Best Western Movies of 1917

A young man grows restless living in a small Kansas town, dreaming of the adventures of the Three Musketeers. So in hopes of becoming a modern D'Artagnan, he mounts his steed (a Model T Ford) and sets out across the West in search of excitement and adventure.

Cattleman Flint cuts off farmer Sims' water supply. When Sims' son Ted goes for water, one of Flint's men kills him. Cheyenne is sent to finish off Sims, but finding the family at the newly dug grave, he changes sides.

William S. Hart was the great solitary Western hero of silent film who rode his horse off to new adventures once his job was done. In WOLF LOWRY, he meets a young settler played by Margery Wilson, herself a director in the early 1920s whose films are all considered lost.

On a ranch in Wyoming, one of the cowboys, Cheyenne Harry (Harry Carey), falls in love with his boss's daughter. But she decides to elope to the city with Captain Thornton, a wealthy visitor to the ranch. She quickly discovers that life in the city is not what she expected. Cheyenne, devastated by the loss of his fiancée, decides to go to the city to find her, and in the end rescues her from the grips of Captain Thornton and from the extravagant and decadent way of life in the city.

A judge who had taken part in the gold rush of 1849 hires an acting troupe to recreate the experience in this rather fanciful silent Western. The make-believe turns serious when a real gold mine is discovered nearby and a local girl is kidnapped by a nasty gambler.

In order to find out who's behind a cattle rustling operation that's hurting ranchers, a detective for the Cattleman's Protective Association pretends to be a tenderfoot from back east who's just arrived in the area and doesn't know how to ride, rope or shoot.

The Tornado mostly followed pulp Western formula -- bad guys hold up a town, take a girl hostage, and the hero rides to the rescue. But there were a couple of twists that made it seem more personal than the usual cowboy fare. Ford's Jack Dayton ... is known as "the No-Gun Man" because he faces the villains unarmed, anticipating the character played by James Stewart in George Marshall's 1939 Western comedy classic Destry Rides Again. Dayton is an immigrant who uses the reward money to bring over his mother (Jean Hathaway) from Ireland, a prototypically Fordian situation if there ever was one.

A hard-working prospector enters the town of Bakeoven to stake his claim, only to have his rights stolen and his face on "Wanted" posters. He plans reprisal.

Convict Cheyenne Harry escapes from prison in a garbage truck and boards a train, where he eludes capture with the help of passenger Henry Beaufort. Beaufort is returning to his wealthy uncle's ranch, where earlier he had married Molly in secret because his uncle did not like her. Beaufort tells Pedro, who takes care of his child Elizabeth, to take her away because his uncle is coming, and Pedro, driving drunk, wrecks the wagon. Harry finds her and must protect her while still evading the sheriff.

Bored with the ranch, Buck's girl goes off to the city and gets involved (innocently) in a brothel. When Buck brings a herd of cattle to town, a streetwalker lures him to the house just in time for him to save his girl from Martin.

Harry is thrown out of town and on his way across the desert meets a minister and his family; when the man is killed in an Indian raid, Harry takes care of his little daughter, later puts on the minister's frock and reforms a town.

Bandit Cheyenne Harry reforms because of the faith placed in him by Molly Young and her father. Soon, however, Harry is lured from the straight and narrow when he meets his old friend Ben Kent and consents to participate in Kent's plan of robbing a stagecoach.

Jack Hoxie and Marin Sais star in this 'American Girl' short. A courageous young woman must clear her boyfriend after he is framed for a hold-up.

A gambler decides to play one last game before he turns over a new leaf. However, during the game one of the players accuses him of cheating. Suddenly the lights go out, shots are fired and when the lights come back on, one of the players is dead. The gambler is accused of the killing. He didn't do it, but has to find out who did, and why he was framed for it.

Ice Harding, outlaw, tames a wild horse and names it King. Ice and his gang hold up a stagecoach and encounter San Francisco vice king Bates and his innocent niece Betty Werdin. Ice is taken with the young woman, but at first she sees nothing in him. But she begins to come around when her uncle tries to swindle Ice, and the outlaw himself undergoes a change of course under the influence of the girl.

Cliff Hudspeth, the leader of a band of outlaws in Arizona, has won his place by the killing of notorious gun-bullies. At their headquarters, in the Gila Mountains, in consultation with "Ace High," his lieutenant, he plans depredations on the neighboring settlements. Although Hudspeth is powerful, their rule is disputed by El Salvador, a half-breed, and his following of desperadoes. Desert Pass is the scene of many conflicts between the contending bands. Rumors of the arrival of miners with gold causes El Salvador to send "Cactus" Fuller, his henchman, to levy tribute by a hold-up, which is successful. Flushed with triumph, he boasts in the "Golden Fleece" saloon of the ignominies to which he would treat Cliff Hudspeth if he ever met him.

