![]() She is loved by Lew Walters (Warner Oland), a local attorney, who, after being forced to leave town, decides to take Millye with him. Opening with the inter-titles reading: "On the far reaches of the great southwest in the late eighties, Frank Erne and his wife are making a brave fight to establish their little homestead," the story gets underway with Millye Erne (Beatrice Burnham) mother to her infant daughter, Bessie (Sissyl Johnson) and husband, Frank (Arthur Morrison) who is heavily in debt, tired of her struggling existence. THE RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE (Fox, 1925), directed by Lynn Reynolds, stars Tom Mix, popular cowboy hero of the silent screen, in the second of four filmed adaptations based on Zane Grey's classic western novel, and the best known of them all, mainly due to its interesting story, good scenery, a touch of comedy, plenty of action and fine performances provided by its leading actors, especially Tom Mix as a fearful cowboy who is quick on the trigger. ![]() Highly recommended, both as an introduction to Tom Mix and on its own merits. It's a silent movie and it works as a silent movie, where all you have are the images. This contrast, between the beauty of nature and the ugliness of the works of man appears throughout the movie and makes the ending - where Tom Mix pushes over a boulder that will simultaneously make it impossible for the bad men who are pursuing him, his heroine and Anne Shirley - a child actor at this stage, appearing under the name of "Dawn O'Day" - and seals them forever in a valley far from the works of man - not only understandable, but inevitable. ![]() Even the heroine's home is made only half-decent by the plants that she has growing everywhere. In contrast, the shots of 'civilization' are full of ugliness: broken palings of forts, ramshackle sheds that should fall down and disappear and cluttered interior shots. What is remarkable about this movie is the contrasts in beauty: superb scenes of nature fill the screen: towering mountains, cattle moving slowly over the sprawling prairies, high waterfalls filling the vistas shot outdoors. the standout among them is Riders of the Purple Sage." - True West "Grey was a champion of the American wilderness and the men and women who tamed the Old West.This is the old story, familiar to everyone who has seen more than three westerns. "Zane Grey epitomized the mythical West that should have been. But when the ranch is attacked by horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and a mysterious Masked Rider, he realizes they're up against something bigger, and more brutal, than the land itself. It doesn't take Lassiter long to see that this once-peaceful Mormon community is controlled by the corrupt Deacon Tull-a powerful elder who's trying to take the woman's land by forcing her to marry him, branding her foreman as a dangerous "outsider." Lassiter vows to help them. His name is Lassiter, a notorious gunman who's come to avenge his sister's death. Into this travesty of small-town justice rides the one man the town elders fear. Riders Of The Purple Sage Cottonwoods, Utah. This is the Old West in all its glory and grandeur. ![]() Over 40 Million Copies Of Zane Grey's Novels Sold The premier chronicler of the American West, legendary storyteller Zane Grey has captivated millions of readers with his timeless adventures of life, death, gunfire, and justice.
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