Floodgates on AllMovie

This lumber camp melodrama features a thrilling flood scene at its climax. Dave Trask (John Lowell) is the foreman of a lumber mill run by Lemuel Bassett (William Calhoun). Bassett's nephew, Tom (F. Serrano Keating) loves Trask's sister, Ruth (Evangeline Russell), and wants to find a cure for Trask's crippled daughter, Peggy (Iva Ward). The landowners around Bassett's lake trust Trask, so when Bassett wants to raise the level of the dam, the landowners allow it because he approves. But when the lands are subsequently flooded, the landowners sell their land to Bassett, who in turn sells to a power company for a huge profit. Angered at being had, Trask and a group of men dynamite the dam. The explosion causes a flood which heads straight for Bassett's home. Unfortunately, Tom is there, with Peggy and a specialist he has found for her. Trask risks death to save Tom and Peggy. Bassett sees the error of his ways and vows to make amends for his wrongdoing.