Frank Hemphill

In 'The Circus Kid', Darro gives an excellent performance as Buddy, an orphan who runs away from a a harsh orphanage to join Cadwallader's Circus. (imdb)

In 1906 Sweden, Captain Lars Larson goes on a sea voyage, leaving his wife behind expecting their first child. Unbeknownst to him while he is at sea, a bitter rival kidnaps her and makes it look as though she left him willingly. When he returns and discovers their home abandoned, he all but goes mad with bitterness and rage, destroying their home. In the years that follow, Larson becomes a sadistic, drunken reprobate of the sea, working for smugglers carrying all kinds of illegal cargo.

A former captain joins a cargo ship's crew, finding it commanded by the man who stole his vessel, wife and daughter. With a fellow sailor in love with his daughter, he rallies the shanghaied crew against the brutal captain and first mate.