Western starring William F. Cody. A re-cut version of the 1914 film The Indian Wars. Both versions are lost.

Gambler "On-the Level" Leigh (William S. Hart) is forced to leave his high rolling lifestyle to move his ailing sister Alice (Mildred Harris) to the healing climate the mountains. Financial strain compels him to resume his favored vocation. Unfortunately for Level, the dance hall girl Coralie (Alma Rubens) doesn't take rejection well and convinces the dealer to clean him out with a "cold deck". A desperate robbery ensues, leading to Level wanted for murder!

To get in the good graces of his rancher boss’s daughter, cowboy Single Shot captures a cattle raider but then gets kidnapped by his gang of thieves.

Raymond Griffith out in the wild west, and in the process takes care of the bad guy to save his gal.

Disturbed by the separation of his friends Mary Smith and Arthur Saxon, who really love each other, William "Red" Saunders resolves to reconcile the couple. Discovering that Belknap, a missionary with political aspirations, exercises a destructive hypnotic influence over Mary, Red schemes to eliminate Belknap.

Wild West performer Pedro Leon is the highlight of this three-minute film that shows how cowboys make rope and various other items. Within the three-minutes we learn that horsehair is the best thing to use so we see a couple men, including Leon, put the hair together and from here we see how they get it prepared to use for rope and other items.

The setting is the Old West town of Paradise, Nevada, where a young woman, Mercedes Murphy (played by Louise Glaum), co-owns and operates a combination saloon and dance hall called the Red Hen with her business partner, Slick Barney (played by Jack Richardson). Her little half-sister, Olive "Live" Sumner (played by Mildred Harris), who is crippled, lives with her and she makes every effort to protect the child. A tough, but good-hearted businesswoman, Mercedes shows a tender side at home with Live. Her partner, Slick, and a cowboy called the Heller (played by John Gilbert), who has a heart of gold, are both interested in Live.

Henry de Spain is determined to find the man who murdered his father. He becomes sort of an outsider with Duke Morgan's gang, cattlemen, and outlaws. Nan, daughter of the head of the clan, secretly loves Henry and when he is wounded in a fight with the Morgan clan, she helps him escape. This angers her father and he declares that she shall marry her cousin. Nan dispatches a message to Henry for assistance and he brings her safely to his clan. Nan then learns that her father was the murder of Henry's father. She returns to her father to learn the truth and together they go to Henry and reveal the murder's name. After a thorough understanding and forgiving, Henry and Nan are married.

As a baby, John Ermine is stolen from a wagon train by the Crow Indians and is adopted by Chief Fire Bear. John grows to manhood, ignorant that he is a white man until his parentage is disclosed to him by Crooked Bear, a white hermit who is on friendly terms with the Crows. Crooked Bear teaches John the language and customs of the white man's civilization, impressing upon him that it is his sacred responsibility to keep peace between the white men and the Indians.

Bob Fulton is the superintendent of a mine in the West. He wins the enmity of dancehall owner Jack King when he saves one of the girls, Rose De Braisy, from his unwanted advances. Fulton also wins Rose's love, which he does not return. The mine's owner sends his troublesome son, Roland Holt, out West to work at the mine. Before Holt leaves the East he secretly marries Beth Hoover. Upon Holt's arrival, Fulton tries to befriend him, but Holt prefers the company of bad-guy King.

While out on a plundering expedition, outlaw Dick Durand comes upon a band of Indians attacking a group of settlers. Dick opens fire on the Indians, but before he forces them to flee, they kill everyone except three children and Durand himself.

Hal, now fully grown, leaves his wife Edith and his estate in England to return to the land of his Indian mother.

A short Western comedy from 1917

A Playboy inherits a Western ranch on the condition that he shall run it properly for 6 months. A villain makes an attempt to distract him from reaching the goal, but he, no longer the wastrel of yore, persists and becomes full owner of the property.

A gambler runs a frontier town with an iron fist.

The life of Sam Houston, soldier, statesman, patriot and one of the founders of the Republic of Texas, is depicted.

Faith Miller, a school teacher, inherits ten thousand dollars. Edson, McGill and Slade, three enterprising crooks, own the Moonflower, a worthless mine. Slade goes east to unload and hearing of Faith's good fortune, she falls an easy prey, buying a share in the mine for nine thousand dollars. Advised by friends to take a rest, Faith goes to inspect her mine.

