The Virginian

Aside from the film "The Squaw Man", "The Virginian" is about as good and well made western as you can find from the silent era. It is a quality production throughout and I strongly recommend this Cecil B. DeMille film.

Dustin Farnum stars as the title character--a fun-loving cowboy from Virginia who is the hero of this tale. The Virginian's friend is Steve--a guy described as weak in the intertitle cards. You see this weakness when Steve succumbs to the villain, Trampas, and joins in with his gang of baddies. The Virginian is friends with Steve---but he's also on the side of justice and eventually you know this will bring him into conflict with Steve and eventually with the dreaded Trampas. In addition, there is a new school mistress, Molly Wood, who both admires and is annoyed by the Virginian's rough and tumble ways. So what becomes of all these folks? See the film.

While folks who see this film today might not be that impressed by it, for 1914 it IS an incredibly well done film. The acting (aside from one instance where Molly does overact), direction and look of the film actually are way ahead of their time--as most 1914 films were much more primitive in style and look. In essence, this film helped to establish a prototype for later westerns and the only thing it had that was sadly missing in many 1930s and 40s westerns was the use of REAL Native American tribesmen-- something that shows that the studio and director tried to get the look right instead of just painting up white guys to look like Indians!