''Salomy Jane'' is a 1914 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 based on

Bret Harte Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...

's 1898 novella "Salomy Jane's Kiss" and Paul Armstrong's 1907 play based on Harte's story, ''Salomy Jane''. ''Salomy Jane'' was California Motion Picture Corporation's (CMPC) debut feature, as well as the screen debut of stage actress and singer

Beatriz Michelena Beatriz Michelena (February 22, 1890 – October 10, 1942) was a Venezuelan American actress and singer during the silent film era, known at the time for her operatic soprano voice and appearances in musical theatre. She was one of the few La ...

. George E. Middleton saw in his

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

wife a competitor to

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

as a premier screen star, and each CMPC production was intended to be a Michelena vehicle. Despite being well received by the public, it did not return a profit for the national distributor,

Alco Films Alco Films, established as Alco Film Corporation, was a short-lived American film distributor established in New York City during the silent film era in 1914. It was co-founded by Al Lichtman. The company worked to establish exclusive distribution ...

. It is the only known surviving complete work of silent film era actress

and the CMPC. SalomyJane-1914

Plot

In rough-and-tumble Gold Rush-era California, Salomy Jane is saved from the ruffian Red Pete by a heroic stranger (the Man, aka Jack Dart), and he is saved from a

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

after being falsely accused of a crime.

Cast

as Salomy Jane *

House Peters Robert House Peters Sr. (12 March 1880 – 7 December 1967) was a British-born American silent film actor, known to filmgoers of the era as "The Star of a Thousand Emotions". Biography Born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, Peters bega ...

as The Man * William Pike as "Red Pete" Heath *

Clara Beyers Clara Beyers (c.1880 – c.1950?) was an American silent film stock actress.A stock actress was an actress who was employed by the studio on a contract much like present day employee contracts. Beyers acted on stage for nine years before she ...

as Mrs Heath (as Clara Byers) * Lorraine Levy as Anna May * Loretta Ephran as Mary Ann * Walter Williams as Willie Smith * Demetrios Mitsoras as Gallagher * Andrew Robson as Yuba Bill * Matt B. Snyder as Madison Clay * Harold B. Meade as Baldwin * Clarence Arper as Colonel Starbottle *

Harold Entwistle Charles Harold Entwistle was an actor on stage and in films, a manager of theaters and touring theater companies, and director from England who migrated to the United States and worked in Hollywood during and after the silent film era. In Englan ...

as Larabee * Fred Snook as Seth Low *

Ernest Joy Ernest C. Joy (January 20, 1878 – February 12, 1924) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 76 films between 1911 and 1920. Selected filmography * '' Article 47, L (1913) * '' Salomy Jane'' (1914) * '' ...

as Marbury *

William Nigh William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nigh was born Emil Kreuske''Silent Film Necrology'', ...

as Rufe Waters * Jack Holt as Cowboy in saloon playing solitaire, stuntman (uncredited). ''Salomy Jane'' includes a scene in which Holt rides a horse to the edge of a steep embankment. then jumps off tumbling more than a hundred feet down into the Russian River. The stunt netted him a bit part as a saloon patron. This role was long cited as his debut appearance in film, but he had been playing bit parts the preceding year.

Reception

''Salomy Jane'' was first shown at an invitation-only, gala event on October 8, 1914 at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. The film made its public debut a few weeks alter on October 25, when it played a seven day engagement at San Francisco's Portola theater. The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' gave the film a mixed review:

It is a picture of fire and beauty, full of Bret Harte's spirit of adventure and glorious with the wondrous country which he loved. ... in places it seems a bit hard emotionally; a bit crude, bordering on
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
, in action. In places, the action is confused, due to its rapidity and the number of players concerned, but on the whole it is a pleasant thing to witness, in addition to its scenic wonders ...

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine's opinion was more favorable:

Here is a Western drama at its best. ... The scenario is a model of clarity, despite its emphasis on swift and frequent incident. ... It is all action, action and again action, with a thrill for every second flicker ... Beatriz Michelena and House Peters ... give their work every touch to strengthen the illusion of reality ...

Rediscovery and restoration

All California Motion Picture Corporation and Beatrice Michelena Studio films were believed to have been lost due to a 1931 studio fire in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...

, caused by a child's firecracker prank that destroyed the vault in which the films were stored. However, a print was found in Australia in 1996, and has been preserved by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. New 35mm prints began limited circulation in 2008. The restoration was part of a DVD released (2011) by the

National Film Preservation Foundation The National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) is an independent, nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to help save America's film heritage. Growing from a national planning effort led by the Library of Congress, the NFPF began op ...

in the anthology ''Treasures 5: The West 1898–1938''.

Remakes

The film was remade as ''

Salomy Jane Salomy Jane may refer to: *" Salomy Jane's Kiss", an 1889 western short story by Bret Harte, included in ''Stories of Light and Shadow'' (1898) * ''Salomy Jane'' (play), a 1907 stage adaptation by Paul Armstrong *"Salomy Jane", a 1910 western nove ...

'' (1923) starring

Jacqueline Logan Jacqueline Medura Logan (November 30, 1902 – April 4, 1983) was an American actress and silent film star. Logan was a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1922. Early life Logan was born in Corsicana, Texas, on November 30, 1902, the only child to Charles A. ...

Famous Players-Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...

and released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, and remade again as the

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

'' Wild Girl'' (1932) by

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film ...

References

External links

''Salomy Jane'' entry
at the

; includes a 3 minute 10 second viewable clip * {{William Nigh 1914 films 1914 Western (genre) films 1910s rediscovered films American black-and-white films Films about the California Gold Rush Films based on American novels Films directed by William Nigh Films set in California Rediscovered American films Silent American Western (genre) films Surviving American silent films 1910s American films