''Hell's Hinges'' is a 1916 American silent

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film starring

William S. Hart William Surrey Hart (December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946) was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered as a foremost Western star of the silent era who "imbued all of his characters with honor and inte ...

and Clara Williams. Directed by

Charles Swickard Charles Swickard (March 21, 1861 – May 12, 1929) was a German-born American film actor, actor and film director of the silent era. He was the brother of the actor Josef Swickard.Katchmer p.366 Selected filmography Director * ''The Beckoning Fl ...

, William S. Hart and Clifford Smith, and produced by

Thomas H. Ince Thomas Harper Ince (November 16, 1880 – November 19, 1924) was an American silent film - era filmmaker and media proprietor. Ince was known as the "Father of the Western" and was responsible for making over 800 films. He revolutionized the mo ...

, the screenplay was written by C. Gardner Sullivan. In 1994, ''Hell's Hinges'' was selected for preservation in the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and is considered by some to be one of the finest silent

Plot

''Hell's Hinges'' tells the story of a weak-willed minister, Rev. Bob Henley (played by Standing), who comes to a wild and debauched frontier town with his sister, Faith (played by Williams). The owner of the saloon, Silk Miller (played by Hollingsworth), and his accomplices sense trouble and encourage the local rowdies to disrupt the attempts to evangelize the community. Hard-bitten gunman Blaze Tracy (played by Hart), the most dangerous man around, is, however, won over by the sincerity of Faith. He intervenes to expel the rowdies from the newly built church. Silk adopts a new approach. He encourages the dance-hall girl, Dolly (played by Glaum), to seduce Rev. Henley. She gets him drunk, and he spends the night in her room. The following morning the whole town learns of his fall from grace. Blaze rides out to find a doctor for the now near-demented minister. The disgraced minister, having rapidly descended into alcoholism, is goaded into helping the rowdy element to burn down the church. The church-goers try to defend the church, and a gunfight erupts in which the minister is killed and the church set ablaze. Blaze returns too late to stop the destruction. In revenge, Blaze kills Silk and burns down the whole town, beginning with the saloon. He and Faith leave to start a new life.

Cast

as Blaze Tracy * Clara Williams as Faith Henley *

Jack Standing Jack Standing (10 February 1886 – 25 October 1917) was an English born American actor. Biography The son of stage actor Herbert Standing and brother of Wyndham Standing (1880–1963), who also was a famous actor in the early days of film, J ...

as Rev. Robert Henley *

Alfred Hollingsworth Alfred Hollingsworth was an American actor during the silent film era. He was in dozens of films from 1911 until 1925. According to IMDb he also directed four short films in 1916. '' Hell's Hinges'' has been described as a classic and Hollingswor ...

as Silk Miller * Robert McKim as a clergyman * J. Frank Burke as Zeb Taylor *

Louise Glaum Louise Glaum (September 4, 1888 – November 25, 1970) was an American actress. Known for her roles as a vamp in silent era motion picture dramas, she was credited with giving one of the best characterizations of a vamp in her early career ...

as Dolly *

Olin Francis Olin Caldwell Francis (September 13, 1891 Mooreville, Mississippi - June 30, 1952 Hollywood, California) was an American actor. Francis graduated in engineering from the University of Mississippi and acted on stage before he went to Hollywood ...

as the bar tender (uncredited) * John Gilbert as a rowdy cowboy (uncredited) *

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is best known for starring on the radio series '' Dr. Christian'' (1937–1954) and in the film '' Heidi'' (1937).Obitu ...

as a rowdy townsman (uncredited)

Production

The production companies were Kay-Bee Pictures and New York Motion Picture.

Critical reception

Initial reviews in 1916

When ''Hell's Hinges'' was released, the reception of the film among New York critics was so positive that the producer bought space in newspapers around the country to reprint the reviews. The following are excerpts from those reviews: * ''New York Telegraph'': "Dramatic suspense and punch, coupled with artistic treatment, are the most conspicuous characteristics of 'Hell's Hinges' ... swaggering, hard-drinking, fast-shooting, all-round 'bad' man, with good stuff under a rough exterior, furnished Mr. Hart with a vehicle in which his talents show to best advantage." * ''New York American'': "A well-balanced supporting cast, a lavish production and marked finesse in treatment combines to make 'Hell's Hinges' an unusual offering." * ''New York Press'': "Gunplay and religion lubricate 'Hell's Hinges' ... It is a film drama that combines all the elements that make for success ... Reckless riding, double-handed shooting from the hip, a dance hall of the

Bret Harte Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...

