Son dernier exploit

The idea that westerns were all sweetness and light until the 50s and 60s falls apart when you examine the work of William S. Hart in the 1910s and early 1920s. He aimed for a general realism in his films and often played antiheroes who weren't above thievery, murder, and even rape before they discovered redemption in the second or third act. Of course, these films are also old-fashioned in their sense of old-fashioned religiosity and (usually but not always) passive heroines, but their grittier nature does make them ripe for critical re-evaluation, at least in my opinion.

The Toll Gate (1920) is a fine film, an ideal entryway into Hart's oeuvre. While there's nothing earthshaking from a technical point of view, its morally conflicted protagonist, a bandit leader constantly struggling to abandon the vagabond's life only to be pulled back by economic necessity or the allure of vengeance upon the man who betrayed him to the law, makes the story fascinating. Hart can be wooden at times, but for the most part, he is a restrained but powerful actor. Equaling him is the leading lady Anna Q. Nilsson, who, though stuck in a rather passive role, puts a great deal of subtlety into her character.

Worthwhile viewing and deserves rediscovery.

This has become one of my favorite movies and certainly one of the best westerns I have ever seen. Having a soft spot for the genre (westerns are, or were, since they are no longer made very often, morality plays that too often have been denigrated by critics with intellectual pretensions), I purchased the DVD, sight unseen, because I had read enough about William S. Hart's work (much of which he wrote and directed) to pique my interest and thought I should have at least one of his films in my video collection.

I must admit that I approached the actual viewing with some trepidation. My previous experiences with silent cinema "classics" had left me feeling let down. Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera, Griffith's Birth of a Nation and Fairbanks' The Mark of Zorro were fine, but not nearly as good as their reputations would lead one to expect. They were either too long, or too theatrical, or both.

The Toll Gate, however, emerged as a pleasant surprise.

It is a story told in a simple and straightforward manner. Black Deering (played by Hart), leader of a notoriously successful outlaw gang, thinks the time has come for group to disband, before its luck runs out. He is, however, opposed by his chief lieutenant, Jordan, who goads them all into one last holdup by promising great wealth but leads them into a trap in which he is complicit. Everyone is killed except Deering, who is taken prisoner. When his captors recognize him as the man who once saved a number of soldiers and settlers by warning an outpost of an impending Indian attack, they allow him to escape. Free, he tries to find honest work but is snubbed and ridiculed and ultimately must rob again to survive. Soon, he is pursued not only by the sheriff's posse but also by Jordan (now prospering from the reward money he has collected) and his henchmen. His flight leads him to a remote cabin inhabited by a single mother and her little son. After some initial misgivings, they take him into their hearts. Deering sees a chance for a new life but, with the posse and Jordan closing in, realizes that this may not be possible.

Hart was the first great western star and the first to inject realism into the genre. As one of the pioneers of movie-making, he created many of the characters and situations that have become cliché in westerns for more than ninety years. What keeps his movies interesting, however, was his ability to go beyond the cliché (perhaps his imitators did not go far enough) so that the material appears fresh and innovative, even now. Three such instances in The Toll Gate illustrate this:

1) In one scene, his character shoots into a crowd in an attempt to kill Jordan, and kills a bystander instead. A subsequent close-up shows that he is clearly frustrated. The frustration, however, comes not from the fact that he has gunned down a man who had hitherto caused him no harm but that he missed his intended target.

2) In another, as he flees from the posse, his "borrowed" horse steps into a gopher hole and breaks a leg. Hart pulls out his gun to put the animal out of its misery but, before pulling the trigger, gives his head a sad, loving pat, as if to say farewell to an old friend.

3) And finally, after he has strangled Jordan and thrown his body over a cliff, he returns to retrieve his guns and spots his adversary's pistol lying on the ground nearby. He steps forward and gives it a swift kick before mounting his horse. It is a simple gesture but it underscores the deep loathing he feels for the man who betrayed him and his comrades.

And I love the title, The Toll Gate. It is allegorical in its implication that a man cannot begin a new life until he has paid for the sins of his old one. Deering's payment comes in the form of sacrifice. Today's more sophisticated audiences may not buy into that sentiment entirely but it can still work on you if you let it.

