''The Good Bad-Man'' is a 1916 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 Allan Dwan. The film was written by

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...

, and produced by Fairbanks and the

Fine Arts Film Company Fine Arts Film Company produced dozens of movies during the silent film era in the United States. It was one of the film production studios in Triangle Film Corporation, each run by one of the parent company's vice-presidents: D. W. Griffith, Thoma ...

. It stars Fairbanks and

Bessie Love Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898April 26, 1986) was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned e ...

. The film was originally distributed by

Triangle Film Corporation Triangle Film Corporation (also known as Triangle Motion Picture Company) was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in July 1915 in Culver City, California and terminated 7 years later in 1922. History The studio was founded in July 1 ...

. The film was edited and re-released by Tri-Stone Pictures in 1923.

Plot

Bessie Love and Douglas Fairbanks in The Good Bad-Man (1916)

"Passin' Through" (Fairbanks) is a benevolent outlaw who holds up trains so that he can provide for fatherless children in the Old West. He knows little of his personal history, but he is pursued by a

US marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated ...

(Cannon) who does. Along the way, he encounters Amy (Love), and falls in love with her. A rival bandit, "The Wolf" (De Grasse), is also a rival for Amy, but Passin' and Amy eventually marry.

Cast

Preservation status

No print of the original 1916 release exists, but a print of the 1923 re-release is preserved at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

. On May 31, 2014, a restored print of the 1923 version was shown at the

San Francisco Silent Film Festival The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is a film festival first held in 1996 and presented annually at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, California, United States. It is the largest silent film festival in the United States, although the largest ...

at the

Castro Theatre The Castro Theatre is a historic movie palace in San Francisco that became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street in the Castro District, it was built in 1922 with a California Churrigueresque fa� ...

. This print has an original title at the beginning: "Supervised by D. W. Griffith".

Release and reception

At the film's Los Angeles premiere, Bessie Love sang "The Rosary" by

Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin (November 25, 1862February 17, 1901) was an American pianist and composer. Early life Nevin was born on November 25, 1862, at Vineacre, on the banks of the Ohio River, in Edgeworth, Pennsylvania.Mulkearn, Lois, p. 62 ...

. The film received positive reviews. The cast and director, in particular, were noted for their excellent work in contemporaneous reviews.

Legacy

Fairbanks biographer

Jeffrey Vance Jeffrey Vance (born May 21, 1970) is an American film historian and author who has published books on movie stars including Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Career While working as an archivist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists he met El ...

finds ''The Good Bad-Man'' fascinating for what it reveals about Fairbanks the man. Vance writes:

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Good Bad-Man, The 1916 Western (genre) films 1916 films American black-and-white films Films directed by Allan Dwan Surviving American silent films Triangle Film Corporation films Silent American Western (genre) films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films