Tom Mix -- Hail the Stunt King in a Comedy Riot! -- September 11, 2013

Motion Picture News, 01-September-1923

Soft Boiled looks like fun. Tom Mix played a nerd. I like his disarrayed glasses. The film may still survive. The leading lady was Billie Dove. John G Blystone directed.

Birmingham Age-Herald, 09-September-1923

I like the lettering in this ad for Stepping Fast, especially for the "Loew's Bijou" at the top. 

Motion Picture News, 01-September-1923

In The Lone Star Ranger, based on the novel by Zane Grey, Tom Mix plays Buck Duane who gets a lot of grief because his father was a bandit. Later he becomes a Texas Ranger.

Moving Picture World, 28-June-1919

William Farnum starred in a 1919 version for Fox.

Screenland, April, 1930

George O'Brien starred in a talkie version in 1930. 

Motion Picture News, 01-September-1923

Max Brand's novel Gun Gentlemen (not Gentleman) was to be made under the title The Flyin' Fool. It was released as Mile-a-Minute Romeo. 

Motion Picture News, 01-September-1923

Lambert Hillyer directed.

Motion Picture News, 08-September-1923

Tom Mix loved fast vehicles. He won a motorboat race against Dustin Farnum at Santa Barbara. 

Film Daily, 10-September-1923

Tom was a fight fan and a friend of heavyweight champ Jack Dempsey. Mix took an entourage to New York to see the Dempsey-Firpo fight. 

Motion Picture News, 22-September-1923

Buck Jones -- The Most Convincing Actor on the Screen -- September 13, 2022

Moving Picture World, 16-September-1922

Buck Jones was Fox's second-string cowboy star, after Tom Mix. For some reason the Fox Film Corporation or Jones himself tried to bill him as Charles Jones. "The Most Convincing Actor on the Screen" is an unusual tag to hang on a star of westerns. Perhaps Fox was trying to broaden his scope. 

Moving Picture World, 23-September-1922

Leo Maloney starred in a series of short westerns.

Moving Picture World, 16-September-1922

Bill Fairbanks was not Doug's brother, but he may have been related. They were both born with the family name "Ullman," but that may have been a coincidence. Ben Wilson was a popular actor who also directed and produced. 

Moving Picture World, 02-September-1922

Moving Picture World, 02-September-1922

William Farnum, a big, tough guy, appeared in many westerns.

Once More We Have Tom Mix -- March 13, 2022

Moving Picture World, 18-March-1922

Fox promoted four of its big western/action stars in this ad. Tom Mix was the greatest western star in silent films. Charles (Buck) Jones was their backup western star. Dustin Farnum and his brother William both appeared in many westerns, but also in a variety of other films.

Moving Picture World, 18-March-1922

A selection of stills from Tom Mix's Chasing the Moon. Eddie Sedgwick directed.

Pueblo Chieftan, 12-March-1922

Lynn Reynolds directed The Night Horsemen. The script was based on a novel by Max Brand.

Pueblo Chieftan, 19-March-1922

Larry Semon -- Zigoto -- November 1, 2021

Moving Picture World, 26-November-1921

100 years ago, Larry Semon was popular in the United States, but he was equally popular in many other countries. Those countries usually identified him by a single name. In France, Larry was Zigoto. In Italy, he was Ridolini. In the 1920s, Spanish-speaking audiences called him Jaimito. When the Spanish versions were rereleased in 1940, he was called Tomasín.

Brattleboro Daily Reformer, 16-November-1921

In Brattleboro, Vermont, Larry shared the bill with Sessue Hayakawa, who was appearing in Where Lights Are Low. 

Moving Picture World, 06-August-1921

Please don't make any jokes about William Farnum in drag. He didn't have the legs for it.

Moving Picture World, 13-August-1921

Zane Grey Week -- Another George Plays Lassiter -- June 7, 2021

Motion Picture News, 21-May-1921

Zane Grey was a popular Western novelist in the first half of the Twentieth Century. I had read about movies made from his stories, so I took a few novels out from the Anza Branch Library. It turns out that he was not a very good writer, but he did produce interesting characters and descriptions.

I thought I might join with producer Benjamin B Hampton and have a Zane Grey Week.

One of the books that I read was his most popular, Riders of the Purple Sage. It introduced Lassiter, a classic Western hero. Aside from some startling anti-LDS business, Riders of the Purple Sage has a good story. 

