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Tumbleweeds (1925 film)
Encyclopedia
Tumbleweeds is a 1925 American Western film starring and produced by William S. Hart
. It depicts the Cherokee Strip land rush
of 1893. The film is said to have influenced the Oscar
-winning 1931
Western Cimarron
, which also depicts the land rush. The 1939 Astor Pictures
' re-release of Tumbleweeds includes an 8-minute introduction by the then 75 year old Hart as he talks about his career and the "glories of the old west." Tumbleweeds was Hart's last movie.
on the Kansas-Oklahoma border, the movie features cowboy Don Carver (Hart) as a "tumbleweed" (i.e., a drifter) who decides to settle down after falling in love with Molly Lassiter (Barbara Bedford
). Carver decides to get in on the Cherokee Strip land rush but when he's arrested and parted from his new love, he's in danger of missing the big race. Lucien Littlefield
plays a strong supporting role in the movie as Hart's comic sidekick and best friend.
A 1926 review of Tumbleweeds in Photoplay Magazine says "Bill Hart returns to the screen in a story laid in the time when the Indian territory was turned over to the homesteaders. The scene in which the prospective land owners, waiting for the cannon's boom which would send them racing in to stake their claims, furnished a brand new thrill...It is good entertainment."
John Nesbitt wrote that Hart went out on a high note with Tumbleweeds. "Tumbleweeds stands up remarkably well, and most film devotees will find it among the more interesting and entertaining melodramas of the silent era", wrote Nesbitt. Tammy Stone wrote that Hart was to Westerns what Chaplin was to comedy and that Hart managed to "both stay in the game and go out with a bang" in his last film Tumbleweeds. Hart's "last film is widely considered to be his masterpiece, and also one of the seminal films of the silent era", she added. Michael W. Phillips Jr. wrote in 2007 that the movie was unique in movies of the era because it included Native Americans who weren't faceless villains but Hart's friends and included African Americans among the boomers of 1889. "
re-released the film and provided an eight-minute introduction that would be Hart's last appearance on film. In this introduction, he states:
Hart retired to his ranch in Newhall, California and although producers continued to offer him roles in sound films, he refused to return to the screen.
On September 14, 2007, Dennis James
, a silent film musician, performed a score to Tumbleweeds in a live performance at the Poncan Theater in Ponca City, Oklahoma
as a special commission as part of a celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of Oklahoma statehood.
released the Astor Pictures' 1939 version of Tumbleweeds on Region 0 DVD.
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:...
. It depicts the Cherokee Strip land rush
Land run
Land run usually refers to an historical event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis. Some newly opened lands were sold first-come, sold by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run...
of 1893. The film is said to have influenced the Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning 1931
1931 in film
-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: Cimarron - MGM*Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul*Best Actor: Wallace Beery - The Champ*Best Actor: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...
Western Cimarron
Cimarron (1931 film)
Cimarron is a 1931 Pre-Code film directed by Wesley Ruggles and based on the Edna Ferber novel Cimarron. It won three Academy Awards.-Background:...
, which also depicts the land rush. The 1939 Astor Pictures
Astor Pictures
Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution service in operation from 1930 to 1963, founded by Robert M. Savini...
' re-release of Tumbleweeds includes an 8-minute introduction by the then 75 year old Hart as he talks about his career and the "glories of the old west." Tumbleweeds was Hart's last movie.
Background
In the Cherokee Strip of Oklahoma during the 1880's and early 1890's, the government lands that were leased to cattlemen were opened to settlement by homesteaders. To allow a fair chance for everyone, the prospective homesteaders were required to register and registrants were prohibited from entering into the Strip before the appointed time. Those who tried to get there beforehand were called "Sooners". Hence the nickname of Oklahoma is the Sooner State. When a cannon shot signaled the start of the land rush, a hundred thousand men and women tried to stake their claims.Plot
Set in Caldwell, KansasCaldwell, Kansas
Caldwell is a city in Sumner County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,068.-19th century:In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a branch line north-south from Herington to Caldwell...
on the Kansas-Oklahoma border, the movie features cowboy Don Carver (Hart) as a "tumbleweed" (i.e., a drifter) who decides to settle down after falling in love with Molly Lassiter (Barbara Bedford
Barbara Bedford (actor)
Barbara Bedford was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and was educated in Chicago, where she graduated from Lake View High School....