description and, finally a conflagration that gives a truly Gehenna-like finish to the place known as Hell's Hinges ... No actor before the screen has been able to give as sincere and true a touch to the Westerner as Hart. He rides in a manner indigenous to the soil, he shoots with the real knack and he acts with that sense of artistry that hides the acting." * ''New York Sun'': "It depicts strikingly the storm and stress of existence in a Western town with a final scene of the shooting up of a gambling den, which aroused the spectators to a high degree of approval." * ''New York Herald'': "William S. Hart is beginning to typify certain things in the film world. He is ever stoical, slow to anger, but possessed of the powers of a hundred men when aroused. He is a big, bluff, wholesome fellow, whose ideas are frequently a little peculiar, and he goes about matters in exclusively his own way. But when the showdown arrives, depend upon it, William S. Hart will be found lined up on the side of righteousness. This week, for example, Hart is appearing at the Knickerbocker Theatre in 'Hell's Hinges. Hart has the opportunity to do some good riding, to carry a drunken minister on his back, to shoot the villain and some sub-villains, to set the town afire and to marry the minister's sister. The Kaiser himself has appeared in pictures and done less." * ''New York Herald'': "'Hell's Hinges,' one of those traditional places on the frontier of the Wild West, 'where there ain't no Ten Commandments and a man can get a thirst,' was pictured in the most lurid manner." Grace Kingsley of the ''Los Angeles Times'' gave the actors high marks. She credited Hart with doing his "usual excellent work" and found Glaum to be "a really fascinating vampire." Kingsley paid special note to Standing's performance as the reverend, calling it "one of the most subtle, but at the same time of the most sincere bits of film acting of his entire career," a performance exhibiting "intelligence and imagination ... in the very highest degree." Kingsley found the film to be "marvelously well done" but took exception to the would-be folksy western dialect in the title cards:

C. Gardner Sullivan appears to have written 'Hell's Hinges' for the purpose of allowing us to look our fill on fire and fights. Certain it is the thing is marvelously well done. There is a burning dance hall with men and women entrapped, which fairly makes you gasp, and there is a 'beau-oo-tiful' free-for-all fight between the sheep and the goats of 'Hell's Hinges.' All this is lovely enough in its way to make for forgiveness of the dialect of the subtitles, a dialect which 'never was on land or sea.'

The title cards includes lines such as "When women like her say there is a God, there is one, and he sure must be worth trailin' with". The publication ''

Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. I ...

'' gave the film as a whole a positive review: "Brilliant in subtitle, strong in treatment with occasional notes of true pathos, the marks of creative ability and sure craftmanship are there . ... the cast is without flaw." The publication further noted that Ince "is at his best when holding close to revelations of the human mind and heart."

Later historical assessments

In September 1994, ''Hell's Hinges'' experienced a revival following a screening at the Film Center of the School of the Chicago Art Institute. At the time, the ''Chicago Tribunes movie critic, Michael Wilmington, called ''Hell's Hinges'' "Hart's acknowledged masterpiece," "perhaps the finest movie Western made before

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

's 1939 '' Stagecoach''," and "as emotionally powerful as any American

film of the teens, except for the masterpieces of

D.W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...

and Erich Von Stroheim." Two months after the showing in Chicago and Wilmington's review, the film was selected for preservation in the United States

by the

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 1997, ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...

'' published a review calling ''Hell's Hinges'' a "classic of its kind" and arguing that "to dismiss it casually as a western would be a mistake, for it more resembles '' The Atonement of Gosta Berling'' than it does ''

Riders of the Purple Sage ''Riders of the Purple Sage'' is a Western novel by Zane Grey, first published by Harper & Brothers in 1912. Considered by scholars to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre, the novel has been called ...

''. The reviewer gave particular praise to Hart's directorial skill:

The camera placement here, the simple yet effective symbolism, and the flair for spectacle as in the brilliantly handled mob scenes where all of
Inceville Thomas Harper Ince (November 16, 1880 – November 19, 1924) was an American silent film - era filmmaker and media proprietor. Ince was known as the "Father of the Western" and was responsible for making over 800 films. He revolutionized the mot ...
goes up in smoke, the real 'feel' of the old, dusty, unglamorised West, all should have earned Hart a reputation as one of the great directors. ... For the most part, 'Hell's Hinges' offers highpowered drama rather than traditional western action. ... Fine camerawork utilising long panoramic shots, excellent cutting and a sure control over the masses of extras fuse this into an episode of astonishing vigor. Hart, his assistant Cliff Smith, his writer Gardner Sullivan and cameraman Joe August were one of the sturdiest (and least appreciated) teams of craftsmen the cinema ever produced.

The film was given a centenary screening at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in January 2016. In a capsule review for the occasion, ''The New Yorkers

Richard Brody Richard Brody (born 1958) is an American film critic who has written for ''The New Yorker'' since 1999. Education Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York, and attended Princeton University, receiving a B.A. in comparative literature in 1980. He firs ...

praised the film for its uncommon intensity: "The images are as direct and bare as the characters' emotions, and the harsh drama builds to a mad, apocalyptic climax of crime and revenge."

In popular culture

In 2009, the band Caledonia Mission wrote a song for ''Esopus'' magazine inspired by the movie. The song is named "The Ballad of Blaze Tracy."

References

External links

* ''Hell’s Hinges'' essay by David Menefee at

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''Hell's Hinges''
at the

National Film Preservation Foundation The National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) is an independent, nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to help save America's film heritage. Growing from a national planning effort led by the Library of Congress, the NFPF began op ...

* ''Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer'' (University Press of Kentucky, 2012) by Brian Taves, pages 94–95,
Hell's Hinges
available for free download a
Internet Archive
{{Charles Swickard 1916 films 1916 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films directed by William S. Hart United States National Film Registry films Articles containing video clips Silent American Western (genre) films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films