Silent Film of the Month: The Sheriff's Baby (1913)

 

Run Time: 17 minutes. Studio: Biograph. Director: D.W. Grifith. Writer: Edward Bell. Cast: Alfred Paget, Herny B. Walthall, Harry Carey, Lionel Barrymore, John T. Dillion, Kate Bruce, Bobby Harron. Cinematographer: Billy Blitzer.

Though D.W. Griffith is often best known for his epics like Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), which were massive in both scale and length, I often think that the director's best work is the short films that he made for Biograph. 

In this short western film, three outlaws are escaping from a posse by heading into the desert. Here they run across a baby who is about to be eaten by a mountain lion. They rescue the baby and protect it as they continue to travel through the desert. 

This film shows Griffith and his team at the height of their filmmaking powers. For a short film, there is a lot of story fit into the runtime. However, The Sheriff's Baby never feels rushed and is never difficult to follow. Rather it is gripping for start to finish. The ending is actually quite moving as the buildup to it is perfect. The technical aspects are top notch here. The use of cutting between scenes is quite impressive for its time and holds up perfectly today. Griffith's films are course greatly remembered today for their pioneering use of cross-cutting and this is a great example of why. The cutting between the posse and the outlaws early on, creates some action scenes that still exciting today. Yet this excellent technical filmmaking is never there simply to show off. Rather every aspect of the technical filmmaking is in compete service to the story. Causal viewers may not notice or think about the great use of crosscutting here, but they will definitely feel it. A cast of Griffith regulars are also at the top of their game here. There is very little of the type of overacting that one might associate with films of the early 1910's. This is a too often overlooked gem in Griffith's filmography.       

Movie lovers will easily recognize similarities between this film and the story Three Godfathers. Three Godfathers had five official movie adaptions (the most famous being the John Ford/John Wayne 1948 adaption). This story was written by prolific author Peter B. Kyne had first appeared as a short story in The Saturday Evening Post in November of 1912. In 1913 the story would be turned into a novel. Though records from Biograph report that The Sheriff's Baby has an original story by Edward Bell (he received payment for his story on December 16, 1912), the similarities are too clear to ignore. It is definitely plausible that The Saturday Evening Post version was at least an inspiration for this film. 

For anyone who wishes to watch this delightful film, it is available as a bonus feature on the Film Preservation Society's Blu-ray set for the William S. Hart feature film, Wolf Lowry (1917). 

Resources Used

Wolf Lowry Blu-ray liner notes by Tracey Goessel

https://www.jbkaufman.com/movie-of-the-month/sheriffs-baby-1913

Silent Films on TCM for May 2026

 

Hello my friends. I know many of you like me are fans of both TCM and silent films. So here is a list of silent films that will be on TCM this May. 

Sunday May 3

Are Brunettes Safe (1927) Director: James Parrott. Starring Charley Chase and Lorianne Easton. 9:15pm Pacific. 12:15am Eastern.

Forgotten Sweeties (1927) Director: James Parrott. Starring Charley Chase and Anita Garvin. 9:40pm Pacific. 12:40am Eastern. 

Bigger and Better Blondes (1927) Director: James Parrott. Starring Charley Chase and Jean Arthur. 10:05pm Pacific. 1:05am Eastern. 

Tuesday May 5th 

 Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) Director: Benjamin Christensen. Starring Clara Pontoppidan and Oscar Stribolt. 3am Pacific. 6am Eastern. 

I Was Born But... (1932) Director: Yasujirō Ozu. Starring Tatsuo Saitō and Tomio Aoki. 7:30pm Pacific. 10:30pm Eastern. 

Wednesday May 6th 

A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) Director: Yasujirō Ozu. Starring Takeshi Sakamoto and Chōko Iida. 1:15am Pacific. 4:15am Eastern. 

Sunday May 10th

Habus Corpus (1928) Director: James Parrott. Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 9:30pm Pacific. 12:30am Eastern.

Putting Pants on Phillip (1927) Director: Clyde Bruckman. Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 10pm Pacific. 1am Eastern. 

