Le justicier

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.

Hell's Hinges (1916)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Historic Western has William S. Hart playing "Blaze" Tracy, a notorious gunfighter who is evil pure through until he meets a young woman (Clara Williams) arriving in town with her Reverend brother (Jack Standing). Blaze is immediately attracted to the woman and soon he begins to have thoughts about changing his ways but the bad folks in town are trying to turn the Reverend into one of them. This is a pretty strong little movie even if it barely runs an hour and spends way too much of that time on top of a soap box. I was really impressed with what this film had to offer and I think it's fair to say that it deserves every bit of its reputation and status of being one of the first classics from the genre. The film is about good versus evil and religious versus non-religious and there's no question what side the film is on. I think the film spends too much time preaching to us but this is a small problem and one that isn't overly distracting. With that said, the film contains some very memorable shots including the first look at the town known as Hell's Hinges. I love the high shot overlooking the town where we get a good look at all the evils going on within this short take. The scene will take your breathe away as it's such a terrific shot and it lets you know everything you need to know about this place. We also get another terrific shot towards the end of the movie when the church is attacked and we get to see it's aftermath. Hart is terrific in his role and he does very good job at showing off the evils of his character but the actor also makes us believe his changing. I think the change happens too fast but there's no question Hart owns this role and really makes it a memorable character. Williams and Standing are also very good as is Alfred Hollingsworth in his role. Jean Hersholt is somewhere in the film but unspotted by myself as is John Gilbert in his first screen appearance. Apparently Hart directed the majority of the film even though he doesn't get credit for it and I must say that the entire film is quite an impressive achievement even if it doesn't run as long as some of the films were starting to do at the time. The movie contains some memorable characters, some terrific shots and a rather rousing ending and all of this makes it a must see.

Just a few intertitles into "Hell's Hinges," I said, That must be by Gardner Sullivan. I stopped the movie -- which I was watching at YouTube.com -- and came to IMDb to see the credits: Sure enough, C. Gardner Sullivan wrote the story and the screenplay.

Mr. Sullivan produced some of the most poetic intertitles in all of silent Hollywood, and went on to write some talkie screenplays, too.

His prose coupled with the drama of the story and the acting of William S. Hart and a talented large cast and with the excellent directing of Charles Swickard as well as Mr. Hart and Clifford Smith make "Hell's Hinges" one of the most gripping of silent westerns.

It is, in fact, so classic and so iconic that the great Jon Tuska included it in his PBS series, "They Went Thataway."

That TV show was probably my introduction to William S. Hart, and when I moved to Los Angeles, one of my first missions was to find the (now defunct) Silent Movie Theatre, run by the lamented John Hampton and his wife, and beg for William S. Hart movies.

Alas, the Theatre never showed any, but I was able to rent "Tumbleweeds" in a 16 mm. format to project in my tiny living room. (It's also available at YouTube and I urge you to see it.)

I have been a Hart fan really since Jon Tuska's introduction, and my admiration has only grown with each Hart movie viewing.

"Hell's Hinges" is almost 100 years old at this writing, 21 August 2015, and it holds up extremely well, although I do recommend the "A cinema history" print at YouTube rather than another, which plays some Beethoven piano reductions as the music score, which is, of course, beautiful but really not appropriate.

Also, the print by "A cinema history" is clear and crisp.

Hart looked young and even chubby-faced, especially as compared to his craggier later looks, as in, for example, "Tumbleweeds." A trained stage actor, he was always able to portray his needed emotion or thought or action beautifully for the camera, and one can just look at him and realize why an entire town would be cowed.

When you watch this, do remember the context: It was produced in 1916, and styles of acting and writing were different. Not worse, in fact in lots of ways better, but decidedly different, so remember context.

Frankly, I LOVED "Hell's Hinges," and am so grateful to YouTube and "A cinema history" for posting this excellent movie and allowing me to watch it, and watch it again in the future.

There is a strong Christian content to the movie that most future westerns would not bring up (at least not like this). The main character, Blaze Tracy, goes from being the toughest, meanest guy in town to a defender of the Christian faith, although in a very individual way, i.e. no church affiliation. The plot centers greatly around faith and lack of faith. The events can be spiritually interpreted in a number of cases. This movie is no simple western.

The silent western has a lot going against it. As a western, the plot is grounded in an exaggerated human experience heightened by a minimised physical environment. The silent film too has to exaggerate the experience, not only in the mannerisms of the actors, but in the setting and props as well. No wonder so many silent westerns are seen as inflated and risibly tiresome.

Add a third problem: the religious experience. This too is often exaggerated because of how profoundly inward the process is. So we have a scene with Hart cleaned up, hair combed back, nodding his head as he reads the Bible. Avoidable? Probably, Demille would have been a better candidate. But we can still admire how free of convention the film is in its structure and methods, something Hart would pursue in his more worthwhile works.

3 out of 5 - Some strong elements