Wild Oranges

Hereditary phobias drive Millie (Virginia Valli)and her grandfather (Nigel De Brulier) to retreat from the world on a small deserted island off the Florida coast. There is some reference to the grandfather's exile as a self-induced political banishment but the two are so fraught with anxiety attacks that it seems implausible that they would get up the courage to ever leave their home in the first place.

In another part of the world, John Woolfolk (Frank Mayo) marries and loses his bride in the same day in an accident. He takes to the sea in his small sailing boat (tiny yacht?) with his first mate, Paul Harvard (former Keystone cop Sgt. Ford Sterling) to forget and also to avoid ever falling in love again.

Prior to John's dropping anchor in the island's bay for fresh water, an escaped homicidal maniac Iscah Nicholas (Charles A. Post) attaches himself to Millie and grandpa and basically terrorizes them both. He gets a hankering for Millie, constantly threatening her and vowing to kill her grandfather if she doesn't do his bidding which includes kissing and ultimately marriage. Millie has a wanted poster saying that Charles is an escaped murderer convicted of killing an elderly woman.

Nellie falls for john as he stays anchored in the harbor and their love blossoms even though John is still in denial. He sails away only to turn around to retrieve Millie.

Millie of course is thrilled he's back and when he finally proposes to take her away with him, she is afraid to leave. He convinces her but she is still fearful of Isach. They agree that she will steal away with grandpa before Isach is the wiser but Isach knows there is something brewing and catches Millie and Grandpa putting on their coats (in Florida?!) to leave. He kills grandpa and takes Millie up the stairs to the bedroom and ties her up.

John shows up to get Millie, gun in hand, and discovering grandpa face down on the livingroom floor, he hears noises from upstairs and goes to investigate. When he reaches the door, the gun gets knocked out of his hand and Isach jumps him in a fight to the death. Isach is twice as large as John and motivated. Meanwhile, Millie is shown squirming in the bed half clothed (for 1924).

It is quite a fight. After skirmishing their way down a steep flight of stairs and into the livingroom, John finds a knife in the struggle and manages to stick it into Isach. That at least slows the madman down enough to allow John and Millie to leave the house. Isach follows and gets knifed again. John and Millie make their way to the dock where first mate Paul is waiting and he jumps in to continue the fight while John and Millie make their getaway in a dinghy.

Once aboard the yacht, they make their plans to cast off. Somehow Isach has found a gun and from the dock, wounds Paul in the head as his comes on deck to way anchor.

Something that has always been present in this movie finally gets Isach and the castaways brave the breakers in rough seas to get away. Paul passes out from his wound and the once timid Millie finds herself navigating the breakers as John does the depth sounds. Somewhere in here Millie is able to overcome her fears and leave them behind.

What makes this film magical is the new score. I amplifies the exotic nature of this tale. Kudos to the TCM winning composer.

Newlywed Frank Mayo (as John Woolfolk) is out riding with his bride, when the combination of wind and flying paper spooks their horses. The runway carriage results in Mr. Mayo's beautiful wife being thrown to her death. Despondent, widower Mayo goes out sailing with cook and companion Ford Sterling (as Paul Halvard), for three years of peaceful solitude aboard ship. When passing by the coast of Georgia, they decide to stop for fresh water and food. Mayo sees a beautiful woman swimming; and on land, he meets lonely Virginia Valli (as Millie Stope) and her fearful grandfather, Civil War veteran Nigel de Brulier (as Litchfield Stope). They live in an old mansion, with slow-witted Charles "Buddy" Post (as Iscah Nicholas).

