Buck Jones(1891-1942)

On the night of the tragic Cocoanut Grove fire, a large number of guests and close friends was at the club for a combination testimonial dinner in honor of Buck and a promotional event for his "Rough Rider" series for Monogram Pictures. Although the story is that Jones managed to escape the fire but returned back inside to help rescue people, the truth is that he was trapped inside along with all the others and never made it out. Monogram's studio head Scott R. Dunlap was one of those critically injured in the fire that killed over 500 people. Buck died two days later in a hospital before his wife, who luckily was out of town that night, could reach him.

In my pictures we never let up on the action. They've got as much movement as the silents. In the last one I rode a horse through a plate-glass window, and that's the sort of thing pictures need.