''The Sawdust Trail'' 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 produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

and starring

Hoot Gibson Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson (August 6, 1892 – August 23, 1962) was an American rodeo champion, film actor, film director, and producer. While acting and stunt work began as a sideline to Gibson's focus on rodeo, he successfully transitione ...

Edward Sedgwick Edward Sedgwick (November 7, 1889 – March 7, 1953) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. Early life He was born in Galveston, Texas, the son of Edward Sedgwick, Sr. and Josephine Walker, both stage actors. At the age ...

directed. It is based on the short story "Courtin' Calamity" by

William Dudley Pelley William Dudley Pelley (March 12, 1890 – June 30, 1965) was an American fascist leader, occultist, spiritualist and writer. Pelley came to prominence as a writer, winning two O. Henry Awards and penning screenplays for Hollywood films. His ...

, which was later filmed as a part-talkie in 1929 as ''

Courtin' Wildcats ''Courtin' Wildcats'' is a 1929 American silent film, silent comedy film, comedy Western (genre), Western film directed by Jerome Storm and produced by and starring Hoot Gibson. It is based on the short story "Courtin' Calamity" by William Dudle ...

''.

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, Clarence Elwood Butts (Gibson) was one of his university's best customers, having been there seven years. His wealthy father Jonathan Butts (Torrence) wanted to put him to work in his factory, but Clarence, who hated the prospect, evaded it by pretending to be weak and delicate. Finally a doctor's examination discovered his perfect health, at the same time that an outraged prohibition officer was looking for him to pay a reward for a blackened eye received in a café fight the night before. Clarence denied the officer's charge and played "sissy," but the doctor, in private, called him "the best liar I've ever known." However, the physician "kept mum," and finally advised working in a wild west show. Tickled at the prospect, Clarence nevertheless had to go into it as a weakling to keep up the pretense. The leading woman of the show was "Calamity June" (Sedgwick), so called because she was a man-hater, carried a pair of wicked guns, and used them and her temper when any man spoke to her. Clarence made the fatal mistake of flirting with her right off the bat. "Calamity June" stood for this with a steely eye, but she made a "sap" out of Clarence by having him ride a bronco that threw him. Undismayed by her hardness, he continued to "fuss around" her. On her birthday he gave her a pair of boxing gloves and sneaked outside the tent where he stood laughing. "Calamity June" stole up on his shadow inside the tent, wearing the gloves, knocked him out through the tent wall and then rushed outside and completed the job. Unwilling to hit her, he suffered the ignominy of being knocked down five times. The manager of the show cursed him for being a troublemaker. Clarence added to the consternation of the general staff by licking a man about twice his size. There came a day when, just before the show started, "Calamity June" sat on a barrel. Clarence tipped a "bum" five dollars to give the barrel a kick. It was highly successful. "Calamity June" started firing and the crowd went crazy. The "bum" fell in agony. "Calamity" ran to her horse and was gone like a flash. Into his speedster went Clarence and after her with the speed demon in him on top. He had sworn to make her eat out of his hand, literally. Jerking her from her horse as he went by her, he carried the woman many miles faster than the speedometer could tell. "Calamity June," up against a real, reckless speed demon, whimpered and begged for mercy, and then suddenly made an "S" turn in the road at sixty-five m.p.h. resulting in the car smashed at the bottom of a hill. What then happened completes the story of a tame man and how he made a "wild woman" eat out of his hand.

Cast

Preservation

With no prints of ''The Sawdust Trail'' located in any film archives,The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Sawdust Trail''
/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

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Lobby poster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawdust Trail, The 1924 films Films based on works by William Dudley Pelley Films directed by Edward Sedgwick Universal Pictures films 1924 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Lost American Western (genre) films 1924 lost films Silent American Western (genre) films 1920s American films Films with screenplays by Richard Schayer Films based on short fiction

Plot

Cast

Preservation

See also

References

External links