A retired judge comes West to restore a ghost town.A retired judge comes West to restore a ghost town.A retired judge comes West to restore a ghost town.
Joseph W. Girard
- Judge Brand
- (as Joseph Girard)
William Dyer
- J. Gordon Castle
- (as William J. Dyer)
Mattie Witting
- Ma Bobbett
- (as Martha Witting)
George C. Pearce
- Ezra Pa Bobbett
- (as George Pearce)
Phyllis Haver
- Young Bee Adams
- (uncredited)
Merrill McCormick
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Bud Osborne
- Cowboy Pitchman
- (uncredited)
Zasu Pitts
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Lon Poff
- Bald-Headed Wrangler
- (uncredited)
Harry L. Rattenberry
- Col. Hungerford
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first Western to be directed by a woman.
- Quotes
Judge Brand: Nugget Notch is abandoned now, but I want to rebuild it, and enjoy one more taste of the old West before I die.
- Alternate versionsKino International Corp. copyrighted and released a video in 2000, produced by Jessica Rosner with a piano score composed and performed by Jon Mirsalis. It was made from a Library of Congress preservation print and runs 63 minutes.
- ConnectionsEdited into Women Who Made the Movies (1992)
Featured review
Very Good Silent Movie
102 years after its original release, I was impressed by this feature, that was tightly directed by talented Ruth Ann Baldwin. Based on "The Old West Per Contract", a short story written by William Wallace Hook (who wrote several science-fiction novels), the frame story is quite original: in 1917 a judge wants to revive his happy days as a gold prospector, during the gold rush of 1849, and orders his secretary to stage a fake Old West town where he can spend his last days. However, the following events are a string of common places usually found in the melodrama genre, spiced with lust and greed. Fortunately Baldwin handles the whole show with energy, stages many outdoor scenes, and adds a welcome dose of humor and villainous actions provided by Jean Hersholt as the baddie.
I found interesting how life and death are treated in this film, compared to movies of these days. This has nothing to do with the movie, it is just a reflection of mine, after watching how the script avoids acts of extreme violence or killing the characters. It seems as if life had more value in those cinematic days, and I hope that we come back to reason and start respecting other people's lives. Watch it.
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- EdgarST
- Jun 30, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Old West Per Contract
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 1 minute
- Color
- Sound mix
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