The Johnstown Flood (Blu-ray)

Academy Award Winner Janet Gaynor appears in her first major role as Anna Burger, a love-struck teenage girl smitten with the dashing, but unavailable Tom O'Day, played by George O'Brien. Tom is an engineer for the Hamilton Lumber Company and engaged to the owner's daughter Gloria, played by Florence Gilbert. He warns the owners of the imminent failure of the dam, only to be ignored, leaving it up to Anna to try to save her community from impending disaster. The Johnstown Flood captures one of the great American tragedies, when over 2000 lives were lost in 1889 because of the inaction of a wealthy group ignoring the dangers of the dam they'd failed to maintain. Almost a century old, The Johnstown Flood has been newly restored from unique surviving film elements. It's a thrilling drama and a prime example of the cutting edge special effects techniques that emerged at the end of the silent era. The all star cast also features George Reed, Walter Perry and Max Davidson, with cameos by Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and Florence Lawrence. The Johnstown Flood is a classic silent film and essential to every film enthusiast's collection.

• silent