A silent Civil War thriller where virtue is the battlefield and honor the only weapon.
Melaine is captured by a northern soldier while she is carrying secret southern messages. She falls into the hands of her father's former superior who attempts to compromise her. She is saved by a successful Confederate attack.
Acting
Blanche Sweet's face does what ten pages of dialogue couldn't.
Direction
Neilan squeezes genuine suspense from 50 minutes of restraint.
Director
Marshall Neilan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Marshall Neilan was only 27 when he directed this, already proving the silent era was young directors' playground.
1917's Civil War narratives often romanticized Southern virtue; this film's title ironically interrogates that very mythology.
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