One Hundred Dollars, Dead or Alive
About One Hundred Dollars, Dead or Alive
Cowboy Joë, a gambler, falls out with his employer, Sheriff Davidson, and that night drives Davidson's horses out of the corral. Daisy, the sheriff's daughter, hears them and rides to warn her father. Joë jumps a passing train, uncouples the cars, and throws the engineer out of the cab. Davidson posts a hundred dollars, dead or alive, and the posse trails Joë through marsh country. The sheriff finds him collapsed and, instead of arresting him, hands him a gun.
Cast & crew
More about One Hundred Dollars, Dead or Alive
Jean Durand directed. Joë Hamman is credited with the scenario in the Giornate del Cinema Muto note, and he plays Joë. Berthe Dagmar plays Daisy Davidson. Max Dhartigny plays Sheriff Davidson. Ernest Bourbon and Gaston Modot are also in the cast. The Giornate copy is 278 meters, about 13 minutes 25 seconds, and that program dates a release to February 9 or 16, 1912. A French listing gives 1911.
Themes
Making
Durand's Gaumont unit, better known for comic shorts, shoots Hamman as a gambler who is not let off. The last beat is the sheriff offering his own gun.
Look
The train sequence uses long shots of Hamman on the cars and tighter views inside the cab. A surviving print is tinted.
Preservation
A 278-meter print is held by the Gaumont Pathé Archives. The Giornate del Cinema Muto screened a tinted digital copy in 2017.
Notes
- The English release title used at the Giornate screening was Driven from the Ranch.
- A tinted print described by the viewer boblipton shows Hamman climbing over a moving train and breaking into cars.
- The same account says some of the action is filmed in close-ups too tight to read, with other shots held at long range.
- JoeytheBrit calls the ending downbeat for a short western of this date.
Scenes
- Joë uncouples the train and throws the engineer out of the cab.
- Sheriff Davidson finds Joë on the ground and hands him a gun instead of putting him in irons.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-cent-dollars-mort-ou-vif-aka-a-hundred-bucks-dead-or-alive)
