Across to Singapore

Mutinies, men in irons, star-crossed lovers and daring action at sea combine in an adventure based on Ben Ames Williams' thrice-filmed book All the Brothers Were Valiant (the 1953 version starred Robert Taylor). Ramon Novarro portrays the youngest in a seafaring family, in love with the girl (Joan Crawford) promised to his swaggering oldest brother. The rival brothers set sail to Singapore... and into a storm of emotional and physical danger. Across to Singapore showcases Novarro (1925's Ben-Hur) at the height of his career and Crawford at the turning point of hers: Our Dancing Daughters, released later in 1928, made her a star.

ACROSS TO SINGAPORE was the second screen version of Ben Ames Williams' ALL THE BROTHERS WERE VALIANT, first filmed in 1923, and later remade in 1953. The plot is motivated by the deadly rivalry between two seafaring brothers, virtuous deckhand Joel Shore (Ramon Novarro) and wicked Captain Mark Shore (Ernest Torrence). Forced into a marriage with Mark, Priscilla Crowninshield (Joan Crawford) tries to be loyal to her husband but falls in love with Joel instead. Things reach a fever pitch when mutinous first mate Finch (James Mason) strands Shore in Singapore and takes Joel and Priscilla prisoner. Mark catches up with his ship and kills the mutineers, but when he realizes that his wife is now deeply in love with his brother, he considerately sacrifices his own life in the climactic melee.