The Virginian

Interesting silent from the very early days of Universal, based on a popular Owen Wister novel and perhaps partly scripted by him. What impressed me the most about it was the command that director Cecil B. DeMille has over feature editing at this early stage. His handling of the principal actors is not particularly outstanding; and DeMille would not further distinguish himself in this area as his long career unfolded. But DeMille understands how to intercut separate scenes so they fold into one another and move the story forward. Also DeMille shows skill in coordinating crowd scenes, which would certainly serve him well in his later biblical epics. In these respects "The Virginian" is one of the most advanced features of it's time, at least of the ones from 1914 which we can still see today.

Virginian, The (1914)

** (out of 4)

Dustin Farnum plays a cowboy from Virginia who goes out West with his best friend but a woman (Winifred Kingston) comes between them. To make things even worst, the best friend gets caught up with some castle thieves at the same time the Virginian is hired to bring the gang down. This was DeMille's second feature coming after the same year's The Squaw Man, which he would go onto remake twice. This is certainly a step down from his previous film but there's still some mild entertainment to be had here. The young DeMille hadn't came down with any of his trademark style at this point in his career but he does a good job handling the story and keeping it moving. The film runs a short 53-minutes and that time goes by real fast without any down time. The cast is pretty good and that includes leading man Farnum who was also in the director's first film. There really isn't too much action until the end but there's still some fine humor to keep the film moving.

so I watched this with a couple of friends and I don't know if Demille did it on purpose, but it has got a high value of comical performances. actors are portraying this silent as if they were the main characters in a Shakespeare play. sometimes they overact so much it becomes silly and even stupid. that's why my friends and I enjoyed it so much. they were telling each other what the persons in the movie must have been thinking. things as 'get that gun out of my ass' and 'don't you touch my horse' came spontaneously out of our minds, which made the old movie funnier to look at. it was generally stupid. I broke a finger while watching this movie and that did hurt a lot, more than I enjoyed the picture.

Cecil B. DeMille's second feature film was this oldest of westerns where a whole lot of what became cliché was original. Owen Wister's novel The Virginian was the first of the adult western fiction that spawned the careers of such writers as Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. Previous to that the penny dreadfuls of the 19th century from such hack writers as Ned Buntline covered that field.

A lot of the principal players from DeMille's first film The Squaw Man carried over into The Virginian including star Dustin Farnum who played The title role and his wife Winifred Kingston who played the first of westerns crinoline heroines schoolmarm Molly Wood. A cliché in the making.

The story is familiar to everyone. Kingston has come west out of boredom with the east and becomes the new school teacher in a rough and very rural part of Wyoming territory. The mysterious man known only as The Virginian is your cowboy hero with a bit of rough humor to him. There's a scene here about how he and his playful pals switch babies in a make shift nursery and how couples at a square dance all go home with the wrong babies. Can't see Gary Cooper or Joel McCrea doing that.

But the basic plot we know is there. The Virginian's pal Steve after a warning from Farnum gets caught cattle rustling and Farnum is forced to hang him. He also swears to get Trampas played by Billy Elmer and Trampas who already has a grudge against The Virginian is out to get him as well.

It turns out like you would expect, but this was the mold they all came from.

Dustin Farnum is "The Virginian", a cow-puncher who arrives to settle in Bear Creek, Wyoming; where, he meets, and falls in "lov" (sic) with newly arrived schoolteacher Winifred Kingston (as Molly Wood). His life is complicated when his best friend Jack W. Johnston (as Steve) gets involved with town gangster William 'Billy' Elmer (as Trampas).

The part, early on, with Mr. Farnum and Hosea Steelman (as Lin McLean) exchanging guests' babies while they dance and drink whiskey, is amusing. There are some interestingly set-up outdoor shots from director Cecil B. DeMille. The story is sometimes odd; for example, Mr. Johnston takes up with Mr. Elmer, it's stated, as Farnum "neglects" him to be with Ms. Kingston. Later, Johnston writes something on a newspaper - "good by (unreadable) i couldn't speak to you without (unreadable) the baby Steve". I watched it with my finger on still, and still couldn't figure it out. Among the featured players. Johnston delivered the best performance. Farnum and Kingston, who had just co-starred in "The Squaw Man" (1914), would later marry.

***** The Virginian (9/7/14) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Dustin Farnum, Winifred Kingston, Jack W. Johnston