''The Border Raiders'' is a 1918 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

Stuart Paton Stuart Paton (23 July 1883 – 16 December 1944) was a British director, screenwriter and actor of the silent era. Paton mostly worked with Universal, and is accredited with directing 67 films between 1915 and 1938. He also wrote for 24 fil ...

and starring Betty Compson and

George Larkin George Larkin (November 11, 1887 – March 27, 1946) was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1910 and 1931. He was born and died in New York, New York. He was married to actress Ollie Kirkby. ...

. It was shot on the Hopi Reservation in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

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 ...

, Mock Sing (Deshon) runs a gambling den along the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...

on the Rio Grande. It is the headquarters for a gang of cattle rustlers and opium smugglers. John Hardy (Carpenter), a millionaire rancher, makes the acquaintance of an adventuress connected to Mock Sing's place and the gang of crooks plans to gain possession of the Hardy properties. The adventuress marries Hardy and goes home with him, where she meets his daughter Rose (Compson). The gang captures Hardy and takes him to Mock Sing's house. Rose, learning of her father's predicament, goes to the gambling den to rescue him and is saved from Sing by the faro dealer, who proves to be a federal agent working to get evidence against the gang. Mock Sing is killed and the gang members are arrested by the Texas Rangers.

Cast

* Betty Compson as Rose Hardy *

as John Smith * Frank Deshon as Mock Sing * H. C. Carpenter as John Hardy *

Claire Du Brey Claire Du Brey (born Clara Violet Dubreyvich, August 31, 1892 – August 1, 1993) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 200 films between 1916 and 1959. Her name is sometimes rendered as Claire Du Bray or as Claire Dubrey. Ear ...

as Cleo Dade * Howard Crampton as Emanuel Riggs * Fred M. Malatesta as "Square Deal" Dixon

Reception

The film premiered at the Jewel Theater in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

. Like many American films of the time, ''The Border Raiders'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required a cut, in Reel 3, scene with shooting during a fight, slugging of Chinese man after he is pulled from horse, Reel 4, Chinese man suggestively leering at young woman on couch, two closeups of man with rope around neck, Reel 5, Chinese man tying young woman, and three shooting scenes where men fall.

Preservation

Archives Du Film Du CNC, Bois d'Arcy, has a print of the film.

References

External links

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Lantern slide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Border Raiders, The 1918 films Films directed by Stuart Paton 1918 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Silent American Western (genre) films Films shot in Arizona Films set in Texas 1910s American films 1910s English-language films