The Toll Gate
About The Toll Gate
Black Deering tells his gang the next raid is the last. Tom Jordan tips the law, and Deering is the one who gets away, heading for Mexico. Hunger drives him into a town where Jordan is. The town burns in the fight, and a posse follows Deering to the cabin of Mary Brown and her little boy. She says she is his wife. The sheriff wants to quarter his men there, and Deering will not keep the lie. Jordan is about to hit the posse. The sheriff lets Deering go out and fight. Deering kills Jordan, who turns out to be Mary's missing husband, and the sheriff lets him ride.
Cast & crew
More about The Toll Gate
Lambert Hillyer directed. Hillyer and Hart wrote the screenplay from Hart's story "By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them." Paramount released it. Joseph August photographed it. LeRoy Hunt edited. Thomas A. Brierley was art director. A Moving Picture World notice of 1 May 1920 called it the first picture from Hart's own company.
Themes
Reviews
Moving Picture World of 1 May 1920 treated it as Hart's own-company debut and quoted him calling it the best picture he had produced.
Look
Joseph August photographed the picture, including the cabin the posse wants to use as a barracks.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles.
Preservation
A six-reel version of 5,590 feet is the length Koszarski records. A shorter copy is listed at 59 minutes.
Notes
- Hart plays Black Deering. Anna Q. Nilsson plays Mary Brown. Joseph Singleton plays Tom Jordan. Jack Richardson plays the sheriff. Richard Headrick plays the boy. Hart's horse Fritz is in the cast.
- Release dates in the sources do not match. The film's Wikipedia page says 15 April 1920. Koszarski says 25 April, six reels, 5,590 feet, copyright 1 April. Hart's filmography page says 28 April.
- Rotten Tomatoes times a copy at 59 minutes, against the 73-minute listing.
Scenes
- Jordan sells the last raid, and Deering runs for the border.
- Mary tells the posse she is Deering's wife.
- Deering kills Jordan in the fight and learns the dead man was Mary's husband.
Influenced by
- William S. Hart's story By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-the-toll-gate)
