''The Roaring Road'' is a 1919 American silent action romance film produced by

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 distributed 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 ...

. It is taken from the short stories by Byron Morgan; ''Junkpile Sweepstakes'', ''Undertaker's Handicap'', and ''Roaring Road''. This film was so successful that it spawned a sequel, '' Excuse My Dust'', from stories by the same author. This film is available on video and DVD from online sources.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, "Toodles" Walden (Reid), an automobile salesman who works for a sporty old automobile distributor J. D. Ward (Roberts), has racing ambitions and is in love with Ward's daughter Dorothy (Little). The old man does not propose to give her up for five years and overreaches in an attempt to stimulate the young man with feigned complaints. They part company, but Ward is in despair when three racing machines are damaged in a train wreck. Toodles buys the wreckage and assembles one complete car with the aid of his mechanic. With this car Toodles wins an important race, then holds up Ward for an increase in pay. There are just a few days left for a record to be broken between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and after Toodles is arrested for speeding, Ward has him released as part of his plot to break this record. Ward kidnaps his own daughter, and Toodles comes to the rescue and breaks the record, and also wins Dorothy.

Cast

Wallace Reid William Wallace Halleck Reid (April 15, 1891 – January 18, 1923) was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver. Early life Reid was born in St. Louis, M ...

- Walter Thomas "Toodles" Waldron *

Ann Little Ann Little (born Mary Hankins Brooks; February 7, 1891 – May 21, 1984), also known as Anna Little, was an American film actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the early 1910s through the early 1920s. Today, mos ...

- Dorothy Ward, the cub *

Theodore Roberts Theodore Roberts (October 8, 1861 – December 14, 1928) was an American film and stage actor. Early life Roberts was born in San Francisco, California. He was a cousin of the stage actress Florence Roberts. His choice of a career disapp ...

- J. D. Ward, the bear *

Guy Oliver George Guy Oliver (September 25, 1878 – September 1, 1932) was an American actor. He appeared in at least 189 silent film era motion pictures and 32 talkies in character roles between 1911 and 1931. His obituary gives him credit for at l ...

- Tom Darby *

Clarence Geldart Clarence Geldart (June 9, 1867 – May 13, 1935) was an American film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1915 and 1936. He was sometimes credited as C.H. Geldart or Charles H. Geldart. He was born in New Brunswick, Canada, and died i ...

- Fred Wheeler

Larry Steers Lawrence Wells Steers (February 14, 1888 – February 15, 1951) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 550 films between 1917 and 1951. He was born in Indiana, and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Partial filmography * ' ...

and

Teddy Tetzlaff Theodore Herbert Tetzlaff (February 5, 1883 – December 8, 1929) was an American racecar driver active in the formative years of auto racing. He competed in the first four Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Ind ...

appear uncredited.

References

External links

* *
''The Roaring Road''; allmovie.com
1919 films American silent feature films American auto racing films Films directed by James Cruze Films based on short fiction Famous Players-Lasky films American black-and-white films 1910s action films 1910s romance films American romantic action films 1910s American films {{1910s-US-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links