The Prospector

Even for an era in which filmmakers were still coming to terms with creating coherent narratives, the story here is poor, with a successful prospector marrying the daughter of the man who tried to kill him the night before and then generously offering the hand of friendship to his would-be murderer. Can't help thinking she's going to be a widow pretty soon...

This routine western from 1912 -- Essannay was co-founded by "Broncho Billy" Anderson who played six roles in Porter's THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY and figured out that what people wanted was westerns and was he ever right! -- concerns a prospector who strikes a rich claim and is almost killed for it. He is saved by his would-be killer's grand-daughter, marries her and shares his wealth with him, which makes him a better person.

It sounds trivial, and by the standards of the era, it probably was. Essannay alone turned out over 70 westerns in 1912. But the movie is interesting because it shows how modern film grammar was beginning to gel. The acting is still very broad; the compositions that bespeak the stage with its proscenium arch clearly marking the limit of reality, so prominent in 1908, are vanished in just four years; and the story, although a tad slow, is interesting.