The Silent Command is a 1923

1923 in film

-Events:*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1923:U.S.A...

 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by J. Gordon Edwards

J. Gordon Edwards

J. Gordon Edwards was a Canadian-born film director, producer, and a writer who began his career as a stage actor and as a stage director. He made his directorial debut on film in 1914's St. Elmo. Soon went on helming all of the Fox studio's mega-budget spectacles, including all of actress Theda...

, and featuring Béla Lugosi

Béla Lugosi

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...

 as a foreign saboteur.

The Silent Command is a story of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, revolving around experiences of a naval captain, warships, merchantmen, sea storms, a spectacular wreck, and an enemy effort to blow up the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

.

Cast

• Edmund Lowe
  Edmund Lowe
  Edmund Dantes Lowe was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film. He was born in San Jose, California.-Film career:...
  
   - Capt. Decatur
• Béla Lugosi
  Béla Lugosi
  Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
  
   - Hisston
• Carl Harbaugh
  Carl Harbaugh
  Carl Harbaugh was an American film actor, screenwriter and director. He appeared in 59 films between 1912 and 1957...
  
   - Menchen
• Martin Faust
  Martin Faust (actor)
  Martin Faust was an American film actor. He appeared in 107 films between 1910 and 1944.He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* The Silent Command...
  
   - Cordoba
• Gordon McEdward - Girdley
• Byron Douglas - Adm. Nevins
• Theodore Babcock - Adm. Meade
• George Lessey
  George Lessey
  George Lessey was an American actor and director of the silent era. He appeared in 123 films between 1910 and 1946. He also directed 76 films between 1913 and 1922. Lessey also appeared in the original Broadway production of Porgy and Bess in one of the few white roles, that of the lawyer Mr...
  
   - Mr. Collins
• Warren Cook
  Warren Cook
  Warren Cook was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 68 films between 1914 and 1927.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in New York, New York...
  
   - Ambassador Mendizabal
• Henry Armetta
  Henry Armetta
  Henry Armetta was an Italian movie character actor who appeared in at least 150 films, starting in silents as early as 1915 to a movie released in 1946, after his death.-Biography:...
  
   - Pedro
• Rogers Keene - Jack Decatur
• Wes Jenkins - The Butler (as J.W. Jenkins)
• Alma Tell
  Alma Tell
  Alma Tell was an American stage and motion picture actress whose career in cinema began in 1915 and lasted into the talkie era of the early 1930s....
  
   - Mrs. Richard Decatur
• Martha Mansfield
  Martha Mansfield
  Martha Mansfield was an American actress in silent films and vaudeville stage plays.-Early life and career:Born Martha Ehrlich in New York City to Maurice and Harriett Gibson Ehrlich...
  
   - Peg Williams, the vamp
• Florence Martin - Peg's Maid
• Kate Blancke - Mrs. Nevins
• Elizabeth Foley - Jill Decatur

Reception

The New York Times called it "an old-fashioned melodrama with the old school of acting.…There is nothing subtle in this production, and it therefore keeps nobody guessing…"

The New York premiere was attending by a delegation of officers from the U.S. Navy, including two rear admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

s.