). Carver decides to get in on the Cherokee Strip land rush but when he's arrested and parted from his new love, he's in danger of missing the big race. Lucien Littlefield
Lucien Littlefield
Lucien Littlefield was an American actor in the silent film era...
plays a strong supporting role in the movie as Hart's comic sidekick and best friend.
Contemporary Reviews
Reviews at the time of its release praised Tumbleweeds as good entertainment. The New York Times reviewed the film in 1925 and wrote that Hart's performance emphasized "righteousness, his mental dexterity and physical prowess" in the role of Carver. "Although much of Don Carver's accuracy in shooting and his turning up at the psychological moment is nothing but the camera's good work, ... Mr. Carver, impersonated by Mr. Hart, frequently won applause from the audience yesterday afternoon."A 1926 review of Tumbleweeds in Photoplay Magazine says "Bill Hart returns to the screen in a story laid in the time when the Indian territory was turned over to the homesteaders. The scene in which the prospective land owners, waiting for the cannon's boom which would send them racing in to stake their claims, furnished a brand new thrill...It is good entertainment."
Modern Reviews
Modern reviews of Tumbleweeds have placed the movie as the high point of Hart's career and as a seminal film of the silent era that was unique for its era in its depiction of Native Americans and African Americans. Gary Johnson in Images Journal said that although Tumbleweeds was only a mild box-office success, it is arguably Hart's finest film. "The movie's most impressive sequence remains the land rush", wrote Johnson. "All manners of vehicles -- covered wagons, surreys, stagecoaches, even a large-wheeled bicycle -- bounce over the prairie in the mad rush to claim land. Other films would attempt to recreate the Oklahoma land rush -- such as Cimarron, which won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1931 -- but Tumbleweeds remains the best example."John Nesbitt wrote that Hart went out on a high note with Tumbleweeds. "Tumbleweeds stands up remarkably well, and most film devotees will find it among the more interesting and entertaining melodramas of the silent era", wrote Nesbitt. Tammy Stone wrote that Hart was to Westerns what Chaplin was to comedy and that Hart managed to "both stay in the game and go out with a bang" in his last film Tumbleweeds. Hart's "last film is widely considered to be his masterpiece, and also one of the seminal films of the silent era", she added. Michael W. Phillips Jr. wrote in 2007 that the movie was unique in movies of the era because it included Native Americans who weren't faceless villains but Hart's friends and included African Americans among the boomers of 1889. "
Hart's last movie
Tumbleweeds was Hart's last movie. In 1939, Astor PicturesAstor Pictures
Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution service in operation from 1930 to 1963, founded by Robert M. Savini...
re-released the film and provided an eight-minute introduction that would be Hart's last appearance on film. In this introduction, he states:
My friends, I loved the art of making motion pictures. It is as the breath of life to me ... the rush of the wind that cuts your face, the pounding hooves of the pursuing posse, and then the clouds of dust! Through the cloud of dust comes the faint voice of the director, "Now, Bill, OK! Glad you made it! Great stuff, Bill, great stuff! And, say, Bill! Give old Fritz a pat on the nose for me, will ya?" The saddle is empty, the boys up ahead are calling, they're waiting for you and me to help drive this last great round-up into eternity."
Hart retired to his ranch in Newhall, California and although producers continued to offer him roles in sound films, he refused to return to the screen.
Revival
Dennis James (musician)
Dennis James is an American musician who has played "a pivotal role in the international revival of silent films presented with live music." Primarily an organist, since 1971 he has presented live accompaniments for silent films, with piano, theatre organ, chamber ensemble and full symphony...
, a silent film musician, performed a score to Tumbleweeds in a live performance at the Poncan Theater in Ponca City, Oklahoma
Ponca City, Oklahoma
Ponca City is a small city in Kay and Osage counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, which was named after the Ponca Tribe. Located in north central Oklahoma, it lies approximately south of the Kansas border, and approximately east of Interstate 35. 25,919 people called Ponca City home at the...
as a special commission as part of a celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of Oklahoma statehood.
Home media
On August 25, 2009, Alpha VideoAlpha Video
Alpha Video is an entertainment company, based near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of public domain movies and TV shows on DVD...
released the Astor Pictures' 1939 version of Tumbleweeds on Region 0 DVD.