''The Lightning Rider'' is a 1924 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

Lloyd Ingraham Lloyd Chauncey Ingraham (November 30, 1874 – April 4, 1956) was an American film actor and director. Biography Born in Rochelle, Illinois, Ingraham appeared in more than 280 films between 1912 and 1950, as well as directing more than 100 f ...

and featuring

Harry Carey Harry Carey may refer to: *Harry Carey (actor) (1878–1947), American actor * Harry Carey Jr. (1921–2012), American actor * Harry Carey (footballer) (1916–1991), Australian rules footballer See also * Henry Carey (disambiguation) * Harry Car ...

. Prints of ''The Lightning Rider'' are held in the collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

Cinémathèque Française The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Plot

The bandit Ramon Gonzales, operating as "the Black Mask," begins terrorizing the town of Caliboro, California, near the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...

. After the local

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

entrusts Sheriff Alvarez with church money, the Black Mask steals it, kills Alvarez, and frames Deputy Sherrif Philip Morgan. Morgan tries to catch the real villain with a plan that involves disguising himself as the Black Mask, but he is discovered and nearly lynched. Morgan is saved when Gonzalez's girlfriend Claire Grayson betrays him, and once freed Morgan successfully proposes to Alvarez's daughter Patricia.

Cast

as Phlip Morgan *

Virginia Brown Faire Virginia Brown Faire (born Virginia Cecelia Labuna; June 26, 1904 – June 30, 1980) was an American silent film actress, appearing in dramatic films and, later, in sound westerns. Early years Virginia Cecelia Labuna was born in Brooklyn, New Yo ...

as Patricia Alvarez *

Thomas G. Lingham Thomas G. Lingham (April 7, 1870 – February 19, 1950; also credited as Thomas Lingham, Tom Lingham, and as T. G. Lingham) was an American stage performer and then a film actor during both the silent and early sound eras. He appeared in mo ...

as Sheriff Alvarez * Frances Ross as Claire Grayson *

Léon Bary Léon Bary (6 June 1880 – 7 January 1954) was a French actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1916 and 1955.

as Rammon Gonzales (as Leon Barry) *

Bert Hadley Robert C. Hadley (April 12, 1882 – December 30, 1968) was an American stage and early silent film actor who appeared in over sixty motion pictures between 1912 and 1927. Hadley quit acting as he approached middle age to later become a succes ...

as Manuel *

Madame Sul-Te-Wan Madame Sul-Te-Wan (born Nellie Crawford; March 7, 1873 – February 1, 1959) was the first black actress to sign a film contract and be a featured performer.Lowe, Denise. ''An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films'', Hawo ...

as Mammy

Production

''The Lightning Rider,'' originally titled ''Desert Rose,'' was completed as the third film in Carey's contract for six Western films produced by

Hunt Stromberg Hunt Stromberg (July 12, 1894 – August 23, 1968) was a film producer during Hollywood's Golden Age. In a prolific 30-year career beginning in 1921, Stromberg produced, wrote, and directed some of Hollywood's most profitable and enduring films, ...

. It was shot primarily at the Charles Ray Studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Stromberg sought to make the film as a

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

rather than an

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

as Western films were predominantly made.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lightning Rider, The 1924 films 1924 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films directed by Lloyd Ingraham Films distributed by W. W. Hodkinson Corporation Silent American Western (genre) films Films set in California Films shot in Los Angeles 1920s American films