''The Trail Rider'' is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by

W. S. Van Dyke Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II (Woody) (March 21, 1889 – February 5, 1943) was an American film director and writer who made several successful early sound films, including ''Tarzan the Ape Man'' in 1932, ''The Thin Man'' in 1934, ''San Francis ...

and starring Buck Jones. Based on the 1924 novel ''The Trail Rider: A Romance of the Kansas Range'' by George Washington Ogden, the film is about a trail rider hired to protect ranchers from the actions of a corrupt banker. The film was produced by Fox Film Corp. and was released on February 22, 1925, in the United States. It marked

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...

’s film debut as a

stunt rider A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

. It is not known whether the film currently survives.

Plot

Tex Hartwell (Buck Jones) rescues an old cobbler from the physical assault of corrupt banker Jim Mackey (Carl Stockdale). When Mackey orders his hired guns to kill Tex, the stranger outdraws them. Rancher Dee Winch (Jack McDonald) is impressed with Tex's fast draw and hires him as a trail rider, tasked with keeping diseased cattle off of his land. Sometime later, Mackey's men stampede a herd of infected cattle onto Winch's land. When Winch learns of the infected cattle, he fires Tex, who leaves in disgrace. Meanwhile, Tex learns from Fanny Goodnight (Lucy Fox) that Mackey was behind the stampede of infected cattle. Tex confronts the corrupt banker and forces him to sign a confession admitting to his guilt. Later, the old cobbler kills Mackey, Tex's reputation is restored with the cattlemen, and he and Fanny ride trail together on their own.

Cast

* Buck Jones as Tex Hartwell * Nancy Deaver as Sally McCoy * Lucy Fox as Fanny Goodnight * Carl Stockdale as Jim Mackey * Jack McDonald as Dee Winch *

George Berrell George Berrell (December 16, 1849 – April 20, 1933) was an American actor of both the 19th and early 20th century stage and of the silent film era. He appeared in numerous stage plays as well as more than 50 films over the course of a car ...

as Uncle Boley * Jack Rollens as Ollie, the barber * Will Walling as Malcolm Duncan * Silver the Horse *

as A rider

Production

''The Trail Rider'' is based on the 1924 novel, ''The Trail Rider: A Romance of the Kansas Range'' by George Washington Ogden (New York).

Release

The film was released in Austria as ''Steppenehre''. It is not known whether the film currently survives.''The Trail Rider'' at Lost Film Files: ''lost Fox films – 1925''
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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trail Rider, The 1925 films 1925 Western (genre) films 1925 lost films American black-and-white films Films directed by W. S. Van Dyke Fox Film films Lost American films Lost Western (genre) films Silent American Western (genre) films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films