Wagon Tracks was released on July 29th, 1919. Directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by C. Gardner Sullivan it stars William S. Hart as Buckskin Hamilton, the captain of a wagon train, who sets out to the avenge the murder of his brother, Billy.
The film opens by showing how his brother was murdered. Catching a card shark (Robert McKim's David Washburn) who was trying to cheat him in a poker game, Billy disarms him only to be accosted by his sister (Jane Novak's Jane Washburn), who mistakenly believes that Billy is threatening her brother. In the shuffle Washburn sneaks up and pulls the trigger, killing Billy, and then convinces Jane that she was responsible.
Hart was a strict moralist, a fact which shines through every film he ever starred in. Though the characters he plays often live wicked lives, they are always reformed by the end of the picture. The character he plays here is a straight shooter from the beginning but the deep shame Buckskin feels at his brother's seemingly dishonorable death and his utter disbelief at the suggestion that a woman could have killed him are very typical of the kinds of characters Hart liked to portray.
The film also puts forth a distinctly Christian, if somewhat puritanical concept of justice. When Buckskin finally discovers that Washburn killed his brother, he foregoes his vengeance for the good of the settlers. Spurred on by Jane, he shows mercy to Washburn but, since justice demands that he die for his crimes, he gives him the choice of giving himself up to the Indians, presumably to be tortured, or taking his own life. Assuming he will take the cowards way out, Hamilton determines to offer himself as a scapegoat in Washburn's place. Duplicitous to the end, Washburn attempts to escape only to fall into the hands of the Indians, both (inadvertently) satisfying justice and preventing innocent blood from being shed.
The Indians are treated in a surprisingly sympathetic manner. They have a legitimate grievance with the white settlers as one of their number is killed over a misunderstanding. They also offer to let one man pay for this injustice instead of the whole party. As is typical of the westerns of this period, relations between the white settlers and the natives is ultimately seen as a tragic culture clash rather then dominance of one group over another or as the "triumph of civilization."
Wagon Tracks features some of the most effective use of tinting I've seen in a silent film. The sepia tones give a sense of the oppressive heat, which is contrasted with the cool blue tints of the night scenes whereas the scenes in front of the fireplace, where Washburn's fate is decided, have an almost hellish tone. It's a little short on the action, as was increasingly common in Hart's later film's, focusing more on melodrama. Lambert Hillye, who directed many of Hart's westerns and would go on to helm many B-westerns well into the 40's, milks this melodrama for everything it's worth, getting heartrending, theatrical performances from the whole cast.
In many ways Wagon Tracks is the summation of the William Hart western. It is not a film for fans looking for the fast paced action of a Tom Mix or Hoot Gibson picture, but if you want a melodramatic morality play, look no further.
Score: 8/10
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