Le feu à la prairie

Poor storywise, but well filmed with some striking images. It's essentially the same plot as the same year's $100 Dead or Alive (also directed by Jean Durand and starring Joe Hamman) but with a disgruntled Indian instead of a disgruntled cowboy.

When a prairie fire starts, the local Indians try to help out by saving the cattle, but the cowboys think they are attacking in this handsome and thoughtful short.

Jean Durand's unit at Gaumont did a lot of comedies, but they also did westerns, referred to as westerns-camembert. Joë Hamman was his go-to lead in them and he also wrote the occasional scenario, as he did for this one.

Hamman, christened Jean Hamman, was born to a well-connected Parisian family; his mother had been a friend of the Empress Eugenie. He was an expert illustrator, but he soon moved into film-making and prospered, forming his own company in 1921. It remained active into the 1930s, whereupon he returned to occasional acting. He remained active in films until 1967, and died in 1974.