Two Tars (1928) Director: James Parrott. Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 10:30pm Pacific. 1:30am Eastern.

You're Darn Tootin' (1928) Director: Edgar Kennedy. Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 11pm Pacific. 2am Eastern. 

Sunday May 17th 

The Rag Man (1925) Director: Edward F. Cline. Starring Jackie Coogan and Max Davidson. 9:30pm Pacific. 12:30am Eastern. 

Friday May 22nd 

Body and Soul (1925) Director: Oscar Micheaux. Starring: Paul Robeson and Mercedes Gilbert. 3am Pacific. 6am Eastern. 

Flesh and the Devil (1926) Director: Clearnce Brown. Starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. 5am Pacific. 8am Eastern.  

 

Sunday May 24th 

The Big Parade (1925) Director: King Vidor. Starring John Gilbert and Renée Adorée. 10:45pm Pacific. 1:45am Eastern. 

Sunday May 31st

Strike (1925) Director: Sergei Eisenstein. Starring Grigori Aleksandrov and Maksim Shtraukh

Movie Review: Fuze

 

Michael's Movie Grade: D+ 

Thriller has lots of twists and turns but little reason to care.

In this film, an unexploded WWII era bomb is discovered underneath a construction site. However, there may be more than meets the eye going on here.

This is a movie, I wished I liked more than I did. It is rare to find a modern movie that keeps surprising me with every twist and turn. I can honestly say that I never really knew where this plot was going. So why didn't I actually care for the film then. The answer is simply that I was never given a reason to care about anything that happened on screen. This movie is full of characters and often cuts back and forth between them. With its complex plot and 97-minute runtime, we end up barely knowing anything about who these characters are. Thinking back on the film as I write this review, I not only can't remember most of the characters' names, but I can't recall much of any personality any of them have. All these characters seem to be defined by the roles they play in the story and at the end of the day, they are not characters as much as they are plot devices. Even a strong cast, cannot make me care about any of these characters. The result is that with each twist and turn that happened, I felt no connection to what was happening on screen. I even found that my mind began wandering during scenes that I knew were supposed to be exciting. When the ending came, I simply found I had no investment in what was obviously supposed to be a shocking twist. 

A very underwhelming film. 

Video Link: The Two Anonymous Disney Legends Who Saved Bambi - West of Neverland

 

Movie Review: One Spoon of Chocolate

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C-

This thriller starts strong but unfortunately falters out as it goes along. 

In this film a young black man goes to live with his cousin in a small town in Idaho after getting out of jail. He wants just to live peacefully and leave his past behind him. Unfortunately, a group of white supremacists decide to make life a living hell for him. 

After an unnecessarily gratuitously violent opening, this movie does a very good job creating an emotional connection between you and the main character. From the second you meet him you are set up to have sympathy for him. He fought for his country; he cares deeply about what is right and wrong and he is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in. He has been in jail for fighting a man who was beating his wife in fact. Added to this is that Shameik Moore is very charming and charismatic in the role. With our emotional connection this becomes a fairly strong if familiar drama about systematic racism, the treatment of veterans and corruption in law enforcement.

 However sadly this can't last. The movie soon becomes bogged down in an orgy of sex, violence and clichés. As the movie goes along, the violence and sex simply become gratuitous. Many scenes are not simply violent but repulsively gory for the sake of being repulsively gory. This movie would have lost nothing if it just simply cut away and left some of these gory scenes to our imagination. As the storyline and the action get increasingly over the top, the extremely realistic violence feels more and more out of place. The sex is just unnecessary. Many women are reduced to sex objects in many scenes that simply feel here to make this already very adult movie feel edgy. I am not squeamish or a prude but much of the sex and violence in this movie simply serves no purpose but shock value. Worse than this the social commentary and the characters often take a back seat to this shock value as the film continues. About halfway through this film, if not before then, everyone knows exactly what direction the story is going. However, as the film takes its time to get to the inevitable conclusion, the audience becomes impatient for what they know will happen to happen.

 I will admit though that when we get to the big, expected climax, it is quite well done though. 

