The film's leading man, Henry Starr, led a gang of bank robbers in Oklahoma at the turn of the century. In March of 1915 they hatched a plan to rob two banks in the town of Stroud at the same time. The plan went awry when a local youth, 17-year-old Paul Curry, figured out what was going on, grabbed a gun and shot Starr, then picked off another gang member. Lawmen captured the rest of the gang, and they were all eventually sent to prison. When Starr was released almost five years later, he got the idea to make a film of the bungled robbery. He attracted some investors and went back to Stroud to film it, playing himself, using townspeople--including the actual tellers he had robbed--as extras and even hiring Curry, the man who shot him. The film reportedly made money, but Starr was cheated out of his share by his business partners. Two years later he was shot to death in Arkansas while trying to rob a bank.
Re-released in 1924.