The Aryan
Encyclopedia
The Aryan is an American silent era
western
motion picture
starring William S. Hart
, Gertrude Claire
, Charles K. French
, Louise Glaum
, and Bessie Love
.
Directed
by William S. Hart
and produced
by Thomas H. Ince
, the screenplay
was written by C. Gardner Sullivan
.
Although Hart was assisted by Reginald Barker and Clifford Smith, he mostly directed the movie by himself. Hart's salary as both actor and director was $150 per week.
A print of The Aryan survives in the Library of Congress
and at the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires
, Argentina
.
In the town of Yellow Ridge, however, he is detained by a seductive dance hall girl named Trixie (played by Glaum). Also known as "the firefly," Trixie not only cheats him out of his gold, but also conceals a message that was wired to him by his dying mother.
Learning the next day that his mother is dead, Denton is infuriated about being cheated and betrayed by Trixie, who pretended to be good, and other false friends. In his rage, he kills Trixie's lover, Chip Emmett (played by Mayall), and kidnaps her. Dragging her by the hair of her head, he takes her into the desert. Enslaving Trixie in his desert hideaway, Denton turns his back on "white civilization." He hates all white men and women and assumes the leadership of a band of Indian and Mexican bandits.
Two years later, a wagon-train of Mississippi farmers who are lost and dying in the desert appeal to Denton for help. He refuses to assist them. He is secretly visited that night by Mary Jane Garth (played by Love), an innocent and virtuous young woman among the migrants who bravely confronts the Indians and Mexicans.
She pleads their cause and expresses her belief that no white man would refuse to protect a woman in distress. Deeply moved, Denton is redeemed. He guides the wagon-train out of the desert and then resumes his wanderings.
by the screenwriter
C. Gardner Sullivan
in which the hero had, according to Hart, "no motive for his hardness." He argued that the audience needed an explanation. Sullivan preferred the idea that his ruthless personality was simply a given, but eventually accepted Hart's wishes.
Hart wanted Mae Marsh
for the role as Mary Jane, but Marsh was working on a D.W. Griffith
movie at the time. Griffith recommended a new actress, Bessie Love
.
The movie was made at the height of Hart's career, but was unusual because he played a ruthless individual described as "hard as flint." As the title suggests, the movie draws on racial ideologies of the era. Hart stated that the central character, Steve Denton, was "a white man, who, foreswearing his race, makes outlaw Mexicans his comrades and allows white women to be attacked by them."
Hart believed this movie to be "one of the best westerns ever made."
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
motion picture
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring William S. Hart
William S. Hart
William Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...
, Gertrude Claire
Gertrude Claire
Gertrude Claire was an actress of the American stage and Hollywood silent motion pictures. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and began appearing onstage at the age of 16. She played minor roles in New York, New York. In the coming years she began to play leads...
, Charles K. French
Charles K. French
Charles K. French was an American motion picture actor who appeared in more than 240 movies between 1909 and 1945.-Selected filmography:...
, Louise Glaum
Louise Glaum
Louise Glaum was an American actress. Best known for her role as a femme fatale in silent era motion picture dramas, she was credited with giving one of the best characterizations of a vamp in her early career....
, and Bessie Love
Bessie Love
Bessie Love was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence mainly in the silent films and early talkies. With a small frame and delicate features, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Her role in The Broadway Melody earned her a nomination for...
.
Directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by William S. Hart
William S. Hart
William Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...
and produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
by Thomas H. Ince
Thomas H. Ince
Thomas Harper Ince was an American silent film actor, director, screenwriter and producer of more than 100 films and pioneering studio mogul. Known as the "Father of the Western", he invented many mechanisms of professional movie production, introducing early Hollywood to the "assembly line"...
, the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was written by C. Gardner Sullivan
C. Gardner Sullivan
C. Gardner Sullivan was an American screenwriter and motion picture producer. He was a prolific writer with more than 350 films among his credits. In 1924, the magazine Story World selected him on a list of the ten individuals who had contributed the most to the advancement of the motion picture...
.
Although Hart was assisted by Reginald Barker and Clifford Smith, he mostly directed the movie by himself. Hart's salary as both actor and director was $150 per week.
