''Wolves of the Rail'' is a 1918 American
silent Western film produced, directed by, and starring
William S. Hart. Thomas H. Ince assisted Hart in supervising the production.
Plot
As described in a
film magazine, "Buck" Andrade (Hart), an outlaw, promises his dying mother (Midgley) that he will reform himself. Taking a letter of introduction from a wounded man, he becomes a detective for the railroad, which he had previously held up several times. He is successful in capturing several bandits and also wins the love of Faith Lawson (Vale), who is a towerman (a type of railroad signalman). When the real detective recovers from his wounds and returns to duty, he discloses the true identity of Buck. Buck attempts to escape, but an attack on the railroad by his old gang forces him to remain. After he captures all of them, president of the railroad Murray Lemantier (MacDowell) assists by allowing Buck to escape.
Cast
*
William S. Hart as "Buck" Andrade
* C. Norman Hammond as David Cassidy
*
William Elmer as Pablo Trilles (credited as Billy Elmer)
*
Melbourne MacDowell as Murray Lemantier
*
Vola Vale as Faith Lawson
* Kisaburo Kurihara as Pasquale Trilles
*
Fanny Midgley as Buck's Mother (uncredited)
Reception
Like many American films of the time, ''Wolves of the Rail'' was subject to cuts by
city and state film censorship boards. For example, the
Chicago Board of Censors
The Chicago Board of Censors was a film censorship committee based in Chicago that was founded in 1907 as the Police Censor Board, and operated until 1984.
It was the first film censorship board in the United States.
The board had great influence o ...
required a cut, in Reel 1, of beams on rail tracks, first three scenes of handling loot, Buck shooting Mexican bandits, two scenes of shooting Buck from horse, flagging train, holding up engineer, three scenes of holdup of train, Buck blowing tobacco smoke into detective's face, Buck shooting detective, Reel 4, two intertitles "Renegade deserter from the garrison" etc. and "That train will never get here—we'll wreck it", holdup of engineer in cab, fourteen scenes of Mexican bandits shooting at train, two scenes of bandits falling after Buck shoots, Reel 5, holdup of engine, six scenes of bandits shooting at train, intertitle "I'm going to kill you with my hands", and Buck choking bandits.
Survival status
A print of ''Wolves of the Rail'' is held by the
Library of Congress and the
Gosfilmofond archive.
The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''Wolves of the Rail''
/ref>
References
External links
*
*
Still of a scene in the film
(University of Washington, Sayre collection)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolves of the Rails
1918 films
1918 Western (genre) films
Films directed by William S. Hart
Paramount Pictures films
American black-and-white films
Silent American Western (genre) films
1910s American films