GenreWestern Story byGeorge Washington Ogden CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent film, English intertitles Release dateFebruary 22, 1925 (1925-02-22) (USA) Based onThe Trail Rider
by George Washington Ogden WriterThomas Dixon Jr., George Washington Ogden (novel) CastBuck Jones, Lucy Fox, Carl Stockdale, George Berrell, Jack McDonald, Will Walling, Jack Rollens, Nancy Deaver Related W. S. Van Dyke moviesSan Francisco (1936), The Thin Man (1934), His Brothers Wife (1936), Naughty Marietta (1935), Hide-Out (1934)
Gnarboards the trail rider 4wd electric skateboard
The Trail Rider is a 1925 American silent directed by W. S. Van Dyke 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. The film features one of the earliest appearances by Gary Cooper as a stunt rider. It is not known whether the film currently survives.
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 as Uncle Boley
Jack Rollens as Ollie, the barber
Will Walling as Malcolm Duncan
Silver the Horse
Gary Cooper as A rider (uncredited)
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.