The Girl Ranchers
About The Girl Ranchers
May and Mary Houston, played by Marie Walcamp and Ramona Langley, inherit their uncle's Rough Neck Ranch and mean to run it. Their mother (Stella Adams) goes west with them. Foreman Lee Moran posts that no skirt will boss the ranch. The sisters answer with friends and a notice that moustaches are unsanitary and every hand must shave. The men ride off. The women put on overalls and botch the chores. A raid pulls both sides back together. The women then invite the shaved "gallant cowboys" to a dance, and the ranch is also called Maidens' Rest.
Cast & crew
More about The Girl Ranchers
Al Christie directed. David Horsley produced. Universal distributed it. Silent Era dates the release 12 September 1913. Nestor was the first studio set up in Hollywood. Laura Oakley plays the ranch maid. Donald MacDonald is in the cast.
Themes
Making
The one-reeler sits in a run of early-1910s stories about girls proving themselves on the land, near the Camp Fire Girls and Girl Scouts books. NFPF compares the premise with Margaret Vandercook's 1911 novel The Ranch Girls at Rainbow Lodge.
Reviews
Moving Picture World described the film as "rather breezy."
Music
Martin Marks wrote a score for the Treasures 5: The West edition. The 1913 release was silent.
Preservation
A 35mm print is at the George Eastman Museum. The National Film Preservation Foundation funded preservation in 2008.
Notes
- Walcamp was 19 and Langley 20 when they played the Houston sisters.
- The National Film Preservation Foundation notes compare the raid and the race to the rescue with Griffith's The Battle at Elderbush Gulch, shot earlier in 1913.
- Nestor publicity said the need of "man" had been shown and the women had proved their worth.
- The George Eastman Museum print was copied at 16 frames per second.
Scenes
- The foreman nails up his refusal to work for a skirt.
- The sisters post that moustaches are unsanitary and the hands must shave.
- After the raid they ask the shaved cowboys to a dance.
Influenced by
- Margaret Vandercook's The Ranch Girls at Rainbow Lodge (1911)
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-the-girl-ranchers)
- Treasures 5: The West (DVD)
- George Eastman Museum
Quotes
NO DARNED SKIRT BOSSES THIS RANCH
