The Bargain is a 1914 American silent Western film starring William S. Hart. It was the first feature film starring Hart,[1] who would go on to become the most popular Western actor of the silent film era. In 2010, it was one of the 25 films added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." The second Hart Western to be named to the National Film Registry (after Hell's Hinges in 1994), The Bargain was said to have been selected because of Hart's charisma, the film's authenticity and realistic portrayal of the Western genre.[2][3]
| The Bargain | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Reginald Barker |
| Screenplay by | William Clifford Thomas Ince |
| Starring | William S. Hart |
| Cinematography | Robert Newhard Joseph H. August |
Production company | New York Motion Pictures Corp. |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent English intertitles |
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Cast
edit- William S. Hart as Jim Stokes
- J. Frank Burke as Sheriff Bud Walsh
- Clara Williams as Nell Brent
- J. Barney Sherry as Phil Brent
- Joseph J. Dowling as Reverend Joshua Wilkes
Production
editA portion of The Bargain was filmed at the Grand Canyon in Arizona.[1]
Reissues
editIn 1918, a revised version of the film was submitted for review by the Chicago Board of Censors that had scenes in which the Sheriff released a prisoner to holdup gamblers and associated intertitles were eliminated, and new intertitles and scenes with newspaper articles stating that the sheriff and bandit had paid the penalty for their crimes had been inserted.[4] A version cut from 7 to 5 reels was distributed prior to 1920, and in 1920 Hart's production company released it under the title The Two-Gun Man in the Bargain.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Progressive Silent Film List: The Bargain at silentera.com
- ^ 2010 National Film Registry Announced, Library of Congress Press Release, Dec. 28, 2010
- ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 6 (16). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 31. April 13, 1918.
External links
edit- The Bargain essay by Brian Taves at National Film Registry. [1]
- Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer (University Press of Kentucky, 2012) by Brian Taves, pages 66–68, ISBN 0813134226 [2]
- The Bargain at IMDb