''The Phantom Riders'' is a 1918 silent American

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

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

and featuring

Harry Carey Harry Carey may refer to: *Harry Carey (actor) (1878–1947), American actor * Harry Carey Jr. (1921–2012), American actor * Harry Carey (footballer) (1916–1991), Australian rules footballer See also * Henry Carey (disambiguation) * Harry Car ...

. The film is considered to be lost.

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 ...

, Dave Bland (Steele), head of a band of cattle rustlers operating in Paradise Valley, is defied by Cheyenne Harry (Carey) who has driven his heard into the valley to graze. Bland calls his phantom riders together, routes Harry's cattle, and then seeks their owner intent on taking his life. The Unknown (Pegg), an influential member of the gang who has a grievance against Harry, claims the right to settle with him and this is agreed to. In the meantime, Molly Grant (Malone) prevails upon her father Pebble Grant (Connors) to warn Harry of the danger. The rustlers discover this and hang Grant, and Molly is forced to marry Bland. Hearing that Harry is in a nearby saloon, the gang rushes the place. A gunfight follows and Harry and his partner inflict many casualties. Rangers who were notified by Molly arrive and route the gang. The film ends with the distant chimes of wedding bells for Cheyenne Harry and Molly.

Cast

as Cheyenne Harry * William Steele as Dave Bland (credited as Bill Gettinger) *

Molly Malone "Molly Malone" (also known as "Cockles and Mussels" or "In Dublin's Fair City") is a traditional song set in Dublin, Ireland, which has become its unofficial anthem. A statue representing Molly Malone was unveiled on Grafton Street by then Lo ...

as Molly Grant *

Buck Connors Buck Connors (November 22, 1880 – February 4, 1947) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1912 and 1941. He is the son of William L Conner and Leah Bowen. He was born in Streator, La Salle County, Illinois,Ariz ...

as 'Pebble' Grant (credited as Buck Connor) *

Vester Pegg Vester Pegg (May 23, 1889 – February 19, 1951) was an American actor of the silent film era. He appeared in 140 films between 1912 and 1941, mainly Westerns. He was born in Appleton City, Missouri and died in Los Angeles, California. Peg ...

as The Unknown * Jim Corey as Foreman

Production

Filming took place from September 7–27, 1917. Released in January 1918 as a Universal Special feature,'' The Phantom Riders'' was a 50-minute

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

on five reels, part of the "Cheyenne Harry" series of film

featurette In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

s. The original story was written by Henry McRae and adapted for the screen by scenarist George Hively.

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''The Phantom Riders'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors required cuts, in Reel 1, of the shooting of a man at the roulette wheel, three scenes of men laughing at dying man, all scenes of man with knife, indicating slitting of man's mouth, the intertitle "For miles around the phantoms gathered" etc., all except first two scenes of phantoms gathering, Reel 3, two intertitles "We've got his cattle, now let's get him" and "Let's run his cattle to death", all scenes of cattle rustling, five closeups of masked man and thirteen scenes of men assembling, Reel 4, shooting man off horse, three holdup scenes inside cabin, two closeups of masked man alone and view of masked men, entrance of masked man into hut and taking gun from man, two scenes of man hanging from tree, five intertitles "Joe Norton has proved himself a traitor" etc., "You are a sneaking skunk", "Vengeance of the phantoms", "Cheyenne kept his appointment", and "They hung the fellow who tipped us off", Reel 5, four scenes of the holdup of Cheyenne in saloon, reduce length of all shooting and fight scenes, closeup of man shooting around corner of saloon, man fallowing from ladder, four dead body scenes, Cheyenne shooting man and his falling in saloon, all but five shooting scenes between Cheyenne and raiders, all but five fight scenes between rangers and raiders, and to eliminate the trailer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom Riders, The 1918 films 1918 lost films 1918 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films directed by John Ford Lost Western (genre) films Lost American films Silent American Western (genre) films Universal Pictures films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films