|
The Witch of the Range
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Allan Dwan
Cast: J. Warren Kerrigan [Ed Warren], Pauline Bush [Anna Taylor], Jack Richardson [Jim Garner], Louise Lester [the witch]
American Film Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Motion Picture Distributing & Sales Company. / Released 12 June 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? In the mountains there lived an old woman who claimed the gift of second sight. The cowboys called her “The Witch of the Range.” One morning the witch comes to the Bar 40 Ranch and induces Jim Garner, the foreman, to have his fortune told. Looking into his palm, and making her mysterious passes, she predicts a dire future for him. She continues on her way and Jim, approaching the ranch house, encounters Anna Taylor, the daughter of the ranch owner. Jim had long ago determined to make her his wife, and finding her alone, attempts to force his unwelcome attentions upon her. She is struggling to escape, when Ed Warren, a neighboring ranch man, comes up and, taking in the situation at a glance, knocks her assailant down. A few days later it is found that cattle are disappearing from the Bar 40 range and all indications point to Jim Garner as the culprit. The cowboys accuse him point blank but he misleads them by attributing the loss to witchcraft, and proposes lynching the witch. The superstitious cowboys agree and they go to the witch’s hut and drag her, screaming and struggling, to the nearest tree. Anna Taylor is picking flowers by the roadside as the lynching party approach and, realizing that a crime is about to be committed, conceals herself until they pass and then hurries to enlist the aid of Ed Warren. They arrive in time to avert the tragedy and the witch is overcome with gratitude. She returns to her hut muttering blessings upon her friends and curses upon her would-be murderers. Jim Garner, realizing that the discovery of his depredations is close at hand, resolves to be avenged upon Anna for rescuing the witch and determines to kidnap her and compel her to marry him. He carries out his intentions with very little trouble, for Dan Taylor is old and is easily overcome. The witch witnesses the danger. Ed hastily sends one of his men to notify the cowboys, and hurries away alone, followed by the witch. He overtakes Garner in the mountains, and in the fight that follows, the witch is shot. The cowboys carry the desperado away to mete out justice in the stern court of Judge Lynch. Ed Warren and Anna Taylor remain to care for the stricken woman, the first human sympathy she has ever known.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 28 August 2023.
References: Lyons-American p. 219 : Website-IMDb.
|
