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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 742

The Johnstown Flood

192660 minUnited States
Drama
Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs
68:04
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Creator:Irving Cummings · Public domain

Synopsis

Tom warns that commercial pressure is putting a dam above Johnstown in danger. The logging interests that depend on the stored water refuse to act, even as concern spreads through the town. Personal rivalries and a planned wedding are overtaken by the approaching disaster, leaving those who recognize the danger racing to warn everyone below.

Cast

DirectorsIrving Cummings

Inspirations

The drama uses the 1889 Johnstown flood as the setting for a fictional romance and conflict over business interests. Its characters and account of responsibility should be distinguished from a historical reconstruction of the disaster.

Behind the scenes

The flood sequences were made around Santa Cruz, California, using miniature structures designed to collapse under water. Those effects let the production show destruction on a scale beyond its practical locations.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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