Die Insel der verbotenen Küsse (1927)

Engineer John Bennet has developed a tank that keeps any ship balanced, making seasickness a thing of the past. Unfortunately, the invention does nothing to relieve Bennet’s own motion sickness, so he flatly refuses to board the steamer “Aequilador,” which belongs to the Caribbean island republic of the same name, even though it has already been fitted with his invention. At the same time, his secretary, Nell Howard, wins a ticket for a passage on that very steamer in a lottery. Bennet has learned that Nell will soon inherit three million dollars, and, with his eye on that enormous sum, he hires a private detective to make sure no other man gets close to Nell during the voyage. The detective, however, hands the job to the handsome Jack Maxwell, who also plans to board the ship and look for work at its destination. Jack does not know what Nell looks like, and instead mistakes the pretty Julia Montasa, a true-born Aequiladorian, for his target. Julia considers herself Bennet’s bride in effect, because of a bizarre law in her homeland: if two people kiss on the island, they must marry each other. That is exactly what happened the year before, when Bennet was visiting Aequilador and, unaware of this legal peculiarity, kissed Julia. But as soon as he learned about the law, he fled. Julia returns home to Aequilador from her fruitless search for her “bridegroom” in his homeland, and Jack now keeps her under constant surveillance. No one knows that Bennet is aboard the ship against his will: he had to repair the faulty tank, and the steamer sailed before he could get off. After various further mishaps and complications, Jack meets and falls in love with the real Nell, while Bennet encounters Julia again on the voyage to the “Island of Forbidden Kisses.” In keeping with the conventions of a film happy ending, a double wedding takes place.