Forbidden Trails (1920)

The Great Train Robbery

After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.

Honest Hutch

Ort Hutchins is a confirmed loafer who spends all of his time fishing while his wife toils over the washtub. One day, while digging for worms, Hutch uncovers a box containing $100,000 in bills, the loot of a bank robbed in the next town. Realizing that he cannot spend the money without arousing suspicion, Hutch resigns himself to taking a job for cover. ...

Jubilo

Jubilo, a hobo, witnesses a robbery, finds work on Judge Hardy’s farm, and foils the vengeful machinations of a sinister villain.

Pinto

When Pinto reaches her eighteenth birthday, the five wealthy Arizonans who adopted her upon the death of her parents decide that ranch life will never make a lady of her. Their old friend Pop Audry, formerly of Arizona and now a member of New York society, agrees to provide Pinto with the necessary education. Accordingly, Pinto and her cowboy nursemaid Looey are dispatched to New York where they lose Audry's address. ...

Water, Water, Everywhere

Cowboy Billy Fortune is in love with Hope Beecher, who prefers Billy's friend Ben Morgan, but resists his advances because of his fondness for drink. Hope's discontent is echoed by the town wives' public outcry against drink. To divert their interest, Billy is nominated to make love to their leader, widow Fay Bittinger, who has already disposed of four husbands....

The Desert Man

William S. Hart directs and stars in a film that is a typical Western of the era. He plays Jim, a prospector who lands in the town of Broken Hope, and the name pretty much describes its inhabitants. Jim meets and falls in love with Jennie (Margery Wilson), whose father (Walt Whitman) is gravely ill. Jim rounds up a reluctant doctor from another town to tend to the old man, but he dies anyway. The doctor, however, gains Jennie's trust and she runs off with him. Only then does he tell her he's already married. She leaves immediately, but is too proud to go home so she finds work as a dance hall girl at Tacoma Jake's saloon. Jim, meanwhile, finds gold near Broken Hope, which raises its inhabitants' attitudes considerably. But the bad element is still there, and Jim is chasing after a group of kidnappers when he enters Tacoma Jake's saloon and sees Jennie. Jim not only overcomes the bad guys, he gets the girl, too.

The Paleface

A butterfly collector unwittingly wanders into an Indian encampment while chasing a butterfly, but the tribe has resolved to kill the first white man who enters their encampment because white oil tycoons are trying to force them from their land.

Looking for Trouble

Jack Pepper accidentally fires his gun while forcing a newspaper editor to retract his statement regarding Miss Tulip Hellier, and the sheriff goes after Jack. While hiding out, Jack finds a liquor cache on the Hellier ranch and knows it was placed there as a ruse to distract the sheriff while an outlaw gang runs dope across the border.

The Testing Block

The tough outlaw 'Sierra' Bill falls in love with the traveling girl violinist Nelly Gray. Sierra forces her into marrying him. They have a child, but family life is interrupted by the gambler Ringe, who not only persuades Nelly to leave her husband but ruins Sierra at the gaming table. With thoughts of vengeance, the angry Sierra breaks out of jail and goes after Ringe.

The Good Bad-Man

An outlaw calling himself Passin' Through halts his "evil" ways long enough to help out some children in difficulty.

An Eastern Westerner

A young man in New York has exasperated his father because of his constant carousing and irresponsibility, so his father sends him to his uncle's ranch in the west. The young man arrives in the town of Piute Pass, which is being terrorized by Tiger Lip Tompkins and his gang, the Masked Angels. The Easterner befriends a young woman whose father is being held captive by Tompkins, and he decides to help her.

The Patriot

Family relationships of a New Mexico family are just one part of this silent cowboy western about a war veteran who finds a goldmine. He wants to earn enough money to take care of his young son, but crooked officials swindle him out of the mine, and then his son is killed. He swears vengeance and joins up with Mexican bandit, "Pancho Zapilla", who intends to destroy his whole town.

The Forbidden Trail

When Red Hawk Dugan and his men attack a small wagon train, Colonel Merriwell is killed and the young girl Isobel taken and raised thinking Dugan is her father. Fifteen years later the Colonel's son Jack arrives looking for Dugan whom he learned killed his father. As he hunts for Dugan he meets and falls in love with Isobel only to then learn Dugan is her father.

Lightning Bryce

Two prospectors, one the father of Sky "Lightning" Bryce and the other the father of Kate Arnold, find a large gold deposit belonging to an Indian tribe. They head for home but each sends a note to their respective off-springs advising them of their good fortune. One of the fathers conceives a plan of taking a dagger and wrapping a piece of string around the blade, after which he prints on the string with a lead pencil, the exact location of their find. If something happens to them, the string goes to the son and the knife to the daughter. That night an Indian approaches their camp and blows some mysterious wolf powder which causes a man to see wolves in place of human beings. Lightning's father see his partner as a wolf and stabs him to death; later he is brought into town in a dying condition but before dying, hands the knife and the string over to the sheriff with instructions to deliver to Lightning and Kate.