Viewers who like their videos in pristine condition will undoubtedly object to the DVD's picture quality, especially the badly deteriorated final reel. I don't mind at all. That a copy of this 1920 movie even exists at all is a miracle since prints of so many other silent movies have been lost. If you bear that in mind and look upon the film as a piece of history, its visual flaws are not that difficult to accept.

William S. Hart was born in 1870 in New York but grew up in the Minnesota and Wisconsin where he learned to speak Sioux and Indian sign language. He counted Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson among his friends and collected Remington paintings, so his knowledge of the West was first-hand. If his vision seems overly romanticized by today's standards, it is nevertheless rooted far closer to reality than the spaghetti westerns of the '60s and '70s and the revisionist works that followed. Both the star and his films are overdue for re-evaluation.

In a western cave, white William S. Hart (as Black Deering), leader of the outlaw Raiders, feels the law crashing in on his gang's crime spree. Fellow bandit Joseph Singleton (as Tom Jordan) thinks Mr. Hart is chicken, and goads his rival and the gang into one more heist. Of course, as Hart feared, things go all wrong. Later, on the lam from both Jordan and the law, Hart hides out with lonely white Anna Q. Nilsson (as Mary Brown). Ms. Nilsson is living alone with son Richard Headrick (as "The Little Feller"), since the disappearance of her husband…

"The Toll Gate" delivers the expected Hart western elements; however, they do not coalesce. It's a little unpleasant to start off with Hart disarmed by his gang's "mutiny", but nice to see him tough it out. Watch for a pivotal scene wherein Hart opens Nilsson's Bible: in it, he reads the verse "By their fruits ye shall know them" and locates a photograph which reveals something important about the film. The "by their fruits" theme is completely illogical if you think about the photograph. Also, Hart's cabin revelation is rather foolishly timed; obviously, it should have been made some minutes later (relating it more to Singleton's threat).

****** The Toll Gate (4/15/20) Lambert Hillyer ~ William S. Hart, Anna Q. Nilsson, Joseph Singleton

Techniques have improved, technology has advanced, and societal values and storytelling sensibilities have changed, but a good movie is a good movie no matter how old it may be. Silent westerns are no less worthy than their talkie brethren, and in some cases may arguably stand taller: the narrative tends to be a tad more streamlined, cutting out excess so that not one foot of precious film stock is wasted; for lack of safety protocols that would be developed in time, stunts may hit harder; any fracas of music and noise never enters the equation to distract from the substance of a feature. Something like 'The toll gate' may in turn come off as simplified and straightforward, but the fact is just that all unnecessary trimmings that we're accustomed to in the sound era have been excised. And that's fine by me, because for my money this 1920 flick comes across as stark and pure, and it's highly enjoyable exactly as it is.

One can't tread very far among silent westerns without encountering William S. Hart, and this marks one of several of his collaborations with filmmaker Lambert Hillyer. There's a rough, stony stoicism in the man's acting that belies superb nuance and range, recalling select other actors over the years like Gregory Peck or George C. Scott. That's to say nothing of the stunt work that Hart commonly performed himself, frequently alongside trusted "Wonder Horse" Fritz - a credit to the man, the animal, and the trainers. At the same time, Hillyer's direction tends ever toward charged action and emotion, or at least emphatic, grabbing scenes and drama, and the outcome is a feast for the eyes from one moment to the next. It's hard not to get swept up in the beautiful, rugged landscapes that serve as filming locations, or the action sequences, or even just the sight of several majestic equines riding side by side or the admirable, heartfelt acting of a swell cast. That Hart produced and starred, and co-wrote the screenplay here alongside director Hillyer, I think says so much about how committed the duo were to the integrity of their craft, and how much they loved making movies. As a viewer it's impossible not to feel that passion shine through.

