The film, written by Anthony Paul Kelly and Rufus King, also stars Edmund Lowe, Alma Tell, and Martha Mansfield.

Initially unable to obtain necessarily intelligence from Richard Decatur (Lowe), a captain in the United States Navy, he enlists the aid of femme fatale Peg Williams (Mansfield).

Decatur pretends to be seduced into the conspiracy, costing him his career and estranging him from his wife (Tell), but he ultimately betrays the saboteurs in Panama and stops their plan.

Decatur is not fooled and obeys the "silent command" of the Chief of Naval Intelligence to play along with the spies without revealing his purpose to friends or family.

[1][2] Rufus King, later known for his detective novels,[5] wrote the original story for The Silent Command, which was adapted into a screenplay by Anthony Paul Kelly.

[6] Quotes praising the film were provided by several prominent members of the military for use in advertising, including General John J. Pershing and Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

[6] Years later, in a publicity interview for The Return of Chandu, Bela Lugosi commented on the irony of being a propagandist for naval expansion when his native country, landlocked Hungary, "has no navy nor needs any!

[10] Film historian Gary Rhodes traced the origin of this technique, intended to suggest the evil eye or hypnosis, to characters in Weimar cinema inspired by Svengali.

[10] Lugosi had played one such character, Professor Mors, in the 1919 German film Sklaven fremdes Willens;[10][11] Edwards himself had portrayed Svengali in a run of Trilby on the St. Louis stage.

[a] The Silent Command was the first feature-length film screened at the Fox Oakland,[18][19] during an elaborate opening gala that also included Tom Mix riding Tony, the Wonder Horse into the theater.

[31][32] Variety was slightly less complimentary, suggesting the film was better suited for "regular neighborhood" theaters than prestigious first-run houses and criticizing the cinematography in Mansfield's vamp scenes.

[2] Lugosi had expressed an interest in playing Latin lover characters in the model of Rudolph Valentino, but his performance as Hisston revealed him to be convincing in more villainous roles.

[37] According to Rhodes, critics considered the focus on Lugosi's eyes cliché or even unintentionally humorous, but some filmgoers did find the shots genuinely frightening.