The Trail Rider is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring Buck Jones. Based on the 1924 novel The Trail Rider: A Romance of the Kansas Range by George Washington Ogden, the film is about a trail rider hired to protect ranchers from the actions of a corrupt banker. The film was produced by Fox Film Corp. and was released on February 22, 1925, in the United States. It marked Gary Cooper’s film debut as a stunt rider. It is not known whether the film currently survives.
| The Trail Rider | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | W. S. Van Dyke |
| Screenplay by | Thomas Dixon Jr. |
| Based on | The Trail Rider by George Washington Ogden |
| Produced by | William Fox |
| Starring | Buck Jones |
| Cinematography | Reginald Lyons |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Fox Film Corp. |
Release date |
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Running time |
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| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent English intertitles |
Plot
editTex Hartwell (Buck Jones) rescues an old cobbler from the physical assault of corrupt banker Jim Mackey (Carl Stockdale). When Mackey orders his hired guns to kill Tex, the stranger outdraws them. Rancher Dee Winch (Jack McDonald) is impressed with Tex's fast draw and hires him as a trail rider, tasked with keeping diseased cattle off of his land.[2]
Sometime later, Mackey's men stampede a herd of infected cattle onto Winch's land. When Winch learns of the infected cattle, he fires Tex, who leaves in disgrace. Meanwhile, Tex learns from Fanny Goodnight (Lucy Fox) that Mackey was behind the stampede of infected cattle. Tex confronts the corrupt banker and forces him to sign a confession admitting to his guilt. Later, the old cobbler kills Mackey, Tex's reputation is restored with the cattlemen, and he and Fanny ride trail together on their own.[2]
Cast
edit- Buck Jones as Tex Hartwell
- Nancy Deaver as Sally McCoy
- Lucy Fox as Fanny Goodnight
- Carl Stockdale as Jim Mackey
- Jack McDonald as Dee Winch
- George Berrell as Uncle Boley
- Jack Rollens as Ollie, the barber
- Will Walling as Malcolm Duncan
- Silver the Horse
- Gary Cooper as A rider (uncredited)[1]
Production
editThe Trail Rider is based on the 1924 novel, The Trail Rider: A Romance of the Kansas Range by George Washington Ogden (New York).[3]
Release
editThe film was released in Austria as Steppenehre.[1] It is not known whether the film currently survives.[1][4][5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "The Trailer Rider". Silent Era. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ a b "The Trail Rider". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ "The Trail Rider". American Film Institute. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:..The Trail Rider
- ^ The Trail Rider at Lost Film Files: lost Fox films – 1925
External links
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