''The Untamed'' is a 1920 American silent

Western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring

Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He w ...

Pauline Starke Pauline Starke (January 10, 1901Some sources say she was born in 1900. – February 3, 1977) was an American silent-film actress. Early years Pauline Starke was born on January 10, 1901, in Joplin, Missouri, the daughter of George W. Starke ...

, and

George Siegmann George A. Siegmann (also credited as George Seigmann; February 8, 1882 – June 22, 1928) was an American actor and film director in the silent film era. His work includes roles in notable productions such as ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915), ' ...

. It was based on a novel of the same name by

Max Brand Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944) was an American writer known primarily for his Western stories using the pseudonym Max Brand. He (as Max Brand) also created the popular fictional character of young medical intern D ...

and was remade as a sound film '' Fair Warning'' in 1931.

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 ...

, Whistling Dan (Mix), the adopted son of rancher Joe Cumberland (Barrows), has been raised since childhood with the latter aware of his instinct to fight like an animal and kill that which harms him. Joe has forbidden Dan from frequenting Morgan's Place, a gathering ground of local renegades and desperadoes. Joe then purchases the place with the intent to close it, and on the last day of its activity Dan encounters Jim Silent (Siegmann), an insulting cowboy. When he is left behind following an unfair fight to perish in the building after his enemy has set fire to it, Dan is rescued by his dog and horse. Starting off in pursuit of Jim, Dan is followed by Kate (Starke), his foster sister and sweetheart. Dan comes to doubt Kate after a pair of misrepresenting circumstances. After she falls into traps set by villainous followers of Jim, she escapes with the help of Dan's dog and a member of Jim's gang who has an obligation to Dan for his freedom from arrest. She effects Dan's rescue and restores his faith in her.

Cast

Preservation

A print of ''The Untamed'' is in the

George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection The George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York comprises about 28,000 titles, including features, shorts, documentaries, newsreels, and experimental moving images. The collection is renowned for its holdings of silent f ...

.The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Films: ''The Untamed''
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References

Bibliography

* Aubrey Solomon. ''The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography''. McFarland, 2011.

External links