''The Sign of the Cactus'' 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 Clifford Smith and starring

Jack Hoxie John Hartford Hoxie (January 11, 1885 – March 28, 1965) was an American rodeo performer and motion-picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s. Hoxie is best recalled for his roles in ...

, Helen Holmes, and J. Gordon Russell.

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, settler Old Man Hayes (Swickard) resists the attempt of the water company to secure his property and is killed. Years later, a mysterious champion known as Whitehorse Champion arises and helps the settlers in their fight to keep their cattle from dying of thirst. He is called that because of the color of his mount and because he leaves a bit of cactus as a sign of his visit. Lawyer John Henderton (Russell) is the representative of the water interests and his daughter Belle (Holmes), while riding through the woods, sees her horse run off to be with its mate, the horse of Whitehouse Cactus (Hoxie), who is really Hayes' son Jack (Hoxie). He discovers by a scar on the hand of Belle that she was the little girl playmate of his many years ago when he was a child, and they become fast friends. Later, Belle discovers that Jack is the mysterious champion, and, when her father is shot, she goes to arrest Jack herself. He convinces her of his innocence. When the sheriff arrives, she notes that Belle is the only one who can prove that Jack is the Whitehorse Cactus, but that a wife cannot be made to testify against her husband. Jack happily agrees to the arrangement.

Cast

Preservation

With no copies of ''The Sign of the Cactus'' located in any film archives,Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''The Sign of the Cactus''
/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

Bibliography

* Munden, Kenneth White. ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1''. University of California Press, 1997.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sign of the Cactus, The 1925 films 1925 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films directed by Clifford Smith Silent American Western (genre) films Universal Pictures films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films English-language Western (genre) films