MartinHafer William S. Hart plays a tough and laconic cowboy--the sort of guy who loves the life and has no desire to settle down and get a place of his own. However, he meets a pretty lady (Barbara Bedford) and immediately decides that marrying and settling down is a GREAT idea. So, as the Oklahoma land run is about to commence, he decides to take part in this insane opportunity to get a homestead.Let me digress a bit to explain. In 1889, a law was signed that opened up 2,000,000 acres of land in Oklahoma to settlers. However, instead of signing up for it to stake your claim, they literally staged a race--where folks rode like crazy into the open land and grabbed a marker. Then, upon returning it to the government agent, they'd be given that particular parcel. And so, if you wanted the best land (such as along a river), you had to be fast--or cheat (these folks was given the nickname 'Sooner' because they went in BEFORE they were officially allowed).What Hart does not know is that the lady's half-brother is trying to cheat in order to get the best land AND he sets up Hart to make it look like he's trying to be a Sooner instead! Can William manage to expose this jerk AND still win the sister's love? Like so many of Hart's films I have seen, Hart is a rather quiet fellow who lets his fists do the talking. He is NOT some pretty boy and he seems to look more like you'd expect a real cowboy to look. While this is not among his very best films, it's well made and talks about one of the most forgotten parts of US history--the land runs. Worth seeing.By the way, the copy I had was silent but had musical accompaniment that was added later.

bsmith5552 "Tumbleweeds" is a classic of the silent era. It marked the final film in the career of western movie pioneer William S. Hart. The plot revolves around the Cherokee Land Rush of 1889 Oklahoma where a large tract of land was thrown open to the public for the taking by the American government. Don Carver (Hart) and his pal Kentucky Rose (Lucien Littlefield) had been earning their living as "tumbleweeds", another name for drifting cowpokes. When the last roundup is completed, they decide to take part in the land rush. Carver meets up with the charming Molly Lassiter (Barbara Bedford) after having had an altercation with her half brother Noll (J. Gordon Russell). Noll teams up with Bill Freel (Richard R. Neill) to acquire a choice ranch section by any means necessary. Turns out that Carver has his sights set on the same ranch which he wants to get for Molly. The highlight of the film is of course, the land rush sequence. It is marvelously staged by Directors King Baggot and Hart himself. A cast of thousands was employed. A remarkable piece of film making for this or any other time. The version of the film that is usually shown these days is the 1939 re-issue which had sound effects added, as well as a moving prologue filmed especially for this version. It features Hart coming out of retirement and describing the film and then talking about his career and in effect saying goodbye to all of his fans. He had left films after "Tumbleweeds" following a dispute with the film's distributor. Hart had always insisted on realism in his films. This had worked in his early films but in the 20s, he had to compete with the more popular films of the flamboyant Tom Mix. He had reached his 60s by this time so he wisely decided to go out on top. Ohh...the thrill of it all!

FilmartDD Seen in a 16mm print from the 1939 release (not necessarily the 1975 restoration listed by imdb), the sheer sincerity of the film-makers appealed highly. Intelligent art-gallery audience loved it - shown on 40th anni of Hart's death. Sound was coarse (expected) but loud and consistent in quality with image

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) William S. Hart makes a moving speech before the movie begins, creating in us a feeling of nostalgia for the old westerns. In the film he is a cowboy that together with all the people that live in that strip of land, has to abandon it for it will be distributed to newcomers.After a certain date no person can enter that area, if they do they will be arrested, and will be called "sooners". All the people are waiting for the moment to come, in a small town, including Hart and his side kick, and Hart falls in love with the half sister of the villain. There is a big contrast in the film between the scenes that show the town, the newcomers, the rush, which are all excellent, with the incredibly naive scenes with the villains. It is hard to believe a film could be so good in certain moments and look so primitive in other scenes, good thing is that those scenes are a small part of it.