Fox produced Riders, its sequel and two other Zane Grey movies in the late Teens and early 1920s with William Farnum playing the hero. Not many years later, Fox filmed the same set of stories starring Tom Mix. Then came the talkies, and Fox filmed the stories again with George O'Brien in the lead. Fox returned to its Zane Grey properties in 1941 and 1942.

listal.com

In The Last of the Duanes, George Montgomery played Buck Duane. Montgomery was a multi-talented artist who appeared in a lot of westerns. During World War Two he joined the US Army Air Force. William Farnum, who had played Buck Duane in the 1919 version, played a major in the Texas Rangers.

Newark Leader, 23-October-1941

listal.com

George Montgomery was the fourth actor to play Lassiter in a movie adaption of Riders of the Purple Sage. Instead of Mormons, the bad guys are crooked judges. 

Worcester Democrat and Ledger-Enterprise, 05-December-1941

I can safely say I have never heard of Pocomoke City, Maryland. 

listal.com

And then Fox threw us a curveball. They produced another version of The Lone Star Ranger, but they replaced George Montgomery with John Kimbro. Kimbro was a professional football player. The Lone Star Ranger was his second and last film. Why did they ditch George Montgomery? Perhaps Montgomery cost too much. I don't think George Montgomery left for the Army until 1943. William Farnum, the original Buck Duane, repeated the part he had played in the 1941 The Last of the Duanes.

And then Fox threw us another curveball. They did not produce a fourth remake of The Rainbow Trail. 

Publishers Weekly, 21-May-1921

Tomorrow: Riders on Television

Zane Grey Week -- June 2-9, 2021

June 02, 2021: Zane Grey Week
June 03, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Fighting Blood
June 04, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Riders of the Purple Sage and Others
June 05, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Tom Mix Takes Over
June 06, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Riders as a Talkie
June 07, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Another George Plays Lassiter
June 08, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Riders on Television
June 09, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- The Man of the Forest

Zane Grey Week -- Riders of the Purple Sage and Others -- June 4, 2021

Motion Picture News, 21-May-1921

Zane Grey was a popular Western novelist in the first half of the Twentieth Century. I had read about movies made from his stories, so I took a few novels out from the Anza Branch Library. It turns out that he was not a very good writer, but he did produce interesting characters and descriptions.

I thought I might join with producer Benjamin B Hampton and have a Zane Grey Week.

One of the books that I read was his most popular, Riders of the Purple Sage. It introduced Lassiter, a classic Western hero. Aside from some startling anti-LDS business, Riders of the Purple Sage has a good story. 

Moving Picture World, 08-June-1918

The first screen adaption of Riders of the Purple Sage was made in 1918, by the Fox Film Corporation. It starred William Farnum, a big, tough movie star who appeared in many westerns. "Millions have read the book/Millions demand the picture."

South Bend News-Times, 15-September-1918

"This will be the first of four big six-reel sensational western dramas from Zane Grey's novels."

Great Falls Tribune, 01-April-1918

Lassiter returned in Zane Grey's sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage, The Rainbow Trail. William Farnum appeared in Fox's production.

"So successful was "Riders of the Purple Sage" when shown at a private screening in New York that William Fox immediately purchased two more of Zane Grey's books. These are 'The Last of the Duanes' and 'The Lone Star Ranger,' and each of them has sold into the millions of copies in book form" (Moving Picture World, 10-August-1918).

Moving Picture World, 10-August-1918

Fox released another Zane Grey adaption with William Farnum, The Lone Star Ranger, in late 1918. The book's Buck Duane was renamed Steele for no apparent reason.

Washington Sunday Star, 14-December-1919

Fox's next Zane Grey adaption with William Farnum was The Last of the Duanes. Farnum's character was not named "Duck" Duane. He was "Buck Duane."

The Pullman Herald, 16-June-1922, 16-June-1922.

In 1922, Fox produced a fifth Zane Grey novel, The Last Trail, but it starred Maurice Flynn instead of William Farnum. You will notice that Flynn's name is not mentioned in the ad.

Wilmington Evening Journal, 03-June-1921

Tomorrow: Tom Mix Takes Over.

Zane Grey Week -- June 2-9, 2021

June 02, 2021: Zane Grey Week
June 03, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Fighting Blood
June 04, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Riders of the Purple Sage and Others
June 05, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Tom Mix Takes Over
June 06, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Riders as a Talkie
June 07, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Another George Plays Lassiter
June 08, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- Riders on Television
June 09, 2021: Zane Grey Week -- The Man of the Forest

Harold Lloyd in His Second New $1000,000 Comedy -- April 3, 2020

Great Falls, Montana Daily Tribune, 20-April-1920

Harold Lloyd's name was in larger type than the star of the feature's, William Farnum.  I also threw in an ad for DW Griffith's Broken Blossoms.