Riddle Gawne
About Riddle Gawne
Jefferson "Riddle" Gawne (William S. Hart) hears his dying brother Wesley name the killer as Watt Hyat. He buys a ranch in country run by rustler Hame Bozzam (Lon Chaney), who is Hyat under another name. After Gawne shoots two of Bozzam's men for insulting Kathleen Harkness (Katherine MacDonald), Bozzam uses her father's place in the gang to force a marriage. Gawne is shot, lives, and rides after Bozzam alone. With a broken leg he kills Bozzam once the rustler admits he is Watt Hyat, and Kathleen stays with him.
Cast & crew
More about Riddle Gawne
Hart and Thomas H. Ince co-produced it. Charles Alden Seltzer adapted his novel The Vengeance of Jefferson Gawne. Jon C. Mirsalis writes that Hart worked heavily on the script even though the credit is Seltzer's. Lambert Hillyer, who shares the directing credit, talked Hart into casting Chaney after Hart objected to the actor's height. Paramount released the five-reeler.
Themes
Background
A 1918 Paramount western built on Hart's ranch-hero formula, with the villain hiding inside the cattle ring.
Making
Hart did not want Chaney as the villain. Hillyer persuaded him.
Reviews
Motion Picture News called it one of Hart's best and said Chaney played the part "up to the minute." Wid's Film Daily wrote that Hart was "as quick on the trigger as ever" and that Chaney was an effective villain.
Look
Joseph H. August shot the five-reel western.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles.
Preservation
Two of the five reels turned up in a Russian archive and are held by the Library of Congress. The other three reels are missing.
Notes
- Joseph H. August photographed it.
- Gretchen Lederer plays Blanche Dillon, Gertrude Short plays Gawne's niece Jane, and Edwin B. Tilton plays Colonel Harkness.
- A still shows Chaney, as Bozzam, about to shoot the unconscious Gawne in the head.
- Moving Picture World said audiences were tired of deferred-vengeance plots, then credited the film with turning the story toward Hart's usual converted hero.
Scenes
- Wesley's last word is the killer's name.
- Chaney's Bozzam stands over the unconscious Gawne with a gun.
- Bozzam admits he is Watt Hyat while Gawne's leg is broken.
Influenced by
- The Vengeance of Jefferson Gawne (Charles Alden Seltzer)
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-riddle-gawne)
- Library of Congress (two reels)
