by Ted Davis
Directed by: Irving Cummings
Synopsis: A sometimes impressive recreation of the disastrous flood of 1889, in which more than two thousand people lost their lives in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, augmented by a soap opera plot focused on the three-cornered romance between sturdy and honest logging engineer Tom O’Day (George O’Brien), winsome working-class Anna Burger (Janet Gaynor) and privileged and moneyed Gloria Allen (Florence Gilbert).
Kitty Cameo: During a heavy rainstorm, the movie’s main villain, greedy and unprincipled Ward Peyton (Paul Nicholson), the general manager of the logging camp, reads a letter which confirms payment of $10,000 to hold up the repairs of the town’s dam, thereby delaying the execution of a sizable lumber contract. He is startled when an active black cat jumps on the outside ledge of his window and passes his field of vision.
Later, Peyton calls out through the pouring rain to the logging camp bunkhouse for Joe Burger (Paul Panzer), Ann’s dad, but is answered by the camp’s trustworthy cook (George Reed), who slides open the window to respond, “Who-all said murder?” During their brief exchange, the cook is holding the black cat, a bit damp and squirmy in this sequence.
Final Mewsings: No documentary evidence has been found to suggest that a black cat contributed to the events of that tragic day.
Many thanks to Jon R. Kennedy for also letting us know about the cat in this film.
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