Film Forum

U.S., 1926
Directed by Irving Cummings
Produced by William Fox
Starring Janet Gaynor, George O'Brien
Approx. 60 min. 4K DCP restoration.

In her first major role, then-20-year-old Janet Gaynor (two years later the very first Best Actress Oscar® winner) plays a teenage girl smitten with dashing engineer George O’Brien (Gaynor’s SUNRISE co-star the following year), whose pleadings about the imminent collapse of the local dam are ignored. It's up to Gaynor to ride through the street à la Paul Revere to warn the townspeople of the imminent disaster. A re-creation of one of the greatest disasters in American history, when, in 1889, over 2,000 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, lost their lives. After 97 years, the movie's flood sequence is still a pre-CGI marvel of optical effects, matte paintings, and miniatures.

Restored in 4K by The Film Preserve, Ltd. and The Maltese Film Works from 35mm elements preserved at George Eastman Museum. Noted preservationists Robert Harris and James Mockoski (archivist for Francis Ford Coppola) worked on the restoration.

A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE.