Wagon Tracks

A tidy western from the early days of silent films, "Wagon Tracks" stars William S. Hart as a buckskin-clad scout for a wagon train crossing the plains to Santa Fe. As Buckskin Hamilton, Hart pursues the truth behind the shooting death of his younger brother on a Mississippi river boat. Conveniently, the suspects and witnesses to the killing are traveling with Hamilton on the same wagon train. The plot is simplistic, the inter-titles border on florid, and the villain wears black and sports a dark mustache.

Made before the heights of silent film-making in the mid-1920's, "Wagon Tracks" is close to what many consider a typical silent film. The interior backdrops appear fake and flimsy, the acting is at times over-wrought, men are men, and women are, well, the weaker sex. Despite the age-related flaws, the nearly century-old film is worthwhile for many reasons. Among them, fine location photography, appropriate tinting to reflect time of day, and a formidable silent western star, William S. Hart. While not matinée-idol handsome, Hart was the epitome of the strong silent type, who preferred his horse over women, and, as Hamilton, his performance is not above showing emotion or nuance. Robert McKim is an appropriately dastardly villain, Lloyd Bacon is a weakling accomplice, and Jane Novak the easily manipulated female lead.

While "Wagon Tracks" is not a film to introduce silent movies to a new audience, this short western with a legendary star is a good follow-up for those who have sampled silent cinema and want to explore more films of the pre-sound era.

I saw this for the first time recently. The film is about a caring desert guide Hamilton (William S. Hart) who has been hired to lead passengers across a dangerous desert. Hamilton is awaiting a train which has the passengers n also his younger brother who is a doctor. Unknown to Hamilton, a crooked gambler has killed his younger brother on the train n made it look like an accident. The gambler has convinced his sister that the accident happened due to her. Hamilton guides the passengers including the murderer across the desert hoping to solve the murder of his brother. The film has some top notch cinematography n acting, ther r no shootouts but a picture of a gun keeps popping up on the screen whenever ther is a talk about the murder. Also the torture by the Red Indians is implied while they keep dancing around the fire the whole night.

There is a great power in this movie. William S. Hart abandons his familiar cowboy gear to play the role of a Mountain Man guiding a wagon train across the west while trying to discover the truth about his young brother's murder. If the language veers between the poetic scene-setting titles, and the eye-dialect dialogue, there is great strength in Joseph August's photography and compositions.

More than that, in the context of the silent film, Hart is a great actor. A stage star, he understood that the camera catches the smallest movement of the eye, His gestures, while melodramatically overwrought, are never overly wide. He infuses the character with truth.

Perhaps this style of movie-making is a mystery to the modern movie-goer. When the shiphands sing 'Weep No More, My Lady', and the titles show the lyrics, they obviously have more importance than sound effects added by a Foley artist for artistic verisimilitude. Perhaps the melodramatic plots are as snicker-worthy as the sort of modern story in which villains commit murder for no discernible reason, but because they are crazed mass murderers, and the enforcers of the law catch them, not because it is their job, but because one of the victims is a relative and 'this time it's personal' ... but I don't think so.

Both sorts of story are mythic in structure, telling us the truths we want to hear. It may well be that the modern movie-goer will have no patience for Hart's movies in general and WAGON TRACKS in particular. If that is the case, alas, they are missing a fine story, beautifully told, with striking black and white photography. Their loss.

Buckskin Hamilton sets off to meet a boat carrying his kid brother Billy. Other passengers on the boat include Washburn, Washburn's sister Jane, and Washburn's partner Merton. Billy catches Washburn cheating at cards. Billy and Washburn struggle over a gun, with Jane interceding. Washburn shoots Billy, but makes Jane think she did it. Buckskin arrives to find his brother dead, and Jane confesses she shot him by accident. Buckskin is not convinced of her story. He directs a wagon train, with Washburn, Jane, and Merton along for the trip. Buckskin manages to wrangle the real story out of Washburn and Merton, and the villain is punished.

This is a solid western, with some nice photography. Scenes were shot in the Mojave Desert, and the Sacramento River stood in for the Mississippi River. For a change, there is no love story to weigh down the plot. Hart is just a wee bit over the top in a few scenes, but is very convincing when he shows grief at his brother's death. His best scenes are when he takes Washburn and Merton into the desert, to make them crack.

Jane Novak, as Jane, is quite lovely. Robert McKim, as Washburn, and future director Lloyd Bacon, as Merton, lend excellent support. This is definitely a film worth seeing.

WAGON TRACKS is not one of William S. Hart's better known films which is why this recent Olive Films release comes as a something of a surprise. The print from the Library of Congress is in excellent shape. In fact it is the best looking of any William S. Hart print that I have ever come across (not that there are that many quality prints out there). My only criticism is that some of the tints are a little oversaturated but that can be easily adjusted by your TV remote. It's made me wonder how many more quality silent prints are in the Library of Congress. It would be marvelous to have a quality print of THE TOLL GATE or especially TUMBLEWEEDS. There is another quality LOC print out there of 1916's HELL'S HINGES but it's part of a much larger box set TREASURES FROM AMERICAN FILM ARCHIVES. Any of those three films would be worth your time.

By 1919 when this film was made, the movie industry was changing. It had relocated from the East Coast to the West Coast and the emergence of the Studio System was just around the corner. Hart was to have been one of the original partners in the formation of United Artists (along with Chaplin, Fairbanks, Griffith, and Pickford) but he pulled out at the last minute. It was a decision he always regretted. Westerns were changing as well with Hart's rough hewn, intractable loner giving way to the likes of much flashier cowboys such as Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix. In WAGON TRACKS we see a kinder, gentler William S. Hart at first. He's amiable and chatty until he learns of his brother's "accidental death". He then becomes emotional and vows to find out the truth. As the plot would have it, the murderer is on the wagon train that Hart is heading up. A confrontation can't be far behind. While the story is your basic revenge melodrama and WAGON TRACKS is essentially a one man show, there are precursors of big movies yet to come.

The wagon train setting would be expanded in the COVERED WAGON 4 years later while the wandering in the desert looks ahead to Erich von Stroheim's GREED finale. Hart was the silent era's Clint Eastwood. He's at his best when he's the taciturn man of action. Being emotional doesn't suit him. No antihero turned hero this time around, He's the good guy from the get go and that's just not as interesting. Still Hart's westerns play better to a modern audience because of their authenticity. Hart was a stickler for details and you feel as though you're watching history. A 21st century audience will find some of the "manifest destiny" and/or religious themed title cards hard to take but they are a product of their time and are beautifully rendered. The fact that the Indians are treated with respect will come as a surprise to many. While not his best, WAGON TRACKS is a good introduction to Hart especially in this gorgeous print which has a new and appropriate score by Andrew Earle Simpson. I hope that Olive Films plan to release more silent films in the future and that they will look as good as this one...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.