A baby washes ashore, a rogue gets redeemed, and 1917 said 'let's make toxic men cry.'
On a desolate beach near a lifesaving station, Ira, the youngest member of the lifeguard crew, rescues a baby girl from a wreck. The child is cared for at the station, where the men christen her Periwinkle. Living near the station are Ephraiam Rawlins and his childless daughter Ann, a widow with maternal longings. Joyously, Ann takes charge of Periwinkle and raises the girl as her own. Grown to adulthood, Periwinkle is the bright spot for the men at the station. One day, Richard Langdon Evans, a dissolute, wealthy young New Yorker, is cast ashore from the wreck of his yacht. Periwinkle, aiding the lifesavers, helps bring him back to life. Her innocent goodness and faith transform Dick from a carousing society ne'er-do-well to a man of noble ambitions. Thus rehabilitated, Dick wins Periwinkle's hand in marriage.
Acting
Mary Miles Minter's wide-eyed goodness carries every frame.
Cinematography
Storm-tossed beaches shot like nature's own judgment.
Director
James Kirkwood
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Mary Miles Minter was 15 when she starred, already a veteran of dozens of films. Director James Kirkwood was her rumored lover—scandal erupted when William Desmond Taylor was murdered in 1922, effectively ending her career.
This is pure 'uplift cinema': the Progressive Era belief that rural innocence and good women could reform decadent urban men. The yacht wreck is basically cosmic punishment for having too much champagne.
US
