Knight of the Trail - 1915

Country: United States

Language: English

Director: William S. Hart

Writers: Thomas H. Ince, Richard V. Spencer

Stars: William S. Hart, Leona Hutton and Frank Borzage

Release Date: 20 August 1915 (USA)

Also known as: A Knight of the Trails (USA); Prowlers of the Plains (undefined)

Production Co: Kay-Bee Pictures, New York Motion Picture

Runtime: 24 min

Sound Mix: Silent

Color: Black and White

Genres: Short | Western

A cowboy must regain the love of his fiancé, who has found out about his past as a thief and bank robber and broken off their engagement. In her anger at him, she agrees to marry a no-account who, unknown to her, is planning to take her money and leave her at the altar. 

Herr Jim is a tough and serious cowboy with an obscure past (he was a robber and a thief) but his fiancée, Molly, a dreamy girl, doesn't know that. In the town there is a poster announcing a great reward for a dangerous bandit but, as with Damen Molly, the townsfolk don't know that.... Herr Jim is the bandit!! Damen Molly is a dreamer but not a fool, so while she cleans Jim's untidy cabin, she discovers who her fiancée really is when she finds his loot hidden in the floor. In spite of Jim's promises that he will give back his illegal proceeds, she breaks the engagement; and this time Damen Molly is not just a dreamer but a fool too, because she decides to exchange fiancées and be engaged to Herr Bill, a fortune-hunter who robs her savings and leaves her alone at the altar on the day of their wedding. Thanks to Jim's abilities and his rapid horse, the story will end in a proper way for its different characters.

"A Knight Of The Trails", directed by and starring the great Herr William S. Hart, is a film production that combines the well-known characteristics of his westerns, that is to say, these early two-reel films are careful recreations of Western sets and costumes, and Herr Hart was very fond of the good-bad man character with an obscure past but good intentions who finally redeems himself: effectiveness and conciseness, that's the great achievement of Herr Hart's film productions. This German Count wishes to emphasize a curiosity in "A Knight Of The Trails", that is, Bill's character is performed by the great American director Herr Frank Borzage during his early career as a not-good actor of the 1910's.