Author Archive: Retro

It’s 1889 and the Cherokee Strip is about to be opened to settlers. After cowboy Dan Carver helps move the Box K cattle off the strip he meets Molly Lassiter. Attracted to her he decides to try to file on the Box K ranch for her. But when he returns to the strip to check for stray cattle, he is arrested as a Sooner and is now unable to participate in the land rush.

Outlaw leader “Draw” Egan, believed dead, turns up in the town of Yellow Dog. The townsfolk believe him to be William Blake, a strong and law-abiding man. They appoint him sheriff to rid the town of the hoodlums who have nearly taken over. He does so with dispatch, becoming a genuinely lawful and respected member of the town’s society. But then Arizona Joe, one of Egan’s old gang, shows up in Yellow Dog, threatening to expose Egan if he doesn’t help his old comrade take over the town.

In the wayward western town known as Hell’s Hinges, a local tough guy is reformed by the faith of a good woman.

While the original title, “Trailing the Killer” isn’t a misnomer, it was a bit misleading since the “trailer” is a dog named Caesar Caesar the Dog) and the killer is a mountain lion, aka as a cougar or puma the narrator was quick to point out. But the makers also pointed out that Caesar “is the most intelligent dog actor since Rin-Tin-Tin” which probably lured a few Rin-Tin-Tin fans with a show-me attitude. Caesar prowls around the woods of the Northwest, dispatches a rattlesnake, visits his she-wolf mate and their pups, pauses to watch the dainty habits of a raccoon personally washing every morsel of food before eating it—and that raccoon had enough food to use up several minutes of running time—and then saves sheepherder Pierre (Francis McDonald)) from getting et up by one mean mountain lion. Rin-Tin-Tin he ain’t, but then who was? Commonwealth changed the title to “Call of the Wilderness” when they [...]

A young woman finds herself trapped by a bandit gang. Rather than be raped by the gang, she commits suicide. When her brother finds out what happened, he turns to a life of banditry, hoping to find the gang responsible for his sister’s death.

After he loses his money and horse in a poker game, Yak learns he was cheated. But then he learns that the men that cheated him are wanted and have a price on their heads. This gives him a chance to get his money back and more, so he sets out after them.

Corporal Jack Borden, of the Northwest Mounted Police, trails the man who killed his partner to New York City. The killer is an unscrupulous promoter who is selling worthless stock in a gold mine. Borden, with the help of Blanche Hall, locates the man in a Bowery dive, but he escapes and Borden tracks him back to Canada. Along the way, he discovers that Blanche and his sweetheart, Milly, are long-separated sisters and brings about a reconciliation.

Feature version of 1921 serial which no longer exists in complete form. Dir. Ray Taylor.