The Yankee Clipper is a 65-minute 1927 American adventure film directed by Rupert Julian. It is set against the maritime rivalry between the United States and Great Britain in the mid-19th century.
Plot
The film opens in England in the court of Queen Victoria. Lord Anthony Huntington, the country's foremost shipbuilder, is tasked with preventing the United States from breaking England's grip on the tea trade. Huntington boasts that his new ship, Lord of the Isles, will outsail any American ship.
In America, the U.S. president meets with a Boston shipbuilder, Thomas Winslow, who vows that his new vessel will challenge England's vaunted speed. The builder introduces his son, Hal Winslow (William Boyd), who will command the new Yankee Clipper on its maiden voyage to China. The President tells the young captain that America's hope of prestige on the seas rests with him.
Several days into the journey, a stowaway, a young boy named Mickey Murphy (Junior Coughlan) is found hiding in a burlap sack. The boy is an orphan who announces his hatred of women.
While in China, Winslow attends a dinner hosted by a wealthy Chinese merchant and rescues an English woman Lady Jocelyn Huntington (Elinor Fair) from rioting beggars.
Winslow agrees to a race from China to Boston against the Lord of the Isles. He wins the race and Lady Jocelyn.
Cast
William Boyd ..... Captain Hal Winslow
Elinor Fair ..... Lady Jocelyn Huntington
Junior Coghlan ..... Mickey Murphy
John Miljan ..... Paul de Vigny
Walter Long ..... Portuguese Joe
Louis Payne ..... Lord Huntington
Burr McIntosh ..... Thomas Winslow
Clarence Burton ..... Captain McIntosh
Production credits
Rupert Julian, director and producer
Denison Clift, story
Garrett Weston, adaptation
John W. Krafft, titles
John J. Mescall, photographer
Harold McLernon film editor
Leigh R. Smith, assistant director
Reception
Following the film's screen debut in Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh Press called it "a screen classic that will rank among the best of the season's output."
The website AllMovie gave the film a rating of three stars.