fall in love, but remembering her promise to Ben, she tells the stranger that she cannot marry him. Ben sees the two embracing and angrily threatens the man with a knife. The next day, the three go out fishing and an argument begins which leads to a fight. During the fight, the boat tips over and the girl is washed away. The men search fruitlessly in the water for the girl and the stranger eventually collapses on the shore in exhaustion. Ben finds the girl washed up on a rock and swims with her to the shore. The girl immediately embraces the stranger when she sees him and the hunchback, realizing their love for each other, throws his bag over his shoulder and walks out of their lives forever.

"One of the strongest seacoast stories we have seen...A memorable offering, with some vivid scenes along a picturesque coast." --Moving Picture World

NOTES: This was probably the first film in which Chaney used any kind of makeup or disguise.


© 1996,2008 Jon C. Mirsalis


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