Wild Oranges

Wild Oranges is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by King Vidor,[1] adapted from a story by Joseph Hergesheimer.

With a shipmate, Paul Halvard, he begins sailing around the world, coming to anchor near an isolated, dilapidated mansion on the Southern coast, inhabited by a young woman, Nellie Stope, and her grandfather, Litchfield, who lives in fearful seclusion after his experiences in the Civil War.

Nicholas, a "man-child," lusts after Nellie and harasses her, placing her on a stump in the alligator-infested swamp until she agrees to kiss him, but he is momentarily satisfied with a peck on the cheek.

Nellie asks to see Woolfolk's ship and he takes her out on the open sea, where she at first relishes the sense of freedom but is soon overwhelmed by the ocean's vastness.

They manage to get on a rowboat to go to the ship, but Nicholas returns to the house, finds the gun that Woolfolk had dropped, and shoots at them across the water, wounding Halvard in the process.

While this fight has been going on, a dog who has been abused by Nicholas finally breaks free from his chains and attacks him, eventually killing him.