Fashionable widow Mrs. Harmon ( Hedda Hopper ) sees her funds are quickly dwindling and her charms are not working on the wealthy Van Surdam ( Charles K. Gerrard ) who won't leave his mistress Claire Wilson ( Claire Whitney ). So she decides to dangle her daughter Ethel ( Norma Talmadge ) in front of him. Ethel marries to please her mother, but suffers terribly from Van Surdam's brutality and learns to hate men. John Arnold ( Wyndham Standing ) once a promising shipbuilder, but now a drunkard, hates women because earlier his fiancée Claire left him for Van Surdam. Ethel accompanies her family on a cruise and the ship is torpedoed by a submarine, John, the ship's stoker, rescues Ethel and swims with her to a deserted island. After months of wariness, they learn to love each and are about to perform a marriage rite when a rescue ship arrives. Ethel is sickened by Van Surdam's advances on the ship and he attacks her, John saves her. Van Surdam, suspicious of their relationship, dies from a heart attack. A year later, John and Ethel find happiness together when they finally marry.
What a tragic loss The Isle of Conquest is for fans of silent films. This film was one of Norma Talmadge's best and it featured many good actors and actresses of silent cinema. Hopefully a copy survives and resurfaces.
What a tragic loss The Isle of Conquest is for fans of silent films. This film was one of Norma Talmadge's best and it featured many good actors and actresses of silent cinema. Hopefully a copy survives and resurfaces.
