None of the reviewers so far seem to have quite caught the point of this film so I have provided a clue in my summary.
William Wrigley Jr., whose name appears so anonymously in this IMDb entry, was of course not just anybody. He was the founder of the famous Chicago chewing-gun factory. Ah yes, the fact that La Hurlock spends her entire time chewing gum is not a mere coincidence.
On January 15, 1927 Wrigley initiated the Wrigley Ocean Marathon on January 15, 1927, offering a $25,000 prize to anyone who could swim the Catalina Channel. $15,000 was offered to the first woman to finish, if the prize should be won by a man. The swim began at Isthmus Cove at 11:24 A.M. and went to the San Pedro breakwater. A rowboat accompanied each contestant, and a small fleet of powerboats remained close at hand. Of the 102 entrants, 17-year-old Canadian, George Young, won the $25,000 with a crossing time of 15 hours 44 minutes, landing at Portuguese Bend at 3:08 A.M. He was the only entrant to finish the race. Two women who failed the crossing were each given $2500. The race was broadcast from aboard the S.S. Avalon, which served as the hospital ship for the swimmers as they attempted the crossing. Today the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation governs, supports and promotes cross-channel swimming between Santa Catalina Island and the mainland. Now more than 80 years after the first channel crossing, according to the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation, more than 200 people have successfully completed their attempts.
The month following the first Wrigley Ocean Marathon, Mrs. Myrtle Huddleston became the first woman to swim between Santa Catalina Island and the mainland in February 1927.....
(source: islapedia.com) ...but there is rather awful sequel. She was bitten by a barracuda during the swim which left her partly paralysed and died just ten years later aged 39. In the film Hurlock likens the vampish Alma Bennett to "Theda Bar(r)acuda" (a play of course on the name of the most famous cinematic vamp - Theda Bara.
The fact that the film is in effect a publicity film on behalf of Wrigley's is in any case clear from the inclusion of newsreel footage of the start of the Channel-swim and the mix of film/newsreel is quite cleverly and amusingly done.
I have emphasised in several reviews of early films that it is important, when reviewing them, to bear in mind the many purposes that films served in those early days and this is another good case in point.