A print of The Aryan survives in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and at the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Synopsis
A hard working miner, Steve Denton (played by Hart), has become rich from years of prospecting. He takes his fortune and leaves to visit his ill mother, Mrs. Denton (played by Claire).In the town of Yellow Ridge, however, he is detained by a seductive dance hall girl named Trixie (played by Glaum). Also known as "the firefly," Trixie not only cheats him out of his gold, but also conceals a message that was wired to him by his dying mother.
Learning the next day that his mother is dead, Denton is infuriated about being cheated and betrayed by Trixie, who pretended to be good, and other false friends. In his rage, he kills Trixie's lover, Chip Emmett (played by Mayall), and kidnaps her. Dragging her by the hair of her head, he takes her into the desert. Enslaving Trixie in his desert hideaway, Denton turns his back on "white civilization." He hates all white men and women and assumes the leadership of a band of Indian and Mexican bandits.
Two years later, a wagon-train of Mississippi farmers who are lost and dying in the desert appeal to Denton for help. He refuses to assist them. He is secretly visited that night by Mary Jane Garth (played by Love), an innocent and virtuous young woman among the migrants who bravely confronts the Indians and Mexicans.
She pleads their cause and expresses her belief that no white man would refuse to protect a woman in distress. Deeply moved, Denton is redeemed. He guides the wagon-train out of the desert and then resumes his wanderings.
Cast in credited order
- William S. HartWilliam S. HartWilliam Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...
as Steve Denton - Gertrude ClaireGertrude ClaireGertrude Claire was an actress of the American stage and Hollywood silent motion pictures. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and began appearing onstage at the age of 16. She played minor roles in New York, New York. In the coming years she began to play leads...
as Mrs. Denton - Charles K. FrenchCharles K. FrenchCharles K. French was an American motion picture actor who appeared in more than 240 movies between 1909 and 1945.-Selected filmography:...
as "Ivory" Wells - Louise GlaumLouise GlaumLouise Glaum was an American actress. Best known for her role as a femme fatale in silent era motion picture dramas, she was credited with giving one of the best characterizations of a vamp in her early career....
as Trixie, "the firefly" - Herschel MayallHerschel MayallHerschel Mayall was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 112 films between 1912 and 1935.He was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and died in Detroit, Michigan from a cerebral hemorrhage....
as Chip Emmett - Ernest Swallow as Mexican Pete
- Bessie LoveBessie LoveBessie Love was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence mainly in the silent films and early talkies. With a small frame and delicate features, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Her role in The Broadway Melody earned her a nomination for...
as Mary Jane Garth - Enid BennettEnid Bennett-Career:Born in York, Western Australia, Bennett started her film acting career in 1916, first starring in Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, with two other films that same year...
in an undetermined role
Cast listed alphabetically
- Jean HersholtJean HersholtJean Pierre Hersholt was a Danish-born actor who lived in the United States, where he was a leading film and radio talent, best known for his 17 years starring on radio in Dr. Christian and for playing Shirley Temple's grandfather in Heidi...
- John GilbertJohn Gilbert (actor)John Gilbert was an American actor and a major star of the silent film era.Known as "the great lover," he rivaled even Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw...
as an extra (uncredited)
Production
Hart was given a screenplayScreenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by the screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
C. Gardner Sullivan
C. Gardner Sullivan
C. Gardner Sullivan was an American screenwriter and motion picture producer. He was a prolific writer with more than 350 films among his credits. In 1924, the magazine Story World selected him on a list of the ten individuals who had contributed the most to the advancement of the motion picture...
in which the hero had, according to Hart, "no motive for his hardness." He argued that the audience needed an explanation. Sullivan preferred the idea that his ruthless personality was simply a given, but eventually accepted Hart's wishes.
Hart wanted Mae Marsh
Mae Marsh
Mae Marsh was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years.-Early life:...
for the role as Mary Jane, but Marsh was working on a D.W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
movie at the time. Griffith recommended a new actress, Bessie Love
Bessie Love
Bessie Love was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence mainly in the silent films and early talkies. With a small frame and delicate features, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies. Her role in The Broadway Melody earned her a nomination for...
.
The movie was made at the height of Hart's career, but was unusual because he played a ruthless individual described as "hard as flint." As the title suggests, the movie draws on racial ideologies of the era. Hart stated that the central character, Steve Denton, was "a white man, who, foreswearing his race, makes outlaw Mexicans his comrades and allows white women to be attacked by them."
Hart believed this movie to be "one of the best westerns ever made."
External links
- The Aryan at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films