Short synopsis: A ranger is handcuffed by bandits, but is able to free himself. Subsequently, he also rescues the Sheriff.
Main title: 'Ein Abenteuer im wilden Westen' ('An adventure in the Wild West') (contemporary?) [frame scan 1]. - A ranger surprises a gang of robbers in a wooden hut; he confronts them, but is then overwhelmed and handcuffed by an accomplice [frame scan 2]. With the aid of a burning candle he is able to loosen his bonds. He escapes from the house and confronts the robbers again [hero with hat: frame scan 3]. The ranger swings along a rope above an abyss [frame scan 4] and then laps the rope. His persuers. Two bandits with a woman inside a wooden house. The Sheriff is locked in the adjoining room. IT: 'Schreib! - In einer Stunde sind wir mit dem Geld über die Grenze!'. ('Write! - In one hour we'll be beyond the border with the money!') The ranger defeats the bandits [frame scan 5]. The ranger [frame scan 7], the girl [frame scan 6] and the Sheriff (her father?) find each other [frame scan 8], the bandits look puzzled.
Jeanpaul Goergen, Deutsche Kinemathek, 22.10.2008
Length: 255m
Format: 35mm, 1.33:1
Picture/Sound: coloured, silent
Notes: 'Agfa Geyer 15' (flat 'A' in 'Agfa') edgecode; The IT has no edgecode.
The man with the star on his chest standing between the actress and the man seated at the table is Thomas Santschi. Given how he appeared in The Cradle of Courage (1920), I would say this movie is from the early 1920s. He did lots of western/northern shorts around this time with Ruth Stonehouse.
Karla Bushway, 11.12.2009
Just to update everyone: We checked with the Library of Congress in Washington, which is in possession of a lengthy fragment of
Beyond the Border in its archive. They compared their fragment with the stills presented here and determined our fragment to not be from
Beyond the Border. So, its identity is still a mystery.
Oliver Hanley, Deutsche Kinemathek, 10.12.2010
At the risk of being wrong, the girl in scan 6 is Mildred Harris. She only appeared in 4 films with Santschi, and two of them weren't Westerns. That leaves Flaming Love (1925) and Beyond the Border (1925), and as the bandits literally say "beyond the border" in the IT, I think it might be the latter. While I haven't seen it, Grapevine Video issued this title on VHS so that's obviously the way to know for sure.
David Lewis, 01.02.2010
As the copy only contains one intertitle, the film could be reused footage from an early American or German wild west film.
Jeanpaul Goergen, Deutsche Kinemathek, 22.10.2008
Do you have media, images or documents related to this film? Lost Films welcomes contributions of materials in digital format.
Login or
register to upload your supplementary materials about his film.
