Hoot Gibson -- The Fastest, Funniest, Most Entertaining Picture This Popular Star has Ever Produced -- March 14, 2024

Film Daily, 31-March-1924

Hoot Gibson looked like a funny guy. Eddie Sedgwick directed the beautifully titled 40 Horse Hawkins. 

Motion Picture News, 15-March-1924

Director Eddie Sedgwick also acted in 40 Horse Hawkins. It had been ten years since he gave up acting for directing.

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

I like how Broadway or Bust, Hoot's next movie, is described as a comedy rather than a western.

Motion Picture News, 08-March-1924

Dig that hat in the top center photo. 

Motion Picture News, 22-March-1924

Jack Hoxie was a real cowboy and rodeo performer who became a big star in the early 1920s. The Phanton Horseman was directed by Bob Bradbury. 

Motion Picture News, 01-March-1924

The Man from Wyoming was also directed by Bob Bradbury. 

Motion Picture News, 29-March-1924

Ridgeway of Montana was directed by Cliff Smith. The Back Trail was shot at Lone Pine. It was directed by George Marshall and Cliff Smith. 

Film Daily, 21-March-1924

Lester Cuneo had worked with Tom Mix at the Selig Polyscope Company and then served in the army during World War One. Unable to deal with the death of his wife, Cuneo died by his own hand in 1925. W Adcock directed Western Grit. 

Film Daily, 20-March-1924

Tom Mix is "Some Swell" -- December 13, 2021

Jasper, Indiana Weekly Courier, 09-December-1921

Tom Mix was the greatest western star in silent films, but some of his movies went farther afield. Trailin' appears to have begun in the east or in England. Here we see Tom may be dressed for a fox hunt. Later the film moved to the West. Lynn Reynolds directed. 

Albuquerque Evening Herald, 13-December-1921

"From the widely read novel by Max Brand." Tom Mix made other movies based on novels by Max Brand (Frederick Schiller Faust), who wrote lots of Westerns. He later created the character Doctor Kildaire.

Moving Picture World, 03-December-1921

In these scenes from Trailin', we see Tom Mix in evening clothes, attired for fox hunting, and dressed for a saloon out West. 

Moving Picture World, 03-December-1921

Here we see Tom in a top hat and various caps, but not a Stetson. 

Clovis News, 15-December-1921

Tom Mix and Tony appeared in The Rough Diamond, directed by Eddie Sedgwick, at Clovis, New Mexico's Lyceum Theater, accompanied by a Mutt and Jeff cartoon. 

Newark Journal, 08-December-1921

Hands Off, directed by George Marshall, played at Newark, New Jersey's Royal Theater. "Snub and Sambo Comedy" must refer to one of the films that Hal Roach produced with Snub Pollard and Sunshine Sammy Morrison.

Tom Mix in Prairie Trails -- March 9, 2021

 

Richmond Palladium and Sun-Telegram, 26-March-1921

Richmond, Virginia's Murrette Theater featured Tom Mix in Prairie Trails.

South Bend News-Times, 11-March-1921

"A red-blooded tale which will grip the interest of every red-blooded mand and woman."

A Greater Picture, In Every Sense of the Word, Than His Previous Record Breakers -- January 11, 2021

 

Motion Picture News, 01-January-1921

100 years ago this month, Tom Mix was appearing in Prairie Trails. "In it this star portrays the finest character in the biggest story, with the most beautiful romance, of any of his pictures." George Marshall directed. 

The Blue Dahlia -- November 11, 2016

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Happy Veterans Day, everyone. This was a rare 1940s movie about a soldier with PTSD.  William Bendix played Buzz Wanchek, who had a metal plate in  his head and showed all the signs of what was then called shell shock and traumatic brain injury. His friends Johnny and George, played by Alan Ladd and Hugh Beaumont, try to help him, but couldn't do much.  I imagine this happened a lot in real life.

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I thought this was one of William Bendix's best performances.

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Alan Ladd played with Veronica Lake for the third time.  Ladd had been discharged from the US Army because of his health.  There was a threat to recall him, which forced producer John Houseman and Paramount to make the movie in a hurry.  They began shooting before the script was complete. 

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John Houseman produced the movie.  He had worked closely with Orson Welles in the various Mercury Theater projects. 

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George Marshall directed.  He had directed many Laurel and Hardy movies. 

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Raymond Chandler wrote the original story and the screenplay at the request of John Houseman.  The studio did not use his original idea for the ending.  He didn't like Veronica Lake, whom he called "Moronica."  Even though he was born in the US and became a naturalized citizen of Great Britain, he served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War One.