The Wind

When Letty Mason relocates to West Texas, she finds herself unsettled by the ever-present wind and sand. Arriving at her new home at the ranch of her cousin, Beverly, she receives a surprisingly cold welcome from his wife, Cora. Soon tensions in the family and unwanted attention from a trio of suitors leave Letty increasingly disturbed.

The Hell Cat

Pancha O'Brien, the beautiful and spirited daughter of an Irish ranch owner, is loved by two men, Sheriff Jack Webb, whom she loves, and outlaw Jim Dyke, whose attentions she repeatedly rebuffs. Jim and his men attack Pancha's ranch, burning it to the ground and killing her father. The outlaw carries her to his cabin, where Wan-o-mee, his jealous squaw, tries to stab the girl....

The Gun Woman

A saloon owner loans her lover the money to buy a house, which he has led her to believe they will live in after they're married. Instead, he takes the money and buys a saloon in another town.

West Is West

Dick Rainboldt (Carey) signs up to work at a gold mine without realizing that he's being hired as a strikebreaker. He takes the job primarily because of a pretty girl who lives in the town. The superintendent and manager of the mine convince Rainboldt to blow up the mine and make it appear like the strikers did it. But Rainboldt turns the tables on the plotters and reveals their scheme. The mine owner rewards him with a big assignment and the girl promises to marry him.

The Kickback

A silent Western about a rough rider, that winds up in jail and the adventure begins.

The Red Warning

Phillip Haver, who, along with his friend Toby Jones, finds David Ainslee dying in the desert. After rustlers stole his cattle, Ainslee went off in search of a lost mine and fell victim to a killer. Before he kicks the bucket, Ainslee hands Haver a poke of gold dust to pay off the mortgage on the ranch.

Tracked to Earth

A railroad detective is falsely accused by a rancher's daughter Virginia Valli of being a notorious outlaw.

Iron to Gold

George Kirby steals a mining claim from Tom Curtis and forces him to become an outlaw. Years later, Curtis comes to the rescue when Anne Kirby is kidnapped by real outlaws, but when he finds out she is married to his enemy, he decides to hold her captive.

Billy Blazes, Esq.

Billy Blazes confronts Crooked Charley, who has been ruling the town of Peaceful Vale through fear and violence.

The Son of the Golden West

Tom Hardy (Tom Mix), a pony express rider, is carrying government gold in a coach to Wassatch accompanied by Alice Calhoun (Sharon Lynn) , the daughter of the US telegraph survey station. The gold is to pay for the US Telegraph Survey and it is to be delivered to the survey chief, Jim Calhoun (Thomas Lingham). The coach is attacked by bandits led by the Slade (Duke Lee) and Kane (Mark Hamilton).

Avalanche

An otherwise honest gambler, played by Jack Holt, begins to cheat at cards in order to put his son John Darrow through mining school in this lavish Zane Grey adaptation produced by Paramount. The callow foster-son pays back the noble gesture by running off with Holt's mistress, Olga Baclanova.

The Saddle Hawk

Ben Johnson, a sheepherder who hates sheep, is instructed by his employer, Vasquez, to escort beautiful Rena Newhall to her father's ranch. On the journey, Rena is abducted by Zach Marlin, who takes her to Buck Brent, an outlaw who has sworn vengeance on Jim Newhall, Rena's father, for sending him to jail years before. Ben later poses as an outlaw, joins Brent's band, and takes a hand in rustling the elder Newhall's cattle. On that raid, Ben contrives to get himself captured and convinces Rena's father both of his own good intentions and of the treachery of Marlin. Ben rejoins Brent's gang, but he is soon exposed as a fraud by Marlin.

The Night Hawk

Our Western star begins this actioner rather improbably, as a New York City gangster. But soon enough he heads for the more comfortable expanse of the open spaces.

The Fighting Streak

Andy Lanning, a peace-loving blacksmith, rescues Ann, the fiancée of Charles Merchant, from a runaway team. When the town bully picks a fight with Andy, he knocks him unconscious, and (thinking he has killed him) Andy rides into the hills. Merchant, jealous of Ann's admiration for Andy, bribes the sheriff to kill Andy, who has joined a band of outlaws in the wastelands. Forced to defend himself, Andy kills the sheriff, but later he saves the new sheriff's life and forces him to hear his story when he is placed in jeopardy by the outlaw band. Meanwhile, Ann, who has broken her engagement to Merchant, engages a lawyer to clear Andy, and he returns to find her awaiting him.

The Passing of Wolf MacLean

Addicted to heavy gambling and strong alcohol, Bert Granger owns a saloon in which his children, Benny and pretty Alice, entertain the patrons. One night, The Stranger interferes in a drunken quarrel and becomes involved in a bitter fight, from which he emerges victorious. He is strongly attracted to Alice, and he strikes up a conversation while, at the gambling table, her father is being cheated in a crooked card game and loses the deed to the saloon. When a reward is posted for Wolf Maclean, The Stranger, who resembles the description given of the notorious bandit, is arrested.

