The Johnstown Flood

The film recreates the Johnstown flood of 1889. It happened in Pennsylvania. There was a large dam in the hills above the town. An engineer notices that the dam is not sound. He takes his warnings to the authorities. Nobody listens to him. A young woman is in love with him. Much of the story plays out between the two of them. The daily life of the town is shown as well. Then the rain starts and does not stop. The dam gives way. The water comes down into the valley. In the real disaster more than two thousand people died. The film staged it with the tricks of the period, with miniatures and double exposure. George O’Brien and Janet Gaynor appear in the sixty seven minute silent film, an American production Irving Cummings finished in 1926.