William S. Hart stars in another ahead-of-its-time films, and one that I can easily see being remade today. In fact, I feel like it maybe has been remade, or at least homaged, a number of times. In this one, Hart is Bat Peters, a former master gunslinger who has retired from shooting, and taken up mining. He has found some ore, and heads to Chicago to meet with some mining investors to see if his mine is worth anything. It turns out it is quite valuable, and the investor he’s consulted agrees to buy it from him, and offers him a very fair price. So far, so good, right? Well, it wouldn’t be a Hart film without a dramatic twist, which is what comes next.
Once the price has been negotiated, Bat is paid in cash, and entrusted to the investor’s assistant, who is to take care of him for the remainder of his stay in Chicago. It’s all part of a nefarious plan, as Bat is invited to a friendly game of poker, unaware that everyone in the game is in on a scam to cheat him out of his money. If their plan succeeds, he’ll lose all the money he was paid for the mine, and the investor will get his mine for free. Unluckily for our villains, Bat notices them cheating, and transforms from Bat Peters, miner to Bat Peters, gunslinger.
Bat manages to recover his money, round up all the crooks, and even rescue the investor’s secretary, played by Clara Williams, who was kidnapped lest she warn Bat about the plot she’d overheard. It all ends on a happy note, as Bat heads back West, taking his new bride with him.
I watched this on a DVD, which you can buy as part of a box set at the link connected to the picture below.
Next I’m watching: Rags [1915], directed by James Kirkwood.
The Ruse (Jul. 14, 1915)