Hurricane Hal

A young Texan known as "Hurricane Hal," saves Bill Adams from Mexican bandits. In gratitude, Adams gives Hal a job on his ranch

Wanderer of the Wasteland

Wanderer of the Wasteland is a 1924 American color silent Western film directed by Irvin Willat and starring Jack Holt, Noah Beery, and Billie Dove.

The Half Breed

Delmar Spavinaw, an educated "half-breed," loves Evelyn Huntington, daughter of a racist judge. Evelyn's other suitor is Ross Kennion, a widower with one child, and owner of a vast tract of land which Spavinaw insists belongs to his Indian mother. Spavinaw seeks revenge when Judge Huntington decides to evict the squaw. Assisted by Juan Del Rey, a cattle rustler, Spavinaw steals the title to the land, wounds Kennion, stages a raid on the judge's cattle, and attempts to kidnap Kennion's son and Evelyn. The arrival of the sheriff forces him into flight across the border without his hostages. En route he meets Doll Pardeau, a school friend of Evelyn's, and together they ride for the Mexican border. Caught between a cattle stampede and a sheriff's posse, the couple catch a passing freight train, leaving calamity behind as the train slowly passes.

Prairie Trails

Tex Benton (cowboy star Tom Mix) wants to marry Janet McWhorter (Kathleen O'Connor), but her father (Charles K. French) will give his blessings only if Tex works on his sheep ranch. Tex, a cattleman through and through, refuses and gets his aggressions out by stirring things up at the local saloon.

The Cowboy Kid

Our hero catches a gang of bank robbers while taking time out to romance the banker's pretty daughter.

'49–'17

A judge who had taken part in the gold rush of 1849 hires an acting troupe to recreate the experience in this rather fanciful silent Western. The make-believe turns serious when a real gold mine is discovered nearby and a local girl is kidnapped by a nasty gambler.

The Texas Streak

Chad Pennington, a movie-cowboy from Hollywood, gets into trouble when he poses as a two-gun outlaw from Texas named Tommy Hawk.

Cupid's Round Up

The film's highlight was a scene in which Mix, hoping to escape a pursuing posse, jumps towards a moving train and crashes neatly through one of the passenger windows.

Spook Ranch

Bill Bangs and his Negro valet, George Washington Black, stray into a mining town and are arrested when they attempt to steal something to eat. The sheriff promises them their freedom if they solve the mystery of a haunted house near the town. Bill agrees.....

Wild Beauty

A soldier returns home from World War I with a beautiful black horse that he saved on the battlefield, and names Thunderhoof. He enters the horse in a local race, hoping to earn enough money to save the family ranch of the girl he loves. However, the crooks intent on taking the ranch manage to capture a notorious wild horse and enter it in the same race, believing that it can beat Thunderhoof and thereby ensure that they're able to take the ranch.

The Pilgrim

The Tramp is an escaped convict who is mistaken as a pastor in a small town church.

The Buckaroo Kid

Mulford sends Ed Harley to manage Radigan's rundown ranch. He makes a success of it but when called to return, he asks Radigan for a loan. Radigan says he can have the loan but not his daughter, but Ed wants both.

The Cowboy Musketeer

A cowboy saves his female employer from a villainous foreman.

Tumbleweeds

William S. Hart stars in this 1925 silent film as a cowboy intent on claiming land during the 1889 land rush in the Oklahoma Territory. Though hardened from years of taming the new frontier, he falls in love with a beautiful woman. Before he settles down, however, he must contend with men who wish to bring him harm. In the prologue of the 1939 Astor Pictures revival of this film, Hart gives a moving eight-minute introduction-- the first and only time he appeared in a film accompanied by his striking voice.

The Revenge of Lemonade Bill

Limeville, the city of lime, fears it's legacy might be destroyed when the heirs of the land show up to claim the town and replace the lime with oranges. But there's only place for one fruit in this town...

Over Silent Paths

In the heart of the American west, a miner toils day after day at his rocker box while his young daughter keeps his camp. His daughter persuades him to return to civilization, where they may enjoy the fruits of their labor. Both are happy in the anticipation of what seems a bright future. While she's away, a desert wanderer appears at the camp, and at the sight of the old man weighing his gold is seized with cupidity. He himself had toiled long in the wilds, but with no success, so he demands that the old man divide his gains with him. This, of course, the miner decries, and the wanderer uses force to obtain the old man's gold. The wanderer collapses in the desert, only to be rescued by a certain young woman: the miner's daughter.

The Border Sheriff

Carter Brace is out to murder Belden. Collins who was sent to bring in the border gang led by Brace, saves Belden's life in San Francisco. When they all reach the border, Brace tries again.

Three Word Brand

Ben Trego dies defending his twin sons from Indian attack. Separated, the two boys grow up very differently, one as Paul Marsden, the other as a cowboy named Three Word Brand. Paul becomes governor of Utah while Brand partners with George Barton in a ranch. The owner of the adjacent ranch plots to get Barton and Brand out of the way in order to control water rights. When Governor Marsden comes to the area to investigate, Brand sees the resemblance between them, though neither knows about his twin. Brand waylays Paul and takes his place as governor in an attempt to thwart the crooked rancher in the water rights scheme.