La divine croisière (1929)

This is the story of Claude Ferjac (Henry Kraus), a wealthy, tyrannical, unscrupulous shipowner who lives with his daughter Simone (Suzanne Christy) in a château near a village on the Breton coast, whose inhabitants depend on him. He wants to send a large cargo of alcohol east aboard a ship in precarious condition, disregarding Captain Jacques de Saint-Ermont’s (Jean Murat) and the crew’s doubts about the danger. During the voyage, Mareuil (Thomy Bourdelle), a villainous sailor, urges his companions to mutiny and seize the cargo, but the ship is caught in a violent storm. Several weeks later, word reaches the village that the body of one of the sailors has been found at sea, but nothing is known about the ship. The crew members’ relatives go to Ferjac’s château, where a party is taking place, and stage a violent protest. The old shipowner remains unmoved and refuses to accept any responsibility, but his daughter Simone, secretly in love with the ship’s captain, urges the relatives to put their faith in Maris Stella, the Virgin Mary, protector of sailors. In the end, they organize an expedition to find the shipwreck survivors.