Reported Missing (1922)

Synopsis of Reported Missing

This comedy was a satire on serious melodrama, and ex-Mack Sennett director Henry Lehrman gave it as many thrills as it had laughs. Less successfully, it featured titles by several newspaper columnists, who proved they were wittier on paper than they were on screen. Owen Moore (who, aside from being Mary Pickford's first husband, was an accomplished farceur) plays Richard Boyd, a wealthy idler so cool that he never loses his top hat throughout the film. It even stays on his head when his fiancee, Pauline Blake (Pauline Garon), insists that he go to work or she will leave him. The Boyd Company, which he inherited, has an option on a fleet of ships, and he decides to pick it up. But Young, an Oriental merchant prince (Togo Yamamoto) wants the fleet himself, and he orders his confederates to shanghai Boyd until the option runs out. Since Pauline refuses to leave Boyd's side, she's kidnapped too. The ship wrecks and Pauline winds up hidden away in Young's expansive villa. Boyd chases Young's motor boat with a hydroplane, and with the help of some sailors, rescues Pauline. Boyd makes the option and wins his girl's devotion. One embarrassing aspect of this film -- at least to modern eyes -- is the blackface performance Tom Wilson as Boyd's valet, Sam. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Director(s):

Henry Lehrman

Writer(s):

Lewis Allen Browne

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