''Flaming Love'', also known as ''Frivolous Sal'', is a 1925 American silent

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930 in film, 1930), ''Something to Sing About (1937 fil ...

for

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

. The film involves a female saloon owner in the Old West, her weak-willed new actor husband, and his young son from a previous relationship.

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, when Roland Keene's wife dies, he goes West with a theatrical troupe, leaving his young son Benny (Alexander) in New York. In Placer Valley he meets Sal Flood (Busch), owner of a saloon she inherited from her father. Benny arrives in Placer Valley just in time to witness his father marrying Sal. Roland takes over running the saloon and is being milched by Osner (Lewis), a professional gambler, when Steve McGregor (Santschi), a friend of Sal, intervenes. After a bloody fight, Steve whips the gambler. Sal then takes over the saloon. To meet his gambling debts, Roland is compelled by Osner to open the saloon's safe, which has Steve's gold. When the safe is opened, Benny through a window sees Osner taking the metal. The building is blasted by Osner, and Benny is injured by debris from the building. Benny shields his father when the Sheriff investigates, and Roland sets out to get Osner and return the gold. Osner flees to a tram car, and Roland jumps on it as it begins to travel down from one mountain and then up the next slope. In mid-air he succeeds in spilling Osner to freefall from the tram car to some tree tops far below, but then Roland loses his own grip to luckily land safely on a sandy bank.

Cast

Production

The film was partially shot in

Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preservi ...

in northwest Washington. Schertzinger and his crew of 38 arrived at the park in mid-August and stayed through early September, lodging at the

Paradise Inn Paradise Inn is a historic hotel built in 1916 at on the south slope of Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, United States. The inn is named after Paradise, the area of the mountain in which it is located. The Henry M. J ...

. The story was based on experiences that writer-producer J.K. McDonald had working in the logging and mining camps in the Pacific Northwest. Reviews noted the amount of drinking that takes place during the film, which is set in a time prior to

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

's ban on alcoholic drinks in 1920.

Preservation

With no prints of ''Flaming Love'' / ''Frivolous Sal'' located in any film archives,Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''Frivolous Sal''
/ref> it is a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

References

External links

* * Films directed by Victor Schertzinger First National Pictures films 1925 films 1925 Western (genre) films Silent American Western (genre) films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films {{silent-film-stub