Moving Picture World (Jul-Sep 1911)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 191 The express rider at once seeks the sheriff. A posse is raised and we see them gallop furiously to the scene of the hold-up. From his place of hiding the outlaw sees them, and takes careful aim with his rifle. There is a quick dismounting of the posse and we notice that the sheriff has been shot in the right forearm. He asks his men to scale the rocks and capture Peters, but they refuse. Then, conscious of his helplessness, the sheriff mounts his horse and gallops homewards, followed by his cowardly men. Next we witness a consultation between the sheriff and the express rider. The latter, knowing that a man of nerve must be found to lead another posse, determines to find him. We see him approach a body of men near a wayside inn and, in bravado fashion, challenge any one of them to fight with bowie knives, he holding the corner of a handkerchief between his teeth and offering a choice of the weapons to the man who accepts, the latter to take the opposite corner of the handkerchief in his teeth, after which the fight will begin. Not a man of the lot has the sand to accept the challenge, Then Bob Steele, a young ranchman, rides up and, learning from a bystander the cause of the excitement, he approaches the express rider and seizing a knife and gripping the handkerchief he makes a savage attack on his opponent. The latter immediately drops his corner of the handkerchief and explains to Steele anl the other men the reason for his bullying tactics. The ranchman is immediately made a deputy by the sheriff, a posse is collected and we see them dash off to the hiding place of the outlaw. Again the rifle of the latter speaks and one of the posse tumbles from his horse. The ranchman dismounts and orders his men to follow him. They refuse. Angered by their cowardice he throws away his revolver, and announces that he will bring in the outlaw single-handed and unarmed. Then he climbs up the rocks and disappears. The outlaw believing that he has again dispersed the posse, hides his rifle under a rock and heads for home. The ranchman catches sight of him and stealthily tracks him to the hut in the mountains. , The mother and sister of the fugitive discover that he has committed robbery and, as the girl is despairing of the future, the ranchman approaches. Mother and son are within doors. The deputy inquires about the man he has been tracking. The girl attempts to turn him in another direc-. tion and, while they are talking, the outlaw rushes out and covers the deputy with his revolver. The girl places herself in front of the officer, but he puts her_ aside gently and confronts his adversary. Unnerved by this courage and, doubtless, unwilling to commit murder in the presence of his mother and sister, the outlaw loses his alertness. With a quick movement the ranchman disarms him. Moved by the distress of the mother and sister the ranchman gives the outlaw "one hour to get across the line." After his departure the ranchman discovers that his is a case of love at first sight. He avows his love for the girl and finds that it is refunded. Then he leaves for home, refusing to take the revolver, although pressed to do so by his sweetheart, who knows the treacherous nature of her brother. Fearing evil will befall her lover, the girl, unknown to him, follows. At a wild spot in the mountains the ranchman stops to take a drink from a spring. A shot rings out and grazes his scalp. It is quickly followed by another, and we see the outlaw's body slide down a rock into a ravine. He had secured the rifle hidden earlier, in the day and had lain in wait for the ranchman. His bullet had missed its mark, but that from the revolver aimed by his sister found his brain. red race. In the course of the years she grows into a sweet and winsome lass and becomes the idol of the tribe, which has adopted her. When she has reached early womanhood she is recognized by her brother and is induced to leave the people by whom she was so deeply beloved. The legend THE LEGEND OF LAKE DESOLATION (Pathe). The Indian, howling and scalping, killing and burning, is to a normal human mind a horrible and repulsive sight. We have had quite enough of him in moving pictures and it is one of the pleasing symptoms of the "higher ideals," that they begin to shine out even in Indian films. The Selig and Essanay companies have done much to give us a picture of the Indian more in accordance with history and in some of the Pathe American films there has recently been a similar tendency. In the present film this laudable effort to give us a true picture and not a caricature of the redman has been particularly successful. Only a few days ago a full-blooded, but highly educated Indian has enriched our literature with a fine book, "The Soul of the Indian," showing that the red race was intensely spiritual and had a child-like, but sublime conception of God and of man's duty to man. Glimpses of this rude faith are apparent in this present film and stamp it with a beauty all its own. A golden haired little white girl is found by an Indian and taken to the Indian tents, where she is reared in the ways and traditions of the Scene from "The Legend of Lake Desolation" (Pathe). says, that the light went out of the hearts of the red people when their idol departed and even nature showed her sorrow by suddenly changing from the vernal charms of spring into the barrenness and desolation of winter. Nothing shows more clearly the genuine Indian origin of the legend than this feature, for to the simple children of nature nothing seemed more tragic than the sudden coming of the winter, which to every Indian tribe meant suffering and privation. Another touching part of the legend is the fate of the old chief, who was particularly attached to the white girl. He tells his people that he must go to "prepare a way for them," Scene from "The Legend of Lake Desolation" (Pathe). and when in deep reverence they turn their backs he strikes a fire in the canoe and without paddle lets it drift upon the water until he and the frail bark of birch are consumed by fire. The facts of the legend might perhaps have been developed more simply and directly, but as the scenes and episodes delaying the mysterious denouement are always welcome to the spectator this diffuseness will easily be forgiven. The last scenes in the reel are weird, beautiful and wholly original — words of praise that cannot be conscientiously bestowed on many Indian films. LEVY LEASES SEATTLE'S GRAND OPERA HOUSE. Eugene Levy, motion picture magnate, of Seattle, Wash., has extended his operations by acquiring the lease of the Grand Opera House, of that city. Levy now owns five theaters in Seattle, and some in Tacoma and Portland. He is the originator of a number of bright ideas in connection with picture theater management, the latest of which is a system of checking babies while you see the show — a lovely thing for tired mothers.