| ~Hell's Hinges~ 1916 |
SilentHollywood.com
| ~Plot Synopsis~ |
The quintessential William S. Hart western, Hell's Hinges stars two-gun Bill as gunslinger Blaze
Tracy, "a man wholly evil." When a new preacher (Jack Standing) comes to town, Tracy and saloon
proprietor Silk Miller (Alfred Hollingsworth) prepare to kick the "sky pilot" out of town. But while
the preacher is weak-willed, his pretty sister (Clara Williams) is firm in her religious resolve. For her
sake, Tracy decides to leave the preacher alone. From this point on, the film parallels the
redemption of Tracy with the degeneration of the preacher, who is seduced by saloon-strumpet
Dolly (Louise Glaum). Drunk and delirious, the preacher leads the townsfolk in burning down his
own church! He comes to his senses just in time to be killed by Silk Miller, whereupon Blaze Tracy,
exacting a near-Biblical retribution, guns down every nasty character within hailing distance and
sets fire to the town. As the evil townspeople scurry about in terror, Tracy walks slowly and
determinedly through the blazing inferno. His work done, he helps the girl bury her brother and
rides off with her to a better life "over the rim". The direction of Hell's Hinges is credited to both
William S. Hart and Charles Swickard, but it's easy to see which of the two had the most creative
control. The poetic, larger-than-life qualities of the film are superbly complemented by writer C.
Gardner Sullivan's florid subtitles. A 2-reel version of Hell's Hinges, retitled The Devil Dodger, was
released to TV in the early 1950s as part of the silent-film retrospective series Movie Museum.
Plot Synopsis from allmovie.com
Tracy, "a man wholly evil." When a new preacher (Jack Standing) comes to town, Tracy and saloon
proprietor Silk Miller (Alfred Hollingsworth) prepare to kick the "sky pilot" out of town. But while
the preacher is weak-willed, his pretty sister (Clara Williams) is firm in her religious resolve. For her
sake, Tracy decides to leave the preacher alone. From this point on, the film parallels the
redemption of Tracy with the degeneration of the preacher, who is seduced by saloon-strumpet
Dolly (Louise Glaum). Drunk and delirious, the preacher leads the townsfolk in burning down his
own church! He comes to his senses just in time to be killed by Silk Miller, whereupon Blaze Tracy,
exacting a near-Biblical retribution, guns down every nasty character within hailing distance and
sets fire to the town. As the evil townspeople scurry about in terror, Tracy walks slowly and
determinedly through the blazing inferno. His work done, he helps the girl bury her brother and
rides off with her to a better life "over the rim". The direction of Hell's Hinges is credited to both
William S. Hart and Charles Swickard, but it's easy to see which of the two had the most creative
control. The poetic, larger-than-life qualities of the film are superbly complemented by writer C.
Gardner Sullivan's florid subtitles. A 2-reel version of Hell's Hinges, retitled The Devil Dodger, was
released to TV in the early 1950s as part of the silent-film retrospective series Movie Museum.
Plot Synopsis from allmovie.com
| Directed by: Charles Swickard William S. Hart - uncredited Clifford Smith - uncredited Writing credits: C. Gardner Sullivan - screenplay & story |
| ~Cast~ William S. Hart ... Blaze Tracy Clara Williams ... Faith Henley Jack Standing ... Rev. Robert 'Bob' Henley Alfred Hollingsworth ... Silk Miller Robert McKim ... A clergyman J. Frank Burke ... Zeb Taylor Louise Glaum ... Dolly (dance-hall girl) John Gilbert ... Rowdy Townsman (uncredited) Jean Hersholt ... Rowdy Townsman (uncredited) Bob Kortman ... Rowdy Townsman (uncredited) Wheeler Oakman ... Rowdy Townsman (uncredited) Leo Willis ... Rowdy Townsman (uncredited) |
| ~Remaining Credits~ Production Company: Kay-Bee Pictures Distribution Company: Triangle Distributing Produced by: Thomas H. Ince Original Music by: Victor Schertzinger - uncredited Cinematography by: Joseph H. August Art Titles by: Mon Randall Stunts by: Buddy Roosevelt Length: 5 Reels Runtime: 64 Minutes Released: March 5, 1916 |
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