It takes 20 years for old sea captain William Farnum to get the opportunity to settle an old score with the evil man who was responsible for his wife's suicide. The film opens in 1912 when a capsized boat leaves Farnum, his wife Priscilla Dean, son Wally Albright and old pal Jack Clifford stranded and documents how an unruly ship's captain (Ralph Ince) plotted to save them just so he could rape the wife. Twenty years later, the grown son (Wally Albright) is a hero, and the sounds of hideous laughter from Albright's commander reveal the truth. Farnum, now blind, keeps hearing the sinister sound which has haunted him for years, and the stage is set for a showdown concerning Albright's girlfriend (Sally Blane).
Cheaply filmed, this is still a mesmerizing melodrama with many implausibilities to be sure, but fast pacing and a short running time make it more tolerable than it might have otherwise been. Farnum grabs your sympathy from the get-go, but Ince is such a despicable character that his villainy seems straight out of a silent movie. There's also an interesting characterization from Eve Southern as Blane's trampy cousin who acknowledges from the get-go who she is and makes no apologies for it.
Cheaply filmed, this is still a mesmerizing melodrama with many implausibilities to be sure, but fast pacing and a short running time make it more tolerable than it might have otherwise been. Farnum grabs your sympathy from the get-go, but Ince is such a despicable character that his villainy seems straight out of a silent movie. There's also an interesting characterization from Eve Southern as Blane's trampy cousin who acknowledges from the get-go who she is and makes no apologies for it.