romanorum1 In 1914 William S. Hart came to Hollywood when he was a mature 49 year-old man. Born during the American Civil War, he knew the real West, as he had lived in the Dakota Territory in the 1880s. Tall and stern-faced, but also round-shouldered, Hart knew Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. Hart and Tom Mix were the greatest heroes of the silent screen westerns. "Hell's Hinges" is a western movie with a religious message: moral retribution. Robert Henley (Jack Standing), unfit (weak and selfish), was coerced by his forceful mother to become a clergyman. The church elder parsons, aware of Henley's misgivings, arrange to send him to a parish in a western prairie ("where the people live simply and close to God") to free him from the temptations of a large eastern city. Henley arrives at the dusty western hamlet of Placers Center (Hell's Hinges) with his strong-willed sister Faith (Clara Williams). Hell's Hinges is lawless; the title card describes it as "a gun-fighting, man- killing, devil's den of iniquity." Saloon owner "Silk" Miller (Alfred Hollingsworth) and gunfighter "Blaze" Tracey (Hart) are quite different in character but have one thing in common: law and religion do not exist for them. Two-gun Tracey's philosophy is "Shoot first and do your disputin' afterward." But when he gets his first look at the pure Faith, he is smitten and instantaneously transforms into a moralist. What does Tracey see in that diminutive and plain woman, one may ask? Anyway, the saloon crowd – drunks, bullies, and wild women – threaten the church-going families (called "The Petticoat Brigade") when they hold their first services in Taylor's barn. Tracey springs into action and says that he will not tolerate anyone interfering with the religious folk. He even assists in erecting a new church building. This change does not sit well with Silk.Pretending to be friendly with Parson Henley, Silk invites him over to his place to preach to the saloon girls (prostitutes). But after several meetings the weakling parson is duped by Dolly (Louise Glaum), who gets him to drink booze, after which she seduces him one night. Henley continues to drink so much that he is unable to conduct the morning services. Blaze has ridden to the next town to fetch the doctor. Notice that whenever Silk goes anywhere, he is often followed by his saloon entourage. When Henley somewhat revives, he staggers over to the saloon where the throng gives him more liquor. When the drunken and rowdy men and women of the saloon decide to torch the church, Henley helps them. But in a raucous gunfight the drunken parson is killed. The outnumbered churchgoers fight back, but are unable to stop the destruction of their new church building. Dead bodies are strewn everywhere, and only a few of the original congregation survives. When Tracey returns he becomes outraged. After shooting Silk and a supporter, he proceeds to burn down the whole town, which is comprised of wooden structures. Townsfolk scatter in every direction. After burying Henley, Blaze tells Faith, "Over Yonder hills is the future – both yours and mine." Blaze has reformed from a gunslinger to a respectable person of faith.There is plenty of symbolism. For instance the burning town represents the inferno (hell), Silk is obviously evil, the saloon crowd is the fallen, Blaze is redemption, and Faith is goodness. The flight of the congregation into the surrounding desert reminds one of the Israelites three thousand years ago. The popular Hart acts with his stone-face and a few gestures; he was a trained stage performer. Note the scene at the 50:30 mark, where Blaze rides on the ridge around the low crater and his horse takes a tumble. Hart (or his double) and his steed topple partway down the hill. Quickly brushing off a fall that could have had a serious consequence, Hart remounts and continues his ride towards the doomed town. Future silent screen star John Gilbert can be seen at the 12:16 mark laughing at Blaze's jest (he's on the right with a white hat and scarf). He is also easily spotted elsewhere throughout the film. The feature is preserved in the archives of the National Film Registry as culturally significant.

Snow Leopard The grim, somber tone of this Western does not at all keep it from being a watchable and interesting feature. William S. Hart's screen presence is put to very good use, and the tension is built up steadily. The atmosphere is effective, and along with the story, it is interesting in its contrast with the usual expectations of the genre.Hart is well-cast as the stoical gunslinger who becomes fascinated by the purity of a preacher's sister. The character's transformation might be a little too abrupt, and it might have been an even better movie if 'Blaze' had changed more reluctantly, but Hart himself is quite effective in the role. Jack Standing also does a good job as the weak-willed preacher whose folly leads to so much havoc.The story is quite moralistic in its way, but it is nevertheless pretty interesting. The conflicts and tensions are of a much different nature than westerns usually feature, and the tone is unrelentingly serious and foreboding. Things are built up carefully into a harrowing finale that is filmed with a lot of detail.Features like this show why Hart rose to such popularity. His persona seems to have been a good one for the times, and his strengths as an actor show up well in silent cinema.

metaphor-2 The story is dead simple: a tough guy is redeemed by love and becomes a defender of good over evil. The fact that it is told just as simply as it's constructed gives it a lot of power, though. The saloon-owner and the tough hombre both want to keep law and religion out of town, for different reasons. The saloon keeper sees it as a threat to his trade. The cowboy sees it as a curtailment of personal freedom. One look at the new preacher's sister changes his life: is it her beauty or her purity that strikes him to the core? In W.S. Hart's cosmos, they are the same thing. Whereas most great westerns are about the control of land, about advancing through physical spaces (and that's why they're such excellent visual subject matter) this one is really about the control of spiritual territory. The physical town will be conquered by the church-group only if it conquers the spiritual realm.William S. Hart, who had considerable experience as a stage actor, including the performance of a good deal of Shakespeare, clearly understood that in the movies, acting and personal presence were inseparable. His acting is incredibly restrained, and he lets the contours of his face speak volumes. He makes a few very stylized gestures, but mostly relies on his personal presence, which is considerable. He is much more animated early in the film, before his conversion. Once he is won over by the message of the church, he never cracks a smile, barely moves his face at all unless he's really angry.The entire film is as straightforward and unvarnished as Hart himself. The town is a spare group of unpainted wood buildings in barren wasteland. The Villain wants to run things, and he'll do whatever it takes with no subtrefuge necessary. The saloon girls are blatantly prostitutes. The church-goers are women and older men; all the young men are hell-raisers. The hero's prayer is, in essence, "God, if you really answer prayers, then what I want is the girl." It all sounds incredibly corny, but it rings so true when you watch it, it's hard not to feel a thrill.

cbass-2 Though a silent picture, this movie had a huge influence on Westerns after it. It reveals several characters which exist in almost any good Western: the hooker with the heart of gold, the tough cowboy, the religious, weak dude, the petticoat brigade, and the redemptive woman. Though not a great Western, it was exceptional for its time and extremely revolutionary. It's definitely a must-see for anyone studying the Western.