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Photograph: Silent Era image collection.
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The Stolen Grey
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by [?] Robert Goodman and/or Gaston Méliès?
Cast: William Clifford [Donald Maynard], Mildred Bracken [Doris Dolan], Henry Stanley [Ranchman Dolan, Doris’ father], Ben Cooper [Pedro, a halfbreed], [?] Francis Ford?
Méliès Star-Film [American] production. / Produced by Gaston Méliès. / Released 5 October 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [From Méliès promotional materials] The prided mare of Donald, a young Englishman in the West, is stolen and later purchased by Dolan, who presents it to his daughter Doris. When, later, some cowboys find the Grey in Dolan’s posession, circumstantial evidence points to him as the thief. He is pursued and overtaken. Meanwhile Donald, who has met Doris, learns the truth and together they ride madly to save her father from a horsethief’s fate. It is a case of Speed versus Death, won by Youth and a good Steed. // [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Frank Donald, a young Englishman, who spent his summers at his western ranch, was fond of taking long rides through the woods on his favorite mare, a beautiful grey. On one of these occasions, he left the grey by the roadside, whilst he made his way through the thickets to the brook to drink. Pedro, a half-breed, was eagerly waiting this opportunity, and when Frank stooped to drink, make away with the mare. Several months elapsed when Dolan, a respected ranch owner, visited a camp of horse dealers and purchased a beautiful grey mare, with which he surprised his daughter, Doris. She tried out the mare, and upon returning, tied it in the front yard, while she sought her father, to express satisfaction, and thank him for the beautiful present. The ever-alert Pedro, now saw his chance to divert suspicion. Knowing that Donald followed close behind, with some cowboys, he slipped a branding iron on the grey’s saddle as it stood in Dolan’s, and rode hastily away on his own horse. Dolan noted Pedro’s strange actions and gave chase. Meanwhile, Donald and the boys discovered the grey and the tell-tale iron at Dolan’s. Doris innocently told them in which direction her father had gone, and they immediately followed. Donald, however, remained to claim the mare, much to Doris’s surprise. Upon learning the truth from her, he realized with horror that a horse thief’s fate was about to befall an innocent man. Directing her to ride the grey, he mounted his own horse, and together they rode madly to stay a hastily-formed sentence. The rope was already about Dolan’s neck when Doris and Frank came into sight. The grey stopped short, Doris took steady aim, the rope cracked, and Dolan fell to safety. Pedro, the real culprit, was then sought, while Frank remained to receive the father's thanks and the daughter’s admiration.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 21 October 1911, page ?] The gray that was stolen was a horse, and the man who took him was a rustler and he sold him to Walsh, the father of the heroine, Doris. By means of this horse the thieves manage to bring Walsh under suspicion. Walsh chases the thieves, and the boys chase Walsh. He is caught and about to be hanged, but is saved by Doris. The picture is almost wholly conventional. There is nothing of moment or special interest in it that has not been shown before and shown better. Some of the photographs are good, some are slightly out of focus and give an impressionistic effect to the pictures of hills and trees.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 6 January 2023.
References: Thompson-Star p. 230 : ClasIm-226 p. 55 : Website-IMDb.
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