Wm. S. Hart -- lost titles?

[Dave Pitts]

I'm always taken by Hart -- in some ways he predates the 'adult westerns' of the 50's (even with his sometimes stagey mannerisms.) The later films (from '20 to '26) get better and better. I wish there were more of them.
Singer Jim McKee ('24) - According to imdb, only 2 reels exist, at UCLA...
Wild Bill Hickok ('23) - the first film to portray Wyatt Earp -- does this exist?
Travelin' On ('22) - does this exist?
When Cinesation was still going, they showed quite a few Hart films. I have about ten on tape/disc, would love to think there are additional titles that have been preserved.

[oldposterho]

This database from the LoC is a real treasure for finding out the status of US silent films:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/diglib/ihas/ ... -home.html" target="_blank

According to it, Singer Jim Mckee is complete and held in several archives. Wild Bill Hickcok is also complete at MoMA and in Belgium. Travelin' On is complete at the LoC and BFI.

An essential bookmark for silent enthusiasts.

--Peter

[silentfilm]

Travelin' On was screened at Cinecon last year. My review...

TRAVELIN' ON (1922) I've been bored with William S. Hart lately, as he's always the long suffering good bad man who starts out mean and ends up redeemed by a woman's love. This one starts out a lot like Hell's Hinges, as a preacher and his beautiful wife Ethel Grey Terry come to a lawless Western town. The preacher wants to build a church. When he runs out of funds, he robs a stagecoach and frames Hart for the crime. The local bar owner Dandy Dan McGee will do anything to have Terry, and Hart also pines for her. The film is missing a reel, where we apparently miss a confrontation between the preacher and Hart and the monkey (!) is introduced. This film features beautiful lighting and cinematography by Joseph August. This is one of Hart's better films, but it does move at a leisurely pace. ***

Wild Bill Hickock was shown at Cinecon 48 in 2012. My review...

WILD BILL HICKOK (1923) was a slightly better than average William S. Hart western. Hart opens the film with an explanation saying that he’s not going to try to look like the real Hickok at all. After a terrific gun battle with an outlaw gang that is trying to hijack a stage, Hart/Hickok decides to hang up his guns for good. Years later in Dodge City, an outlaw gang is intimidating the townsfolk, especially a lady that rode in on the stage with her “weakling” husband. Hart can take no more, so he takes on the gang single-handedly, although Calamity Jane, Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday are also characters in the film. **1/2.

[Bor Enots]

"Wagon Tracks" is coming out as an Olive Films/Library of Congress BluRay with a score by Andrew Simpson.

[Ann Harding]

Wonderful! When is it due?

[Christopher Jacobs]

"Wagon Tracks" is coming out as an Olive Films/Library of Congress BluRay with a score by Andrew Simpson.

That is great to hear! While it's not my favorite Hart, it's very good. It should really look spectacular if the transfer is up to Olive's usual standards of HD scans from good 35mm material. I remember my old Blackhawk Super 8 print looking as sharp as a decent 16mm print, and a friend's 16mm print looking as sharp as 35mm!

[Jerfilm]

Before the digital age, I had several Hart films on VHS that I considered to be Very Good or Excellent quality. Including Three Word Brand, The Darkening Trail, The Narrow Trail and Mr. Silent Haskins. I don't seem to be able to find any of them as DVD transfers. Have I missed something somewhere?

My interest in Hart goes back to my childhood. My great grandmother's maiden name was Caroline Hart and family myth has it that she was related to Wm. S. I say family myth because after a lot of genealogy research I have yet to find that connection.

On an older theme, what a pity that so many of Hart's films are still around and yet not really accessible to those of us who are interested.

Jerry

[Bob Birchard]

WILD BILL HICKOK only seems to survive in its 5 reel reissue version, not in its original 7 reel length.

[bobfells]

Alpha Video has issued a number of the Hart titles mentioned above. Pro: easily available and inexpensive. Con: quality varies considerably. Really depends on how much you want to see them.

[Rodney]

TRAVELIN' ON (1922) ... and the monkey (!) is introduced.

Speaking of the devil, Bill and the monkey (Jocko) make an appearance in this year's Silent Film Benefit Calendar in a still from Travelin' On. It happens to be one of the sample photos I've got posted over in the calendar thread if you want to see it. I also received another still of Bill being kissed by the monkey, but this one showed Bill's rather astonishing costume and horse and saddle to better advantage. I wonder what that shirt would have been like in color.

[bobfells]

TRAVELIN' ON (1922) ... and the monkey (!) is introduced.

Speaking of the devil, Bill and the monkey (Jocko) make an appearance in this year's Silent Film Benefit Calendar in a still from Travelin' On. It happens to be one of the sample photos I've got posted over in the calendar thread if you want to see it. I also received another still of Bill being kissed by the monkey, but this one showed Bill's rather astonishing costume and horse and saddle to better advantage. I wonder what that shirt would have been like in color.

Rodney, send me that photo and I think we can find out what it looks like in color.

[Jerfilm]

Yeah, most Alpha Videos I guess are cheap for a reason. You can hardly watch them on an ipad sized screen. You haven't lived until you've seen them on a home theater screen......

[bobfells]

Yeah, most Alpha Videos I guess are cheap for a reason. You can hardly watch them on an ipad sized screen. You haven't lived until you've seen them on a home theater screen......

It's balance between how much you want to see a particular film and how much poor imaging you can tolerate. Blu-ray was made for home theater screens. 16mm second or third or fourth generation prints were meant for laptops or, my preference, a nine inch screen of a portable DVD player.