By all means, Hart stands out most in these seventy-three minutes, but even in a smaller supporting part Anna Q. Nilsson gives an earnest, meaningful performance that leaves an impact; if their co-stars make less of a mark it's only because their roles are of a lesser stature. And in all other regards 'The toll gate' is splendidly well made, including the sets, costume design, and hair and makeup that we expect of westerns. Joseph H. August's cinematography is rock solid in helping to build each shot and scene, and I appreciate the careful use of tinting that literally and proverbially colors the developed film. Meanwhile, the story that Hillyer and Hart wrote really is terrific, compelling and absorbing - betrayal, revenge, heroism, villainy, and an outlaw with a troubled past and an honest heart. Some westerns in all the past one hundred years have been unable to conjure a saga as rich and engrossing as this, or to subsequently shape a full-length picture with as much care, skill, and intelligence. All told there may be fewer stunts and scenes of action here than we get in some other like fare, but those we do get are well worth it, and the storytelling is so excellent and carefully plotted that it's more than enough by itself to keep us invested.

I'd stop short of saying the title is an outright must-see, and it's not perfect. There are a couple instances where poor lighting, deterioration of the surviving print, and/or a mild lag in the narrative combine for a scene that comes off a tad confused, or at least lackluster. There's also a single ill-considered line (related by the intertitles) to come in the back end of the runtime that's quizzical on the face of it and comes off as pointlessly, casually racist - a sense that is confirmed with another line or two to follow in turn. I don't know what else may have been true of Hillyer, Hart, or others involved, but I do know that these inclusions were unnecessary, and senseless, and are not a good look. And even if we set these factors aside, this movie may not be the one to change the mind of anyone who has a hard time engaging with older cinema, least of all as there are fluctuations in the image quality in the last reel or two, reflecting the struggles to preserve a work of so many years ago. Add in some old-fashioned heavy-handedness as the intertitles try to achieve some profundity, and not everything about 'The toll gate' has aged well.

Yet for whatever criticisms one may level, and for any of those ways in which the whole may falter, by and large this remains a great, upstanding genre piece. The troubles it faces in various ways are surely less severe than those of some of its kin. I'm not washing over the feature's weaknesses, but rather, its strengths handily outweigh and outshine the indelicacies and marginal inelegance. The writing, direction, and acting are all fantastic, and the contributions of the crew behind the scenes not truly any less so. I can understand how it won't appeal to all comers, yet as far as I'm concerned if one has any interest in the silent era or in westerns at large then this is a marvelous early example that mostly holds up and is well worth exploring. Don't necessarily go out of your way for 'The toll gate,' but if you do have the chance to watch, at only seventy-three minutes it's a classic that deserves recognition.

Toll Gate, The (1920)

*** (out of 4)

Outlaw Black Deering (William S. Hart) wants to retire after his gang's latest robbery but they convince him to go after one more score. His partner ends up selling him out for the reward money and Deering swears vengeance no matter how long it takes. He manages to escape from the posse and ends up on a small farm where he saves the life of a young boy and becomes apart of his mother's life. Soon Deering wants to start life fresh with them but his past is close behind. If you've seen any of Hart's Westerns made before THE TOLL GATE then you're going to be thinking that this is a remake of about three dozen of them. In all seriousness, if you've seen one Hart picture then you basically get the same story one film to the next but it says a lot about the persona of Hart that he managed to make each film so fresh and exciting even when it offers up nothing new. At 70-minutes the film never gets boring as we're treated to some nice drama as well as a couple very good action scenes. The opening scenes of the men trying to rob the train were pretty exciting and the ending with Hart trying to track down the man who set him up also offers some nice tension. The majority of the film features the same old story of Hart being a very bad man who falls for a woman who then makes him want to change his ways. At least in this film his character goes through a transformation where the viewer can at least understand and see why he would want to change his ways. There are several cute scenes between the little boy and Hart that really make the film stand out. The boy never got to know his real father so he looks forward to having a new dad in his life and this here makes for some very good moments. Hart fits the role with ease as by this time he could do this type of role in his sleep. He's benefited from a very strong supporting cast including Anna Q. Nilsson as the mother and Richard Headrick as the kid. Tom Jordan does a very good job playing the snake who turns Hart in. The film also benefits from some authentic scenery that really helps build up an atmosphere of being in the Old West. While the story is something we've seen before, the film is a good example of how you can bring fresh life to an old tale and with Hart's performance you walk away satisfied.