At first, Mayo tries to resist Ms. Valli. But, she can't keep her hands off the seafaring man, and the pair seem destined for love. The simple-minded Mr. Post has other plans, however. Seeing love blossom between Mayo and Valli causes him to lose whatever is left of his mind… If this seems very much like the plot of a 1920s D.W. Griffith film, it was - he acquired the rights, originally, and perhaps hoped to star Richard Barthelmess and Carol Dempster. But, Mr. Barthelmess had left the Griffith company, to headline "Tol'able David" (1921). Joseph Hergesheimer wrote that story and this one followed-up, in 1922. It was considered a hot property, and "Wild Oranges" found its way at the Goldwyn studios, with director King Vidor.

Mr. Vidor does well with the story's use of nature and the elements; the story begins with the wind and ends in the water. The titular oranges symbolize the sexual fruit Valli provides, as Mayo gives up mourning his first wife. The co-stars don't have a lot of chemistry, but pantomime professionally. Mayo took over the leading role from actor/director James Kirkwood, a former Griffith player, who bowed out after much work (he remains in the long shots). All in all, the best impression was made by Mr. Post, who grew whiskers for the role, and startled audiences with his villainous dramatics. But, although Vidor uses wildlife well, the story doesn't - missing, for example, are the scenes establishing the dog's relationship with the cast.

***** Wild Oranges (1/20/24) King Vidor ~ Frank Mayo, Virginia Valli, Charles "Buddy" Post, Ford Sterling

When a windblown newspaper spooks the horses pulling John Woolfolk's carriage, his wife is thrown out and killed. He tries to escape his grief by taking to the high seas only to find reason to love again when he encounters an emotionally damaged young woman, the granddaughter of a reclusive southerner on the Georgia coast. But their happiness depends on his finding a way to defeat a deranged and murderous man whose lust for her and threats of violence have turned her and her grandfather into psychological hostages.

Although "Wild Oranges" is a lesser known King Vidor film, its uncompromising realism makes it more satisfying and less dated than some of his more stylized and prestigious later productions. I will never forget the image of Woolfolk trying to revive his dead wife, her eyes open and unresponsive.

Frank Mayo and Virginia Valli give honest, understated performances as Woolfolk and his new-found love in this 1924 film whose atmospheric evocation of evil lurking in a coastal swamp (images of Spanish moss waving in the breeze were shot on location in Florida) is somewhat reminiscent of the finale in the 1961 film "Cape Fear."

Once again, Turner Classic Movies has done a great service to film buffs everywhere -- at least for those who have cable TV service and can get TCM -- with their TV debut of this film. Beautifully photographed in 1924, this extraordinary story gets restored to full health and with a new musical soundtrack.

From the very first scenes, "Wild Oranges" captures the bittersweet theme of love and loss, and plays it in a moving but subdued manner.

The film slowly builds to its final crescendo and it has a positive moral to the story: a few moments of courage is enough -- when mixed with love -- to annihilate a lifetime lived in fear and phobia-induced panic. Does that sound hackneyed, or 'cliched,' at all ?? Oh well. "Wild Oranges" ain't that at all. Perhaps that is because the telling of this kind of story in 1924 was not all that common. And if it was more common then than it seems, now, it still gets a 9 for the performance of Virginia Valli.

This is a small movie by comparison with "Ben Hur" in that same era, but with great, nay, almost visionary direction and camera work.

There's not a minute wasted in this movie. All the other congratulations, however, belong to the restoration team, the musical direction and the new soundtrack articulated for this movie. This is a long-lost classic of the silent screen era and its return, via TCM, is most welcome.

Some pretty cool shooting on location in the swamps of Georgia, which director King Vidor pushed for and which was a big milestone for Hollywood, and some nice footage at sea as well. Unfortunately, it's not very remarkable otherwise. The story is weak, the pace is slow, and the cast has no star appeal. The characters in the deep South are also very cartoonish. I liked the scene where the widower (Frank Mayo) is thinking of the young woman (Virginia Valli), and she comes to him in an overlay, and it's probably the film's best, much better than the long, drawn-out brawl.

Favorite intertitle: "Mystery - the insidious scents of earth - the veiled lure of sex - Life's traps were set with just such treacheries!-"