Almost a hundred years ago, at this writing (April 2015), William S. Hart and writer C. Gardner Sullivan were creating a type of motion picture that set the pattern for hundreds of westerns to come, maybe even thousands.
It was called "the good bad-man" story, in which a robber or other law-breaker gets converted, often through the love for a good woman.
In "The Return of Draw Egan," that woman is played by "Marguery" Wilson, who is usually known as "Margery." Her 1916 eye make-up is awfully obvious and even garish, but ignoring that lets one see she really was attractive, and one can easily understand why Draw Egan would want to change his ways.
Fleeing from a posse, Egan is invited to a town, Yellow Dog, where he meets her and other good citizens and there the story actually begins.
Having been a fan of William S. Hart even before actually seeing any of his films, I was already prepared to like "The Return of Draw Egan," and I was grateful to find it on YouTube, in a pretty good-looking version.
I can highly recommend this to anyone who will watch it with the 1916 context in mind. Remember, this was pioneering work. I love it, and hope you do too.
It was called "the good bad-man" story, in which a robber or other law-breaker gets converted, often through the love for a good woman.
In "The Return of Draw Egan," that woman is played by "Marguery" Wilson, who is usually known as "Margery." Her 1916 eye make-up is awfully obvious and even garish, but ignoring that lets one see she really was attractive, and one can easily understand why Draw Egan would want to change his ways.
Fleeing from a posse, Egan is invited to a town, Yellow Dog, where he meets her and other good citizens and there the story actually begins.
Having been a fan of William S. Hart even before actually seeing any of his films, I was already prepared to like "The Return of Draw Egan," and I was grateful to find it on YouTube, in a pretty good-looking version.
I can highly recommend this to anyone who will watch it with the 1916 context in mind. Remember, this was pioneering work. I love it, and hope you do too.