The Seventh Day

George Stewart, his fiancee Louise Huff and their friends can't drink in a stuffy Boston club, despite Stewart owning a superfluity of hip flasks. They decide to take the yacht out and get drunk at sea. When the engines fail, they put into an isolated fishing village, where Richard Barthelmess has just been given command of the schooner by his elders, and his sister, Anne Cornwall, is feeling her oats.

It's Henry King's and Barthelmess' follow-up to their huge hit, TOL'ABLE DAVID, and once again most of it is set in a small town, a fertile location for many of King's better movies over the decade. Unfortunately, this soon turns into a typical romantic comedy, where the wrong people are paired up at the start, and some pursed-mouth disapproval of big-city ways is offered. Barthelmess is unsurprisingly excellent playing the shy young man trying to be brash; I was particularly taken with his moment dancing by himself. However the net effect is a standard, if well realized photoplay.

Young New Yorkers move their party to a yacht, which breaks down and anchors for a week of repairs off New Harbor, Maine. Going ashore, they soak up romance. Likable local Richard Barthelmess (as John Alden) romances flapper Louise Guff (as Patricia Vane). Mr. Barthelmess' sweet and innocent sister Anne Cornwall (as Betty Alden) attracts Ms. Gruff's fiancé George Stewart (as Reggie Van Zandt). Culture clashes involve fashion and church. Thanks to town gossip Tammany Young (as Donald Peabody), Barthelmess catches his sister rolling dice on the yacht. This little tableau doesn't approach the quality of Barthelmess and director Henry King's classic "Tol'able David" (1921), but the location is nice.

***** The Seventh Day (2/6/22) Henry King ~ Richard Barthelmess, Louise Guff, Anne Cornwall, George Stewart

Richard Barthelmess' followup to the hugely successful TOL'ABLE David, he's reunited with director Henry King. But this is a very different film.

A party of wealthy young people decides to take a yacht trip out of New York City. Apparently something goes wrong with the ship and everyone gets seasick. They put in at a small Maine village (this was filmed in New Harbor, Maine just down the coast from me). The ritzy people get a big kick out of the local hicks, including Barthelmess and his impressionable sister Betty (Anne Cornwall). To kill time snooty Patricia (Louise Huff) and Reggie (George Stewart) pretend to be interested in the locals.

There's a great scene when the yacht party comes ashore in their swimming togs, which of course look ridiculous to the simple Mainers. Betty tries to copy their stylish clothing but is not allowed to go to church in her get-up.

Betty's jealous boyfriend (Tamany Young) snitches that the yacht folk are gambling onboard on a Sunday. Barthelmess goes onboard and is horrified to find his sister shooting craps! He gives Reggie a smack in the mouth and takes the girl back to shore. Barthelmess decides to go to sea to forget the girl....

The look and feel are perfect here with Pemaquid Lighthouse, and the Maine coast and harbor are in almost every scene. A 1922 time capsule of Maine coastal life.

Pleasant little film with an appealing performance by Barthelmess. Huff and Stewart are good as the snooty young ones. Cornwall, best known for her role in Buster Keaton's COLLEGE is quite good and reminded me a lot of Mae Marsh.

Worth a look.