It is sad when a movie that starts out quite strong, turns into something not so great. Unfortunately, that is the case here.        

Hayley Mills: Forever Young: A Memoir

 

If you love the 1960's live action Disney films as much as I do, you probably have the same fondness for Hayley Mills (who as a child acted in multiple Disney classics). To me Pollyanna (1960) still ranks as one of Disney's finest live action movies and The Parent Trap (1961) is still a comedy classic. Because of this I was eager to read Hayley Mills' memoir. 

What I found was the Hayley is just a lovely of a human being as she is an actress. She not only talks about her career and personal life but also her own personal philosophies. In a simple and unpretentious manner, she shows herself to be a very soulful and intelligent woman. You not only learn about her here, but you connect with emotionally. 

As a buff of all things Walt Disney, I of course greatly enjoyed the times when she talked about Walt himself. It is rare to be able to actually read about Walt from the point of view of someone who actually knew him. This makes me treasure every chance I get to read a first-hand account of the great filmmaker. To read Hayley writing about him with such love and fondness only increased this joy. 

She also talked greatly about some of her British films. Even if you have not seen these movies, Hayley's writing makes you want to search them out. 

Hayley also talks greatly about the effects of being a child star in Hollywood. While her life does not have the same tragedies that many child stars suffered, it did lead to much insecurity on her part. She obviously still remembers these insecurities and writes about them in a way that can feel heartbreaking to read. 

A must read for any Hayley Mills and/or Disney fan. 

Cowboy Church #266

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with their 1950 recording of May the Good Lord Take a Liking to Ya. This song was written by Peter Tunturin, who wrote songs that Roy sang in such movies as Days of Jesse James (1939), The Carson City Kid (1940), Young Bill Hickok (1940), Robin Hood of the Pecos (1941) and Sheriff of Tombstone (1941). Roy also sang this song in the movie, Trigger Jr. (1950).

This is followed by Tammy Wynette with May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You. This recording comes from her 1969 gospel album, Inspiration. 

Afterwards is Bill Carlisle with his 1936 recording of He'll Be Your Savior Too.

Then comes Ralph Stanley with Gone Away with a Friend. This recording comes from his 2005 gospel album, Will the Ages Roll On. 

Afterwards is Kris Kristofferson with They Killed Him. This song (written by Kris) pays tribute to three heroes of Kris. Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. It is a shame that in this world, people who preach a message of love can often get killed for doing it. As Christians though love for others should be a major priority. After all God us love and it is through love that we can best see him.  Despite Kris writing this song he was not the first to record it. Kris would record the song in 1986, but Johnny Cash had already recorded it in 1984. In 1986 Bob Dylan also recorded the song for his Knocked Out Loaded album. 

Then comes The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937 recording of Lord You Made the Cowboy Happy. This song should remind us of how blessed we truly are. It is the things we take for granted each day that are our greatest blessings. Sometimes we need to stop and simply thank God for these blessings. The narrator of this song is not thankful for any big event in his life, but rather for all the little blessing he receives every day.

Today's musical selection ends with The Chuck Wagon Gang with their 1940 recording of I Love to Tell of His Love. 

Now for a message from the Reverand Billy Graham.

Now for the 9th episode of The Lone Ranger TV show.

Psalm 57

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam. When he had fled from Saul into the cave.

1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,

    for in you I take refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings

    until the disaster has passed.

2 I cry out to God Most High,

    to God, who vindicates me.

3 He sends from heaven and saves me,

    rebuking those who hotly pursue me—

    God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

4 I am in the midst of lions;

    I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

    whose tongues are sharp swords.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

    let your glory be over all the earth.

6 They spread a net for my feet—

    I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path—

    but they have fallen into it themselves.

7 My heart, O God, is steadfast,

    my heart is steadfast;

    I will sing and make music.

8 Awake, my soul!

    Awake, harp and lyre!

    I will awaken the dawn.

9 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

    I will sing of you among the peoples.

10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;

    your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

    let your glory be over all the earth.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.