''Wild and Woolly'' is a 1917 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 ...

comedy film which tells the story of one man's personal odyssey from cowboy-obsessed Easterner to Western tough guy. It stars

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

Eileen Percy Eileen Percy (21 August 1902 – 29 July 1973) was an Irish-born American actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1917 and 1933. Biography Born in Belfast in August 1902, Percy lived in Brooklyn, New York, brie ...

, Walter Bytell and

Sam De Grasse Samuel Alfred De Grasse (June 12, 1875 – November 29, 1953) was a Canadian actor. He was the uncle of cinematographer Robert De Grasse. Biography Samuel Alfred De Grasse was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick to Lange De Grasse and Helene ( Com ...

. The film was adapted by

Anita Loos Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...

from a story by

Horace B. Carpenter Horace B. Carpenter (January 31, 1875 – May 21, 1945) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 330 films between 1914 and 1945. He also directed 15 films between 1925 and 1934. Born in Grand Rapids, ...

and was directed by John Emerson.

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

review, Jeff Hillington, son of railroad magnate Collis J. Hillington, tires of the East and longs for the wild and woolly West. He has his apartment and office fixed up in his understanding of the accepted Western style, which he has gleaned from

dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related form ...

s. A delegation from Bitter Creek comes to New York City seeking financial backing for the construction of a

spur line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

, and go to Collis to explain their proposition. Collis sends Jeff to investigate. The citizens of Bitter Creek, Arizona, realizing that a favorable report from Jeff is necessary, decide to live up to Jeff's idea of a Western town. They set up a program with a wild reception for Jeff, a barroom dance, and a train holdup. Steve Shelby, a grafting

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...

, knowing that he is about to be caught by the government, decides to do "one more trick" and enters into the plan to rob the train, turning it into a real scheme. Events turn earnest and Shelby kidnaps Nell Larabee, with whom Jeff has fallen in love. The entire crowd has been trapped in the dance hall, which is surrounded by Indians, and Jeff's revolver loaded with blanks. When the situation is finally explained to Jeff, by superhuman efforts (and typical Fairbanks surprises) he rounds up the Indians, rescues the girl, completely foils the scheme of Steve, and becomes the hero of the hour, getting to marry Nell.

Cast

as Jeff Hillington *

as Nell Larabee * Walter Bytell as Collis J. Hillington *

Joseph Singleton Joseph Edward Victor Fairfield Daveran Singleton (1 March 1879 – 24 October 1946) was an actor of the silent film, silent era. An Australian, he appeared in 74 films between 1913 and 1925. He was born in Melbourne. Selected filmography ...

as Judson, the Butler * Calvert Carter as Tom Larabee, the Hotel Keeper *

Forrest Seabury Forrest Seabury (1876 - 1944) was an actor in theater and silent films. He was named Sumner Forrest Seabury by his parents. His father, also named Forrest Seabury, was a scenic artist who died in 1895. They descended from the Bishop of Connecticu ...

as Banker * J. W. Jones as Lawyer * Charles Stevens as Pedro *

as Steve Shelby, the Indian Agent * Tom Wilson as Casey the Engineer * Ruth Allen * Edward Burns * Wharton James

Production

''Wild and Woolly'' was filmed in Manhattan and the Paragon Studio in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

, where many early

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

s in

America's first motion picture industry Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 40,191, an increase of 4,8 ...

were based at the beginning of the 20th century. The scenes of the Arizona town were shot over a week's time in Burbank, California.

Joseph Henabery Joseph Henabery (January 15, 1888 – February 18, 1976) was an American film actor, screenplay writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in D.W. Griffith's controversial 1915 silent historical epic ''The Birt ...

served as an assistant to director John Emerson.

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''Wild and Woolly'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors required cuts of the intertitle "Say, that's a chance for us to clean up big," all scenes of the Indian Agent and Indians with a basket containing flasks of liquor, the three intertitles "Whoop it up and all you capture is yours," You watch every door of the hotel and after I get the girl you kill," and "They can't hurt you, their guns are loaded with fake bullets," scene where Fairbanks is shot, an Indian shoots a man, four scenes of Indians falling after being shot, and the shooting of the express messenger, taking his keys, and the rifling of the express box. Edward Wietzel offered the following in his contemporaneous review for

The 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. ...

: "A cow in a clover field, a cat with a catnip ball or a monkey with a bushel of peanuts never had a more enjoyable time than the gloom-dispersing Mr. Douglas Fairbanks extracts from each of the situations in the photoplay. Most of these situations are not new, but the method of their working out is frequently novel and often exceedingly funny." Fairbanks biographer

Jeffrey Vance Jeffrey Vance (born May 21, 1970) is an American film historian and author who has published books on movie stars including Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Career While working as an archivist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists he met El ...

, writing in 2008, believes ''Wild and Woolly'' "is the finest of the surviving Fairbanks-Emerson-Loos collaborations and perhaps the best of the thirteen films he made for Artcraft. It was also one of Fairbanks's personal favorites."

Preservation status

Copies of ''Wild and Woolly'' are preserved in several film collections and archives, and it has been released on DVD. In 2002, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

and 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 (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

References

External links

* ''Wild and Woolly'' essa

by Steve Massa at

* ''Wild and Woolly'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 60 & 6

* {{John Emerson 1917 films 1917 comedy films 1910s Western (genre) comedy films American black-and-white films Censored films Films directed by John Emerson Films set in Arizona Films set in New York City Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Anita Loos Paramount Pictures films Silent American Western (genre) comedy films United States National Film Registry films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films English-language Western (genre) comedy films