In the silent era acting sisters were among the elite but none more so than the Flugrath girls, two of whom achieved fame as Viola Dana and Shirley Mason. Viola was billed as "Broadway's Youngest Star" for her role in "The Poor Little Rich Girl" but both she and Shirley were soon at work at the nearby Edison studios where their youth and professionalism made them naturals for some of the studio's social drama movies. Viola had also met John Collins and as the star of a couple of sensational films ("Children of Eve" and "Blue Jeans") became a top star. Her popularity continued through the 1920s although many of her films are lost.First appearing in print in a 1918 edition of "All Star Weekly" under the grabbing title of "The Brute Breaker", this story of the lumber lands by "Zorro" creator Johnston McCulley was a Universal Jewel production which meant it was part of the studio's special productions.Set amidst the beauty of the Oregon pine forests where the lumber camps are reducing the stately trees to timber, De Quincey Sr. is putting a lot of confidence in his Oxford educated son Jack (Kenneth Harlan) to establish law and order in his logging camp where "bullies and bootleggers" have taken over. But Jack is a poet and a dreamer and his father despairs - Jack also has a secret, he was the Oxford Champion Boxer and happily accepts his father's wager of $10,000 that he will not be able to clean up the camp!!After acquiring a reputation as a "brute breaker", he arrives at Boss O'Neil's camp incognito and is viewed as a major pushover by the overseer, Pete. He instantly wins the heart of a little cripple boy, Billy (an adorable Billy Kent Schaefer with a cute "sonny boy" hair style!!) In turn he charms Marie (a lovely Viola Dana) who sees him as the hero in her fairy stories - Lohengrim who rides the waves in a chariot of silver. Unfortunately Marie is also pursued by Pete and the local dance is the setting of a brutally realistic fight between the two men but Pete never stands a chance!!I take exception to the "B" movie tag - no way!! I admit the print is pretty ragged and needs a restoration job pronto but back in 1926 this would have been a super special production. Jewels were Universal's top films. There was a brutal and realistic fight and the climax was an ice flood, not as spectacular but reminding me of the bursting dam in "The Winning of Barbara Worth" of the same year. With Marie bound and gagged in a little boat, Jack is there for the last minute rescue. But Jack's work is not done yet - he has to go quickly back to camp to give encouragement to little Billy, waiting for an operation!!Fred Kohler can be seen as the "Cougar Kid"!! Recommended.

After obtaining an Oxford degree, all-American poet Kenneth Harlan (as Jack DeQuincy) is dispatched by his wealthy father to the family's lumber company in the US' great northwest. Undercover and out to prove himself worthy, Mr. Harlan discovers the lumber camp dominated by stupid drunken bullies. Harlan clashes with dumb bully leader Frank Hagney (as Pete) and catches the eye of superintendent's daughter Viola Dana (as Marie O'Neill). The former gets the latter in dire straits, and Harlan must come to her rescue. Heart-tugging crippled waif Billy Kent Schaefer (as Billy) is also threatened. "The Ice Flood" that climaxes the film is a pale imitation of the one in "Way Down East" (1920); the story preceding it is fairly dumb. Those familiar with Walter Brennan will be able to easily spot him at the lumberjacks' dance, in one of his earliest film appearances.**** The Ice Flood (10/2/26) George B. Seitz ~ Kenneth Harlan, Viola Dana, Frank Hagney, Billy Kent Schaefer

The basic story bears many similarities to "God's Country and the Woman" (1937), an elaborate Technicolor movie, with George Brent, Beverly Roberts, Barton MacLane and Robert Barrat in the roles here played by Kenneth Harlan, Viola Dana, Frank Hagney and James Gordon.Unfortunately, that Technicolor production has it all over this film in every department, including acting, script, direction, photography and production values. This is just a little "B" movie by comparison and it has actually very little to recommend it unless you're a rabid fan of Kenneth Harlan (who made a great villain but he's too heavy-set in appearance and woodenly impersonal for a hero role). True, the lovely Viola Dana is also in the movie, but she is upstaged by a crippled boy (a hollow plot device) in most of her scenes. The only really charismatic figure in the cast is Frank Hagney who has an unusually meaty role as the chief villain (which he carries off in splendid fashion).Alas, although Mr Seitz has a big reputation as a competent action director, he is badly let down here by his editor, who repeats over and over the same crummy miniature shot of the ice about to break up. And when it does finally flood forth, what we do get? You guessed it. More obvious miniatures that wouldn't fool a four-year-old. All in all, "The Ice Flood" is a wash-out.

The video copy of this came from Grapevine Video and it was sort of blurred/over-focussed and splotchy but Grapevine put an engaging soundtrack to the film and it worked. This film seems to have been lost for many decades and the print that was found is seemingly complete. This was a Universal production of 1926 and was shot straight on location in the woods in Log country somewhere presumably in the Pacific Northwest but not too far from Hollywood. It stars Viola Dana & Kenneth Harlan with support from some very good character actors. At times it can remind one of The Big Trees(aka Valley of the Giants) which has been shot numerous times in the silent and sound periods. The story is a simple and routine one. A young man(Harlan) comes to the north woods to his father's logging company with the contemplation of taking it over for dad. He must prove himself amongst the roughneck outdoorsmen as well as his dad that he can cope with the trials,tribulations & corruption of the unscrupulous characters employed in dad's logging firm. The dad doesn't think the son is up to the task. Along the way Harlan meets the wealthy daughter(Dana) of one of his dad's rival logging bosses. The rest of the story is predictable routine sonny-boy-proving-himself-to-dad fair... and he does. The climax of the picture is the big Ice Flood that nearly wipes everyone and everything out. I'm not sure but I'm only guessing that the ice flooding special effects of this picture was supposed to be the big draw of it. Thus the emphasis even in the title. The Ice Flood special-effects, while impressive for 1926 audiences, is pretty rudimentary by modern standards. Think of the parting of the Red Sea in DeMille's The Ten Commandments(1923) or the sand storm/floods in Henry Kings The Winning of Barbara Worth(1926). The Ice Flood is done similarly. But director George Seitz & cast & crew did a competent job in the outdoors and it's fortunate this programmer survives in any form. Perhaps in the future another print will show up or a new restoration can take place. This flick deserves it. This is just the kind of routine but competent programmer that kept the theatres going when the big pictures weren't being made.