MGM Silent. 67 minutes (7 reels).

US general release: 2/26/27.
Not available on VHS or DVD.

Cast: Joan Crawford (as "Monica Dale"), Francis X. Bushman Jr., Rockcliffe Fellowes, Carmel Myers, Richard Carle, Harry Clarke.

Credits:  From the 1926 novel by Peter B. Kyne. (Also serialized in Cosmopolitan magazine, March - September 1926.) Adaptation: Edward T. Lowe, Jr. Titles: Joseph Farnham. Director: Jack Conway. Camera: John Arnold. Editor: John English. Costumes: Andre-ani. Sets: Cedric Gibbons, B.H. Martin.

Plot Summary: Joan Crawford landed one of her first starring roles in MGM's The Understanding Heart. Based on a story by Peter B. Kyne, the story is set in tall-timber country, where heroine Monica (Crawford) has trouble choosing between wealthy Bob Mason (Rockliffe Fellows) and handsome forest ranger Tony Garland (Francis X. Bushman). Things come to a head during a raging forest fire, with Monica and her two suitors trapped in the middle of the conflagration. A spectacular rescue by airplane caps this robust actioner, which relies heavily on stock footage from the recently completed The Flaming Forest. While Joan Crawford is pretty and personable, the film is stolen by the more flamboyant second female lead, Carmel Myers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

American Film Institute page

IMDb page

Silent Era page

TCM page

Wikipedia page

plus a 2018 blog post w' photos from the Homestead Museum (City of Industry, CA) re the on-location filming

Betty Colfax in the New York Evening Graphic (1927):

Besides displaying no little ability as an actress, Miss Crawford screens remarkable well and shows a development so far beyond her work [in The Taxi Dancer] that one may expect important tidings of this young player.