A 1922 Western where the real outlaw wears a badge. Silent cinema's forgotten revenge.
Norman Draper, a Texas Ranger sent to round up a band of cattle rustlers, finds Phillip Carlson at the deathbed of his wife and assists him in burying her. Meanwhile, cow thieves are plaguing Marcos Valverde and his daughter Elicia; and Leon Serrano, the local deputy sheriff (actually the leader of the rustlers), realizing the community will demand a victim, arrests Carlson, who has innocently bought a stolen horse from the thieves. Draper rescues him from a lynching party and learns the whereabouts of the rustlers. Leon Serrano is unmasked as the culprit and then is arrested by Draper, who gives his reward to Carlson and is himself rewarded by the love of Elicia.
Practical Effects
Real horses, real dust, real lynch mob tension.
Acting
Noble Johnson's villainous smolder before sound.
Director
Joseph Franz
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Noble Johnson was one of the first Black actors to establish a production company, Lincoln Motion Picture Company, making his villain role here complicated Hollywood history.
Director Joseph Franz was a former newspaper cartoonist; the film's stark compositions reflect that visual punch.
US
