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The Stolen Ranch

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The Stolen Ranch
Theatrical poster
Directed byWilliam Wyler
Written by
Produced byCarl Laemmle
Starring
CinematographyAlan Jones
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • December 26, 1926 (1926-12-26)
Running time
56 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Stolen Ranch is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by William Wyler and starring Fred Humes, Louise Lorraine, and William Bailey.[1][2] The future star Janet Gaynor appeared as an extra in the film.

Plot

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As described in a film magazine,[3] Breezy Hart takes charge of his war buddy, Frank Wilcox, who has shell shock so badly that he goes out of his head every time he hears a noise. Breezy leaves Frank in a deserted cabin near the ranch formerly owned by his dead uncle and now possessed by Sam Hardy, although Frank has good reason to believe that his uncle intended to leave the place to him. Breezy gets a job on the ranch as pot scraper and supports Frank in his hideout while Frank becomes friendly with June Marston, daughter of a neighboring rancher. Breezy at the same time has fallen in love with Mary Jane, his kitchen pal at the ranch. Hardy is alarmed when he receives word from the government that Frank Wilcox, believed dead, has been discharged from the service also suffering from shell shock. Later one of the ranch hands learns of Frank’s presence in the vicinity when he fires a gun near the cabin hideout and Frank shows his fear of the noise by falling off a rock and injuring himself. The hand carries the news to Hardy at the ranch house. Hardy determines to do away with Ftank and orders two roughnecks to make for the cabin at once. Breezy, listening at the kitchen door, hears Hardy plot with a conspirator to accept Tom Marston’s cash offer for the property and burn the original. He breaks in on them, knocks them both out and gets the document away from them. He jumps on his horse and rides to the cabin where he finds Frank engaged in a losing tussle with Hardy’s killers. His arrival turns the tide of battle, and the two men are not only licked, but are compelled to stand at the window to await the arrival of Hardy, who enters the shack when they assure him that they have the two boys hog-tied. As soon as Hardy enters, he is promptly knocked down and locked in with the other two while the boys ride back to the ranch. Their prisoners escape and pursue the boys to the ranch house, only to be met by the grinning sheriff and his posse, who take charge of the conspirators, leaving the owner of the ranch, now cured of shell shock, to make arrangements for his partner’s wedding, as well as his own.

Cast

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Production

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Filming of The Stolen Ranch occurred in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California.[4] It was one of several films of the 1920s that expressed the disillusionment many Americans felt concerning the United States involvement in World War I and its aftermath.[5] The Stolen Ranch was among 14 other silent films portraying the shell shocked soldier as "an honorable, heroic man temporarily disabled by war," the others being Missing (1918), Vive la France! (1918), The Trembling Hour (1919), Three Live Ghosts (1922), Shattered Dreams (1922), Shell Shocked Sammy (1923), Shootin' for Love (1923), Wandering Fires (1925), The Unknown Soldier (1926), Puppets (1926), Vanishing Hoofs (1926), Closed Gates (1927), Absent (1928), and Burning Bridges (1928).[6]

Preservation

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This film exists and has been released on DVD.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Munden, p. 767.
  2. ^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Stolen Ranch at silentera.com
  3. ^ "Universal Synopses: The Stolen Ranch". Universal Weekly. 25 (22). New York City: Motion Picture Weekly Publishing Company: 39. July 9, 1927. Retrieved November 2, 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ "Trail to Lone Pine". Arizona's Little Hollywood. September 5, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  5. ^ Deutsch, James (August 21, 2014). "The Blockbuster World War I Film that Brought Home the Traumatic Impact of War". www.smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  6. ^ Stagner, Annessa C. "Recovering the Masculine Hero: Post-World War I Shell Shock in American Culture" (PDF). escholarship.org. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  7. ^ Review of 2012 Grapevine Video dvd release at silentera.com

Bibliography

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  • Munden, Kenneth White. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1. University of California Press, 1997.
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