I watched a half-way decent silent Western called "Sandy Burke of the U-Bar-U" (1919) starring Louis Bennison, Virginia Lee, Alphonse Ethier, and others. I'd never heard of Louis Bennison, but he turned out to be a competent Western star for the period. It's the same kind of story that played out literally countless times in early and middle 30's "B" Westerns. Louis Bennison, who plays Sandy Burke, saves a little girl from the baddie after he's killed her father. Then he saves a girl at the ranch from the same baddie about three times, and eventually ends up with her. This is not really an adult Western of the type William S. Hart was making. It's not as sophisticated as the Tom Mix Westerns. It's no where near as serious a Western as the Fred Thomson's. Still, this release from Grapevine studios in a quality print with some tints is much better than most, and the fluidity of the action is great! A serial that was released the same year, "Lightning Bryce", has the same kind of camera fluidity which led to great action and wonderful spectacle. The cinematographer for this film is David Calcagni, and he only made a few films, but he must have been well trained by others. He was already 40 years old when he made this film. If you've never heard of Louis Bennison, join the crowd. This production was made by Betzwood Film Company, with the additional moniker "Louis Bennison Star Series", and they released two more of these Westerns during a two year period. They were distributed by Sam Goldwyn, interestingly enough, with the additional moniker of "Bennison Star Series" attached to Goldwyn! Evidently, there was a close connection. But with only three or so releases, there must not have been the money-making potential... Still, a fairly good film if you're into Westerns. This release from Grapevine has an organ score by David Knudtson, and it's really, really good! Kudos to Mr. Knudtson. I usually abhor organ scores. This one was spot on and really helped the film. For the record, I knew I'd heard of Virginia Lee somewhere, and it turned out I had her in a couple of other films. She didn't make many, but it also turns out that this Mexico City born beauty was also the 1921 Miss New York in the very first Miss America contest. You just never know, do you?!
