The Ice Flood

After obtaining an Oxford degree, all-American poet Kenneth Harlan (as Jack DeQuincy) is dispatched by his wealthy father to the family's lumber company in the US' great northwest. Undercover and out to prove himself worthy, Mr. Harlan discovers the lumber camp dominated by stupid drunken bullies. Harlan clashes with dumb bully leader Frank Hagney (as Pete) and catches the eye of superintendent's daughter Viola Dana (as Marie O'Neill). The former gets the latter in dire straits, and Harlan must come to her rescue. Heart-tugging crippled waif Billy Kent Schaefer (as Billy) is also threatened. "The Ice Flood" that climaxes the film is a pale imitation of the one in "Way Down East" (1920); the story preceding it is fairly dumb. Those familiar with Walter Brennan will be able to easily spot him at the lumberjacks' dance, in one of his earliest film appearances.

**** The Ice Flood (10/2/26) George B. Seitz ~ Kenneth Harlan, Viola Dana, Frank Hagney, Billy Kent Schaefer

The video copy of this came from Grapevine Video and it was sort of blurred/over-focussed and splotchy but Grapevine put an engaging soundtrack to the film and it worked. This film seems to have been lost for many decades and the print that was found is seemingly complete. This was a Universal production of 1926 and was shot straight on location in the woods in Log country somewhere presumably in the Pacific Northwest but not too far from Hollywood. It stars Viola Dana & Kenneth Harlan with support from some very good character actors. At times it can remind one of The Big Trees(aka Valley of the Giants) which has been shot numerous times in the silent and sound periods. The story is a simple and routine one. A young man(Harlan) comes to the north woods to his father's logging company with the contemplation of taking it over for dad. He must prove himself amongst the roughneck outdoorsmen as well as his dad that he can cope with the trials,tribulations & corruption of the unscrupulous characters employed in dad's logging firm. The dad doesn't think the son is up to the task. Along the way Harlan meets the wealthy daughter(Dana) of one of his dad's rival logging bosses. The rest of the story is predictable routine sonny-boy-proving-himself-to-dad fair... and he does. The climax of the picture is the big Ice Flood that nearly wipes everyone and everything out. I'm not sure but I'm only guessing that the ice flooding special effects of this picture was supposed to be the big draw of it. Thus the emphasis even in the title. The Ice Flood special-effects, while impressive for 1926 audiences, is pretty rudimentary by modern standards. Think of the parting of the Red Sea in DeMille's The Ten Commandments(1923) or the sand storm/floods in Henry Kings The Winning of Barbara Worth(1926). The Ice Flood is done similarly. But director George Seitz & cast & crew did a competent job in the outdoors and it's fortunate this programmer survives in any form. Perhaps in the future another print will show up or a new restoration can take place. This flick deserves it. This is just the kind of routine but competent programmer that kept the theatres going when the big pictures weren't being made.

The basic story bears many similarities to "God's Country and the Woman" (1937), an elaborate Technicolor movie, with George Brent, Beverly Roberts, Barton MacLane and Robert Barrat in the roles here played by Kenneth Harlan, Viola Dana, Frank Hagney and James Gordon.

Unfortunately, that Technicolor production has it all over this film in every department, including acting, script, direction, photography and production values. This is just a little "B" movie by comparison and it has actually very little to recommend it unless you're a rabid fan of Kenneth Harlan (who made a great villain but he's too heavy-set in appearance and woodenly impersonal for a hero role). True, the lovely Viola Dana is also in the movie, but she is upstaged by a crippled boy (a hollow plot device) in most of her scenes. The only really charismatic figure in the cast is Frank Hagney who has an unusually meaty role as the chief villain (which he carries off in splendid fashion).

Alas, although Mr Seitz has a big reputation as a competent action director, he is badly let down here by his editor, who repeats over and over the same crummy miniature shot of the ice about to break up. And when it does finally flood forth, what we do get? You guessed it. More obvious miniatures that wouldn't fool a four-year-old. All in all, "The Ice Flood" is a wash-out.