Truthful Tulliver, a Westerner and a journeying newspaperman, followed by Silver Lode Thompson, printer and compositor, arrives in Glory Hole to start a newspaper.

Orphan Hilda Swanson's prayers are answered when a Swedish-American colonization company agrees to send her to America. Aboard the steamer, she meets Olaf, a young Swede, and Donna, an enemy courier who is posing as a passenger. Learning that the secret service is on her trail, Donna sews secret documents into the hem of Hilda's skirt. She then sends a wire to her comrade Felix Martinez, notifying him to intercept the Swedish girl.

During a violent disagreement, a miner strangles his partner and accidentally shoots the man's wife. He then deserts his own wife and son to elope with the saloon keeper's daughter. As they are fleeing, the girl discovers the deed and insists upon caring for the baby found in the dead wife's arms.

We start off seeing Mix giving his sweetheart (Victoria Ford) a gift and having the other cowboys laugh at him. Another man then tries going after the girl and soon he and Mix are trying to prove which one deserves her. Only 8 minutes are known to exist.

When stern Judge McClure gets into an argument with his younger brother John, a physical fight ensues in which the judge apparently kills John. In fear of the consequences, he runs off to the West and hires guide Cal Nelson to take him far into the desert. Along the way they meet Mary Jackson, and the judge, overcome by heat prostration, babbles out his secret.

William S. Hart directs and stars in a film that is a typical Western of the era. He plays Jim, a prospector who lands in the town of Broken Hope, and the name pretty much describes its inhabitants. Jim meets and falls in love with Jennie (Margery Wilson), whose father (Walt Whitman) is gravely ill. Jim rounds up a reluctant doctor from another town to tend to the old man, but he dies anyway. The doctor, however, gains Jennie's trust and she runs off with him. Only then does he tell her he's already married. She leaves immediately, but is too proud to go home so she finds work as a dance hall girl at Tacoma Jake's saloon. Jim, meanwhile, finds gold near Broken Hope, which raises its inhabitants' attitudes considerably. But the bad element is still there, and Jim is chasing after a group of kidnappers when he enters Tacoma Jake's saloon and sees Jennie. Jim not only overcomes the bad guys, he gets the girl, too.

Frank, riding through the storm, approaches the station, to give ten thousand dollars worth of gold, which he has just brought from the mine, into safe keeping. Dave the agent hears him, and when he finally appeared, disappointment awaited Frank. "I can't take charge of the money," says Dave. "I'm sorry, Frank, but the train is late, and the gold can't go on tonight. I saw two suspicious-looking characters hanging around here, and I won't take the responsibility."

Disgusted with his son Harvey's attitude since his return from college, wealthy William Ogden turns the boy out to make his own way in the world. Harvey finally lands in the Canadian North Woods, where he goes into business with Joe Dubois, a hunter and trapper. One day while Harvey is trapping, his leg is caught in a steel trap. He is rescued by A-Che-Chee, the daughter of Black Lynx the Indian Chief. A-Che-Chee takes Harvey to her cabin, where she dresses his wound. When her father and brother discover Harvey there, they insist upon an immediate marriage. Harvey protests, but finally agrees in order to maintain the good will of the Indians.

Billy Brooks, who exhibits an effeminate personality, leaves his Wall Street magnate father and goes on the road as a perfume salesman. In an effort to cure his son of his womanly ways, Brooks, Sr. wires Nebeker, an old rancher friend, to kidnap Billy from the train and "make a man of him."

A 44-Calibre Mystery is a Silent Western short.

A 1917 film directed by Tod Browning & Wilfred Lucas.

The Almost Good Man is a 1917 Western short.

Some of the most sanguinary feuds in America have been fought out, not in the mountains of the south, but on the deserts of the great west, where cattlemen and sheepmen often dealt out death to each other with the aid of their old friends, Winchester and Colt. Such a feud is in progress between the men of the desert when Jack, a nomadic cowboy, wanders into the scene. He is outspoken against the outlawry, and the sheriff, in jest, hands him his badge and asks him if he can do any better. Jack accepts the challenge and arrests one of the most recent slayers.

Greek Conniston, after living a life of ease and comfort, is forced by his millionaire father to get a job and earn his own living. While traveling West with his friend Roger Hapgood, Greek meets Argyl Crawford and, entranced by the girl, takes a job on her father's ranch.

A 1917 film directed by Clifford Smith.

A bandit tries to incriminate an innocent man for his own crimes.